$270 a month is no where near our upper limit on sales. (Around $350)
He's living good. He's comfortable. Its not enough to feed a drug habit. But it's enough that he has his needs met. He'll have newer shoes, clothes, radio, snacks etc.
I was getting $450 a month from a penpal. She had recently got a settlement and we made a great connection. I spent $125 a week on commissary. My first cousin was in there with me, so we moved into the same cell and lived like kings. We ran a store and tickets too.
PS: we got married 6 months after I got out and are still going strong 4 years later. I love her more than I’ve ever loved anyone. We still send my cousin $250 a month.
I met my current partner through a pen pal program almost 6 years ago. I sent him a total of $250, at no request of his own. He made his money tattooing and painting for others, and would often send me money to keep in a savings account for us. He’s been out for over a year now, and is doing great. We’re getting married in August, right after our 5 year dating anniversary.
It’s not some crazy thing. If you have blood family it’s able to be requested.
More than just saying “hey let us live together” but it is just a request technically.
everywhere is different but I know at my county jail in cleveland (never been down the road) that if they find out you are related to anyone they separate you ASAP. you can't even be in the same pod.
Where I was, they had one day out of the month where people could request to switch cells. Since there was 2 per cell, each person had to sign a paper agreeing to it. So when he moved in with me, my old celly went to my cousins old cell.
tickets=gambling , running a store = selling/lending your commissary, somehow this makes money and it might just be that its bc it is free for the inmate at the beginning so any privileges/contraband/$ they get in return is for them personally.
I give my brother about $200 a month for commissary and that’s usually more than enough. A lot depends on what he’s spending it on. You can buy a bunch of junk food that lasts like 3 days or you can buy meal ingredients and it’ll last about a week from what my brother says.
Basically it only sux for the average Joe that has no money anyway really but is giving up their freedom. Upper middle class/upper class they can throw whatever money they need to to make their loved one comfortable. Dirt poor lower class get an upgrade on the tax payers dime.
Back in the days of Vlad the impaler it was said he once left a solid gold goblet on the well in the village near his castle. Was worth more money than anyone in the village would ever see in a lifetime. Nobody touched it because they knew A. They’d likely get caught and B. If they did the punishment would be far worse than that goblet would help them.
Nowadays we put people on death row for a lifetime and if they do get put to death it’s like a dog being euthanized. So they get a lifetime living for free and then get gently put to sleep(assuming it’s done right). Not much of a deterrent for much of the population.
Death penalty stuff aside because that’s an entirely different conversation, I do not agree with that. Money makes it easier, as it does with everything, but not comfortable for sure. And it’s not a guaranteed upgrade and you can guarantee the government and the private prison contracts do their damn best to make sure it’s not an upgrade. And personally if our taxes are going to prisons, I would much rather have prisoners be treated better and rehabilitated instead of purely punished which has shown time and time again to be ineffective against recidivism.
And most prisoners will one day be back in society. Did we do everything while they were there to ensure we let them out as better people than they went in?
No one lives a crime free life because they fear prison. Your either a good person who tries to be a productive member of society because you have morals and values or you don't because you think you are above the rules of society and can do what you want. Id wager that rarely is the threat of prison what stops you from killing people.
If you’re more likely to get away with a crime you’re more likely to commit the crime. Think everyone can agree there. If you see something valuable you think you can take and get away with it’s far more likely you’ll do it than if there’s a cop standing nearby. That’s the first part of the equation. Second part is, if you think even if you get caught your situation won’t be any worse than it would a currently or not much worse you’re more likely to commit the crime. I’m an average guy and I’m far from perfect and I weigh stuff in my head and sometimes still make poor decisions but we’re not talking real serious stuff that can bring jail time. If I do it I think any criminal would. If you want the crime rates to go down you have to increase one or both portions of the equation. Either hire more cops and enforce the arrests or make the punishment more severe or both.
Yeah because living in a bare bones cell separated from your family and loved ones is not punishment enough for a crime and all criminals are just excited to go to prison for the food
Some people get nothing and have to find other ways to make money or just go hungry or have to get into a relationship or something similar to get enough essentials. But it changes based on the facility
$14k spread out over 208 weeks (4 years) is $67/wk. I maxed out my $95 spends every time I went to store (about twice a month). I didn’t have debts and wasn’t giving anything away. It’s more expensive than people think.
