What can you buy with your prison paycheck?
Two of our October posts were concerning working in prison, and the pay that an incarcerated individual receives. What can people inside do with the money they earn? That is, besides save it for when they’re released, if they are able.
As an incarcerated person, the state provides you with three meals a day. You might feel that you need to supplement those meals. You might feel, like those of us on the outside do, that you’d like to treat yourself. That is where your pay, which is kept for you in a “bank account,” comes in. Let’s imagine that you earn $7 a week. In the commissary, you could purchase a single 5-oz Reese’s cup for $5.50. Or you could get two single servings of breakfast cereal for $3.50 each. A 3-oz package of ramen noodles, around 45¢ in the grocery store, is 73¢. A container of imitation sugar-free honey at $7.80 would be out of your reach. (more…)