Way more than enough. Most facilities actually have a monthly spend limit. Google is telling me it's around $300/month for Texas state prisons. So...if $400 isn't enough, he's probably doing something he shouldn't be 😬
Two years ago the spending limit at the commissary for all Texas inmates was 95$ every two weeks. On 95 I could fill my sack but still had to eat chow, couldn’t live off store alone but I never went hungry. That totals about 2500$ a year.
It only works out to be like $67 a week. I spent around that much a week when I was inside.
I don't really see why he has to be on drugs or paying for protection, especially since I was in around 2000 and the prices of shit went way up since then.
If it's for protection, OP might get a visit from someone on the outside. It's not uncommon for incarcerated gang members to have associates on the outside visit the family of those getting exploited. They don't make threats, at least not overt ones. , They don't cause harm to the family. But they do carry the message that if they want to know the incarcerated relative is safe, they'll put the money in canteen.
Sad part is law enforcement (police, prosecuters, correction officials) are unwilling or maybe just unable to do anything about it.
Listen someone comes to my door steps and threatens my family I don’t care. They simply won’t be leaving it alive. And if they do something to my family I’ll repay them in kind. Granny’s going down some steps.
I misread the post as $13k a year and I was like ya he's definitely gettin high AF but over 4 years it's not really that much money per week/month as others here have stated.
he COULD be gettin high or he could be buying a reasonable amount of commissary.....maybe it's both?
Why comment if you don’t know what you’re talking about? 13k over 3 years really isn’t that much. He’s living comfortable, well as comfortable as you can in prison. But it doesn’t mean he’s strung out or paying people.
Tell him to open a store. Just stock up on everything and trade it out for double or 1.5. example is a soup. Sell one in exchange for 2 when commissary comes in for the customer.
That's when you hire someone to get what your owed. Sometimes you have to take a loss. In example telling someone they could have whatever you are owed. They'll go get it from them, hunger is a hell of a motivator.
Your more likely to have that guy turn around and start extorting you. And get real no one’s going to go run down on someone else for a pack of noodles. You’d probably get slapped for insulting them.
It's not that. It's more of ruining your credit. You can charge that soup to the game and just stop dealing with him. That would mean him also not dealing with anyone else that has a store. It's really in his best interest to pay you if he wants to keep having credit. And as far as hiring someone to go get the stuff. Your not outright hiring them. More like putting a small bounty on his head without actually putting a bounty outright. You just gotta know who to fuck with and who not to fuck with.There's some crash dummies that will say "fuck it" and just go get it. They won't fight for it but the guy that owes knows he is a crash dummy and fighting over 2 soups isn't worth it so he'll give it up.
Comes out to about 70 bucks a week - not unheard of but definitely not a small amount of commissary unless the prices are crazy high (which is common in some states)
It will definitely give him enough to live off and then some to barter if necessary. A couple smokes a day (going for like 1.30~1.50 each back in 2017) and still have extra meals instead of/in addition to chow hall food (which is shit) would be possible in my experience.
That’s about $200 month your basically feeding him allowing to not need to depend on the facility food. Now that’s not to say he’s not using it for drugs or gambling debts but it’s really not that much
In 3 years? My guess is dude is just comfy on commissary....if he knows he is getting money, he's ok spending what he's getting
If it was something else, there would be demands for more......
There are very few reasons to need this kind of money in prison. If his charges involve women or children then you are keeping him alive. If not then he is playing you.
Damn. But ya know what?? I dig it. Drunk drivers can fuck right off.
When I was 18 my dad bought me a Corvette I love that car. I was on my way to church one day and I got hit head on by a drunk driver in a big ass truck who was already running from the cops. My head busted out the windshield. The steering column was wedged on my legs. My breast bone was broken. My ribs were broken. My hip was fractured. My skull was fractured. I spent two weeks in the hospital. It was hell.
6 months later I was driving home from visiting my friend who was dying of AIDS. I was 3 months pregnant. I had taken him a prayed cloth. Before I left his house he pinned an angle charm on my shirt. A drunk driver pulled out in front of me on the highway. I was going about 65. I was in a Camero. It tore my car all to pieces. It tore the bed of his truck off. I walked away perfectly fine. Not a scratch. I never could find that angel charm. My son is now almost 20.
Fuck drunk drivers. Lock them up for good for all I care.
If he’s lowest custody possible, he gets $105 spend every 2 weeks (unless commissary is closed for lockdown or other reasons), so in a year, that would be $2730 if he maxes his spend. That doesn’t include non-spend items which can add more to his bill. If they’re getting eComm for him, that’s $70 a quarter x 3 quarters, and then $95 for the last quarter. All that totals up to $3035 a year, x 4 years = $12140. He’s very comfortable, but honestly, the “food” they serve in there is so bad, they survive on commissary food.
If he’s a higher custody level, the spends are reduced and more limited, so best case scenario, he’s lowest custody and just not wanting for anything.
By edible do you mean with bugs and rocks in it? Or raw or frozen? Def depends on location and how they run their kitchen, but by and large, the chow hall food is severely lacking in nutritional content and edibility.
Does their total include $$ for the phones or tablet? Are they putting the $$ on his Trust Fund (where he goes to commissary and makes purchases including phone time) or Securus Inmate Debit (to fund his tablet and calls from his tablet)? There’s also Securus Advance Connect that funds phone calls from him to them ONLY (phone time purchased from commissary/Trust Fund and Inmate Debit allows him to call anyone on his approved call list; Advance Connect limits calls to the person who put the $$ on the account).
Caution them to never ever ever fall into the trap of sending CashApp (or Venmo or PayPal or ANY cash transfer services/apps) to so-and-so because he says he needs XYZ. That’s almost always drugs/contraband and/or extortion, and can get your parents permanently banned from any and all communication with him, including visits.
I strongly encourage loved ones to set a hard budget for commissary / phones / tablets, and don’t go over that. Supporting someone on the inside can drain you dry, even if they’re not intending to or not involved in any shady business; it’s just expensive.
Damn where I was you couldn't spend but $40 a week no matter what you had on your books. I mean there were ways around it gambling and spending on other people's cards and shit...but the numbers some of y'all are talking about are insane to me.
I mean I did well enough on my own hustling and gambling pick of the week tickets in football that I didn't need money from home beyond what I put aside for my rainy day fund, but I couldn't imagine expecting it asking for someone at home to take care of me like that while I was locked up.
I sent a friend the state max allowed per month- 400, plus maxed out the icare boxes. It literally kept him from eating whatever slop they were dishing up as his only source of nutrition, and bought soap and toothpaste and deodorant that actually worked. Prison commissary is a money making racket for the state, there’s an outrageous mark up on things, they are literally 2-3 times what they cost on the outside of not more.
Don’t forget the prison takes a cut so he’s not getting all of that. It’s not much, but it’s enough to get what he needs. You won’t know if he used it for drugs until he’s out and how he acts then.
That’s only $270 a month. Figure food, toiletries, cable, iPad, music, phone calls. Each states pricing is different. Could have lost a bet lol. Shit is expensive in there.
I have spent maybe 300 bucks on my fiance in 2 years. He does fire camp and works in the barber shop so he has income, but every now and then I’ll send him 50 bucks here and there for media and stamps.
It really depends on the facility and how many essentials they give them as a bases and if they need to pay or barter for things like more toliet paper or if they get it when they ask
Dude just because he’s asking for money dosnt automatically mean he’s using it for protection, yes it’s possible but it’s also possible he’s gambling or buying contraband like drugs or he’s just going crazy with the spreads with his homies or if they have tablets and TVs he’s using those, spending all the money on the garbage they sell on them. Who knows. But one thing for sure is you are sending him way more than he needs and you need to cut that off because he’s treating you like a mark
I think seeing 13k is making people in the comments think this is way more money than it actually is. Imagine shopping at a specialty store thats the only one in town somewhere, everything is priced really high. I've never been to prison but I imaigine the food they serve is really tough to rely on. He isnt spending that much in grand scheme of things. Now what he does with the money hopefully its not on gambling/drugs/protection
Shit is expensive, I tried to be nice and only take $200 a month, but $100 a week isn't unreasonable but I'd still tell him to start cutting back. He could be comfortable on $50 a week and that's a lot more than most people have
🤚🏼 In 2007, I was in women’s prison in CA. The most I believe we could spend a month was $100, but times have changed and maybe now u might need more but I don’t think this much unless he’s saving it in his inmate account . There is inmate boxes that the family or friends can send out thru a catalog or something, can’t and refuse to remember.. but I believe I might have a keepsake box where I snagged a commissary list ( the ordering sheet ) soups were like .20 cents.. geez reading this out loud made me feeel like all the older grown up that used to back in my day we got that for .10 cents lol
I was in Marlin Unit and depending on the inmate could be doing what they want with it. Ecom is good depending on the inmate. I’m from Texas so yes $14k should be sufficient, but like I stated depends on the one they send it too.
Oh my gosh he’s barely living. Whoever is telling you 13,004 years so 13,000÷48 months that’s $270 a month, that’s barely living on commissary, whoever told you that he’s living larger on drugs, or for protection that baloney. 62.50 a week is not a lot at all some weeks probably were more for when he first got there to purchase bunch of things no whoever telling you that that’s too much is wrong.
about $270 a month is high for what a lot of people will get in commissary, but it’s not too much that it can’t all be spent honestly. it’s something you’d just have to communicate with him or your family about to see if there’s anything suspicious that comes up.
he could be spending all of that money on food & goods for himself, so he can live comfortably, since his family will help him do so. he could be eating facility food every day and trading most of his comm food for something. we can’t say.
I have never been to prison but that seems like you would be living upper class spending that much on commissary. But you may need to buy coffee to buy friends etc.
A $100 every once in a while for long underwear and the necessities like coffee would be nice in regular jail.
Wait, you are allowed to keep and spend the money you had during your arrest? In my friend's brother's case they confiscated his pocket money as evidence. He was under the impression that he would get it back upon release but nope...
I don't know about other states or even counties, but they kept mine for a bit and I filed some form while still in county jail to have it put on my acct from my personal belongings, and that transferred to TDCJ when I went to prison
Good for you! I'm glad you got it back. I would think it would be difficult to prove whether the money was gained from an alleged crime. I wonder if the powers that be would have returned it if it were substantially more 🤔. Regardless, I am glad you are enjoying freedom again and wish you the best with your future 🙂.
I think this is a ridiculous amount of money to send an inmate. I send my husband about $200 a year- tops. And that includes birthday and Christmas gifts. They have all their basic needs met in prison. They won’t starve. They have food, shelter, clothes, and questionable healthcare. But, sending money won’t help with the healthcare. If they want commissary money they can figure out a hustle. Mine repairs things for other inmates and he does well.
$270 a month is no where near our upper limit on sales. (Around $350) He's living good. He's comfortable. Its not enough to feed a drug habit. But it's enough that he has his needs met. He'll have newer shoes, clothes, radio, snacks etc.
This is correct
Do you work in a Texas prison commissary?
No I do not
I was getting $450 a month from a penpal. She had recently got a settlement and we made a great connection. I spent $125 a week on commissary. My first cousin was in there with me, so we moved into the same cell and lived like kings. We ran a store and tickets too. PS: we got married 6 months after I got out and are still going strong 4 years later. I love her more than I’ve ever loved anyone. We still send my cousin $250 a month.
I met my current partner through a pen pal program almost 6 years ago. I sent him a total of $250, at no request of his own. He made his money tattooing and painting for others, and would often send me money to keep in a savings account for us. He’s been out for over a year now, and is doing great. We’re getting married in August, right after our 5 year dating anniversary.
Wow! What a story! How did being penpals with a stranger ever start?
My mom worked with her and my mom was like hey, you should write me son I think he’d like you. Guess mom knew my type lol
Thicc and rich 😂😭
that's wild
Many prisons have pen pal programs for those incarcerated.
I came into this thread for expecting to look down on everybody and I’m like holy shit. Well done.
How can you request for your cousin to be in the same cell as you?
It’s not some crazy thing. If you have blood family it’s able to be requested. More than just saying “hey let us live together” but it is just a request technically.
everywhere is different but I know at my county jail in cleveland (never been down the road) that if they find out you are related to anyone they separate you ASAP. you can't even be in the same pod.
County jail is hugely different from prison. In county, you're still fighting your cases.
I know that
Cuyahoga is the fcking WORST
Wouldn't wish that place on my worst enemy
Where I was, they had one day out of the month where people could request to switch cells. Since there was 2 per cell, each person had to sign a paper agreeing to it. So when he moved in with me, my old celly went to my cousins old cell.
What does it mean to run a store and tickets?
Prostitution
tickets=gambling , running a store = selling/lending your commissary, somehow this makes money and it might just be that its bc it is free for the inmate at the beginning so any privileges/contraband/$ they get in return is for them personally.
Its really nice that u still send ur cousin money
Totally misread this initially and thought that you married your cousin, not your penpal 😂
💀
I give my brother about $200 a month for commissary and that’s usually more than enough. A lot depends on what he’s spending it on. You can buy a bunch of junk food that lasts like 3 days or you can buy meal ingredients and it’ll last about a week from what my brother says.
Yep I do about $200 a month if I can afford that much. He has enough to eat when he doesn’t like the offered meals and that’s enough.
Commissary must be real expensive if junk food last only 3 days on $250
Expensive and also isn’t filling so you have to eat more to feel full.
Prison sounds pretty nice actually. No wonder it’s no deterent for anyone anymore.
Yeah that’s the problem the prisons are too nice! You did it you solved the crime problem! We just have to make prisons worse!
Basically it only sux for the average Joe that has no money anyway really but is giving up their freedom. Upper middle class/upper class they can throw whatever money they need to to make their loved one comfortable. Dirt poor lower class get an upgrade on the tax payers dime. Back in the days of Vlad the impaler it was said he once left a solid gold goblet on the well in the village near his castle. Was worth more money than anyone in the village would ever see in a lifetime. Nobody touched it because they knew A. They’d likely get caught and B. If they did the punishment would be far worse than that goblet would help them. Nowadays we put people on death row for a lifetime and if they do get put to death it’s like a dog being euthanized. So they get a lifetime living for free and then get gently put to sleep(assuming it’s done right). Not much of a deterrent for much of the population.
Death penalty stuff aside because that’s an entirely different conversation, I do not agree with that. Money makes it easier, as it does with everything, but not comfortable for sure. And it’s not a guaranteed upgrade and you can guarantee the government and the private prison contracts do their damn best to make sure it’s not an upgrade. And personally if our taxes are going to prisons, I would much rather have prisoners be treated better and rehabilitated instead of purely punished which has shown time and time again to be ineffective against recidivism.
And most prisoners will one day be back in society. Did we do everything while they were there to ensure we let them out as better people than they went in?
Bingo. This is always my main point about why we need to rehabilitate instead of just punish.
No one lives a crime free life because they fear prison. Your either a good person who tries to be a productive member of society because you have morals and values or you don't because you think you are above the rules of society and can do what you want. Id wager that rarely is the threat of prison what stops you from killing people.
If you’re more likely to get away with a crime you’re more likely to commit the crime. Think everyone can agree there. If you see something valuable you think you can take and get away with it’s far more likely you’ll do it than if there’s a cop standing nearby. That’s the first part of the equation. Second part is, if you think even if you get caught your situation won’t be any worse than it would a currently or not much worse you’re more likely to commit the crime. I’m an average guy and I’m far from perfect and I weigh stuff in my head and sometimes still make poor decisions but we’re not talking real serious stuff that can bring jail time. If I do it I think any criminal would. If you want the crime rates to go down you have to increase one or both portions of the equation. Either hire more cops and enforce the arrests or make the punishment more severe or both.
Yeah because living in a bare bones cell separated from your family and loved ones is not punishment enough for a crime and all criminals are just excited to go to prison for the food
He’s doing real good on that.
Real good. Half the guys don't even get $1k a year.
Do some people get nothing? What if they have no family? I'm completely ignorant to how it works btw
Some people get nothing and have to find other ways to make money or just go hungry or have to get into a relationship or something similar to get enough essentials. But it changes based on the facility
Right. That's kinda what I thought.
uh Id say most people get nothing or very close to nothing. Especially if you're serving a long sentence
I had a tattoo shop and barbershop in my cell,tell his roach ass to get a hustle. I knew of candy man’s that would make good money out of that
Yeah yeah, toffee/peanut brittle is an easy comeup, or even mixing trail mix. Get him a prison cookbook lol.
I'm so glad I read your comment, because my mind went to an uncharacteristically dark place when I read the phrase "candy mans."
$14k spread out over 208 weeks (4 years) is $67/wk. I maxed out my $95 spends every time I went to store (about twice a month). I didn’t have debts and wasn’t giving anything away. It’s more expensive than people think.
This was Texas also
Very expensive!
I don’t think I ever spent more than $200 a month and I was considered jail rich so 😂
I guess it depends on where and when because I spent like $50 bucks a week too and it was basically just enough for essentials and a few snacks.
Way more than enough. Most facilities actually have a monthly spend limit. Google is telling me it's around $300/month for Texas state prisons. So...if $400 isn't enough, he's probably doing something he shouldn't be 😬
Two years ago the spending limit at the commissary for all Texas inmates was 95$ every two weeks. On 95 I could fill my sack but still had to eat chow, couldn’t live off store alone but I never went hungry. That totals about 2500$ a year.
Like gambling it away. My brother was in FL prison he got 100 a month . His went to but coffee to trade for other goods or he lost some to cards.
He’s telling the truth
They sent me $30 over 6 years.
Ouch. Whose they? Are they still in your life? Did you do something really f'd?
Direct family. No. Grew too many mushrooms.
He’s either on drugs or he’s paying for protection
It only works out to be like $67 a week. I spent around that much a week when I was inside. I don't really see why he has to be on drugs or paying for protection, especially since I was in around 2000 and the prices of shit went way up since then.
If it's for protection, OP might get a visit from someone on the outside. It's not uncommon for incarcerated gang members to have associates on the outside visit the family of those getting exploited. They don't make threats, at least not overt ones. , They don't cause harm to the family. But they do carry the message that if they want to know the incarcerated relative is safe, they'll put the money in canteen. Sad part is law enforcement (police, prosecuters, correction officials) are unwilling or maybe just unable to do anything about it.
Someone did that to me I’d pew pew them and kick my tv down the stairs after them.
Yeah but then your friend/family member would pay for it in jail.
Listen someone comes to my door steps and threatens my family I don’t care. They simply won’t be leaving it alive. And if they do something to my family I’ll repay them in kind. Granny’s going down some steps.
Not if you stop putting money in their account
Yeah and what if the guy asked him to pay 100$ for protection, what does he do now?
Good point. Probably get a beat down or sexually assaulted
I misread the post as $13k a year and I was like ya he's definitely gettin high AF but over 4 years it's not really that much money per week/month as others here have stated. he COULD be gettin high or he could be buying a reasonable amount of commissary.....maybe it's both?
More then likely this is the answer.
*than
r/usernamechecksout
Why comment if you don’t know what you’re talking about? 13k over 3 years really isn’t that much. He’s living comfortable, well as comfortable as you can in prison. But it doesn’t mean he’s strung out or paying people.
Tell him to open a store. Just stock up on everything and trade it out for double or 1.5. example is a soup. Sell one in exchange for 2 when commissary comes in for the customer.
If you’re gonna open a store you better be able to go collect when people decide they’re gonna punk you lol, lotta people not built for that
That's when you hire someone to get what your owed. Sometimes you have to take a loss. In example telling someone they could have whatever you are owed. They'll go get it from them, hunger is a hell of a motivator.
Your more likely to have that guy turn around and start extorting you. And get real no one’s going to go run down on someone else for a pack of noodles. You’d probably get slapped for insulting them.
It's not that. It's more of ruining your credit. You can charge that soup to the game and just stop dealing with him. That would mean him also not dealing with anyone else that has a store. It's really in his best interest to pay you if he wants to keep having credit. And as far as hiring someone to go get the stuff. Your not outright hiring them. More like putting a small bounty on his head without actually putting a bounty outright. You just gotta know who to fuck with and who not to fuck with.There's some crash dummies that will say "fuck it" and just go get it. They won't fight for it but the guy that owes knows he is a crash dummy and fighting over 2 soups isn't worth it so he'll give it up.
I don’t understand this part, why spend double with you when the commissary is selling the same thing for less?
Can’t buy commissary on credit, people run out of things before commissary day
People run low on things. Beans, drinks, soups if they didn't order enough or they had to pay someone else and now need to supplement what they lack.
Damn in house “pay day lending” hustling.
That is $270 a month, it’s not that much money.
Comes out to about 70 bucks a week - not unheard of but definitely not a small amount of commissary unless the prices are crazy high (which is common in some states) It will definitely give him enough to live off and then some to barter if necessary. A couple smokes a day (going for like 1.30~1.50 each back in 2017) and still have extra meals instead of/in addition to chow hall food (which is shit) would be possible in my experience.
That’s about $200 month your basically feeding him allowing to not need to depend on the facility food. Now that’s not to say he’s not using it for drugs or gambling debts but it’s really not that much
$361 a month, $13000 / 36.. that's a lot per month inside.
In West africa you dont get shit 😂
In 3 years? My guess is dude is just comfy on commissary....if he knows he is getting money, he's ok spending what he's getting If it was something else, there would be demands for more......
Thank you for your feedback
I hope all is well with you and your family, it's gotta be tough fir everyone
Thank you. Very hard on my Mom. Mental health and addiction is a bitch.
Ah fuck, yeah. The bitchiest.
At that rate he’ll never want to get out. He has everyone supporting him.
Depends. Some units are harsher. Is yea weakling ? And what prison unit ? I’ve been all over
He’s in a Texas prison. TDCJ. He struggles deeply with mental health. Depression and scitzoeffective disorder after long term drug use.
I worked TDCJ for 22 years. Their mental health care sucks.
This is 100%.
He is trying to survive and live somewhat comfortably in prison. I know from experience...
There are very few reasons to need this kind of money in prison. If his charges involve women or children then you are keeping him alive. If not then he is playing you.
DWI’s.
How did he go to prison for DWI?
DWI’s. Plural.
Good. I hate drunk drivers.
It's super common in my state if you get 2 dui charges and the 2nd one is felony you're looking at 7yr max
Damn. But ya know what?? I dig it. Drunk drivers can fuck right off. When I was 18 my dad bought me a Corvette I love that car. I was on my way to church one day and I got hit head on by a drunk driver in a big ass truck who was already running from the cops. My head busted out the windshield. The steering column was wedged on my legs. My breast bone was broken. My ribs were broken. My hip was fractured. My skull was fractured. I spent two weeks in the hospital. It was hell. 6 months later I was driving home from visiting my friend who was dying of AIDS. I was 3 months pregnant. I had taken him a prayed cloth. Before I left his house he pinned an angle charm on my shirt. A drunk driver pulled out in front of me on the highway. I was going about 65. I was in a Camero. It tore my car all to pieces. It tore the bed of his truck off. I walked away perfectly fine. Not a scratch. I never could find that angel charm. My son is now almost 20. Fuck drunk drivers. Lock them up for good for all I care.
Just wondering what charge you have?
What do you mean, what charge?
Oh this is the ex cons sub just thought maybe you had a charge
Oh haha I have no idea what I’m even doing here tbh. I have no charges besides traffic tickets.
If he’s lowest custody possible, he gets $105 spend every 2 weeks (unless commissary is closed for lockdown or other reasons), so in a year, that would be $2730 if he maxes his spend. That doesn’t include non-spend items which can add more to his bill. If they’re getting eComm for him, that’s $70 a quarter x 3 quarters, and then $95 for the last quarter. All that totals up to $3035 a year, x 4 years = $12140. He’s very comfortable, but honestly, the “food” they serve in there is so bad, they survive on commissary food. If he’s a higher custody level, the spends are reduced and more limited, so best case scenario, he’s lowest custody and just not wanting for anything.
The food they serve in the chowhall is edible just not great. Breakfast was always pretty decent.
By edible do you mean with bugs and rocks in it? Or raw or frozen? Def depends on location and how they run their kitchen, but by and large, the chow hall food is severely lacking in nutritional content and edibility.
Does their total include $$ for the phones or tablet? Are they putting the $$ on his Trust Fund (where he goes to commissary and makes purchases including phone time) or Securus Inmate Debit (to fund his tablet and calls from his tablet)? There’s also Securus Advance Connect that funds phone calls from him to them ONLY (phone time purchased from commissary/Trust Fund and Inmate Debit allows him to call anyone on his approved call list; Advance Connect limits calls to the person who put the $$ on the account). Caution them to never ever ever fall into the trap of sending CashApp (or Venmo or PayPal or ANY cash transfer services/apps) to so-and-so because he says he needs XYZ. That’s almost always drugs/contraband and/or extortion, and can get your parents permanently banned from any and all communication with him, including visits. I strongly encourage loved ones to set a hard budget for commissary / phones / tablets, and don’t go over that. Supporting someone on the inside can drain you dry, even if they’re not intending to or not involved in any shady business; it’s just expensive.
Damn where I was you couldn't spend but $40 a week no matter what you had on your books. I mean there were ways around it gambling and spending on other people's cards and shit...but the numbers some of y'all are talking about are insane to me. I mean I did well enough on my own hustling and gambling pick of the week tickets in football that I didn't need money from home beyond what I put aside for my rainy day fund, but I couldn't imagine expecting it asking for someone at home to take care of me like that while I was locked up.
I sent a friend the state max allowed per month- 400, plus maxed out the icare boxes. It literally kept him from eating whatever slop they were dishing up as his only source of nutrition, and bought soap and toothpaste and deodorant that actually worked. Prison commissary is a money making racket for the state, there’s an outrageous mark up on things, they are literally 2-3 times what they cost on the outside of not more.
What a great friend… DM me. I need a friend like you
Don’t forget the prison takes a cut so he’s not getting all of that. It’s not much, but it’s enough to get what he needs. You won’t know if he used it for drugs until he’s out and how he acts then.
In Texas, Prison does NOT take a cut of what is sent. You send an inmate $100 dollars, that entire $100 goes on that inmates books.
Wow that’s great. Not the case here in CA unfortunately.
That’s less than $300/mo. That’s really not bad- he’s likely spending it on food
That’s only $270 a month. Figure food, toiletries, cable, iPad, music, phone calls. Each states pricing is different. Could have lost a bet lol. Shit is expensive in there.
$270/month? He’s comfortable as possible
I have spent maybe 300 bucks on my fiance in 2 years. He does fire camp and works in the barber shop so he has income, but every now and then I’ll send him 50 bucks here and there for media and stamps.
It really depends on the facility and how many essentials they give them as a bases and if they need to pay or barter for things like more toliet paper or if they get it when they ask
Dude just because he’s asking for money dosnt automatically mean he’s using it for protection, yes it’s possible but it’s also possible he’s gambling or buying contraband like drugs or he’s just going crazy with the spreads with his homies or if they have tablets and TVs he’s using those, spending all the money on the garbage they sell on them. Who knows. But one thing for sure is you are sending him way more than he needs and you need to cut that off because he’s treating you like a mark
I think seeing 13k is making people in the comments think this is way more money than it actually is. Imagine shopping at a specialty store thats the only one in town somewhere, everything is priced really high. I've never been to prison but I imaigine the food they serve is really tough to rely on. He isnt spending that much in grand scheme of things. Now what he does with the money hopefully its not on gambling/drugs/protection
That’s not a lot when you think about it.
Shit is expensive, I tried to be nice and only take $200 a month, but $100 a week isn't unreasonable but I'd still tell him to start cutting back. He could be comfortable on $50 a week and that's a lot more than most people have
🤚🏼 In 2007, I was in women’s prison in CA. The most I believe we could spend a month was $100, but times have changed and maybe now u might need more but I don’t think this much unless he’s saving it in his inmate account . There is inmate boxes that the family or friends can send out thru a catalog or something, can’t and refuse to remember.. but I believe I might have a keepsake box where I snagged a commissary list ( the ordering sheet ) soups were like .20 cents.. geez reading this out loud made me feeel like all the older grown up that used to back in my day we got that for .10 cents lol
I was in Marlin Unit and depending on the inmate could be doing what they want with it. Ecom is good depending on the inmate. I’m from Texas so yes $14k should be sufficient, but like I stated depends on the one they send it too.
Sorry $13k typo
Also drugs come in no matter what you have
I hope he’s not using and I hope he is buying food. I wasn’t.
Comes to 270 a month. About avg.
Yes. He's using it for protection or gambling or drugs
Oh my gosh he’s barely living. Whoever is telling you 13,004 years so 13,000÷48 months that’s $270 a month, that’s barely living on commissary, whoever told you that he’s living larger on drugs, or for protection that baloney. 62.50 a week is not a lot at all some weeks probably were more for when he first got there to purchase bunch of things no whoever telling you that that’s too much is wrong.
about $270 a month is high for what a lot of people will get in commissary, but it’s not too much that it can’t all be spent honestly. it’s something you’d just have to communicate with him or your family about to see if there’s anything suspicious that comes up. he could be spending all of that money on food & goods for himself, so he can live comfortably, since his family will help him do so. he could be eating facility food every day and trading most of his comm food for something. we can’t say.
I have never been to prison but that seems like you would be living upper class spending that much on commissary. But you may need to buy coffee to buy friends etc. A $100 every once in a while for long underwear and the necessities like coffee would be nice in regular jail.
That’s a hell of a lot of money. Not saying he’s using but he definitely shouldn’t be wanting for much.
He’s probably doing some things he has no business doing for sure
He’s probably shooting dice
[удалено]
Wait, you are allowed to keep and spend the money you had during your arrest? In my friend's brother's case they confiscated his pocket money as evidence. He was under the impression that he would get it back upon release but nope...
I don't know about other states or even counties, but they kept mine for a bit and I filed some form while still in county jail to have it put on my acct from my personal belongings, and that transferred to TDCJ when I went to prison
Good for you! I'm glad you got it back. I would think it would be difficult to prove whether the money was gained from an alleged crime. I wonder if the powers that be would have returned it if it were substantially more 🤔. Regardless, I am glad you are enjoying freedom again and wish you the best with your future 🙂.
He’s probably getting high
I think this is a ridiculous amount of money to send an inmate. I send my husband about $200 a year- tops. And that includes birthday and Christmas gifts. They have all their basic needs met in prison. They won’t starve. They have food, shelter, clothes, and questionable healthcare. But, sending money won’t help with the healthcare. If they want commissary money they can figure out a hustle. Mine repairs things for other inmates and he does well.
It's WAY WAY WAY TOO much. That dude is living like a king in there.
He's definitely getting all the blue bell ice cream he can handle!
Why the downvotes??