Low-Income/ Struggling Mamas Support thread? - Page 2

[Mama.Pajama]

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[Mama.Pajama]

I'm there. Wife to a full-time student/full-time worker, stay-at-home mother to an 18 month old angel. We're barely scraping by here, and it would be really cool if there was a specific forum just for those of us who are struggling and want to share tips and ideas and encouragement. Let's do it!

[Slabobbin]

We are a family of five living on unemployment and Pell grants. I'd say we qualify as "low income". Glad to have a group!

[zuzunel09]

I have a physically demanding job that I'll have to quit soon, and until after the baby is a couple of months old. Without my income for our car payment things are going to get hairy. I have very supportive parents, but after all the jams they've helped me out of, I just don't want to rely on them so much any more. Me and my husband have to sort it out ourselves and start living more simply, and possibly getting WIC or food stamps.

Our biggest debt is to the IRS....:

[Captain_Crunch]

Opinions?

I just found out that my employer is looking to lay off 500 employees, mostly at corporate and none from my department(Collections), and are asking everyone else to reduce hours, voluntarily for now but who knows what may happen in a month.

Anyways, as part of the reduced hours plea they are granting benefits to PT employees now, so I could cut back to just 20 hours per week and still have health insurance for my son.

I have wanted to go back to school for sometime now and this seems like a godsend, I would still have insurance while still working fewer hours ..granted that does mean less $ overall. I filled out my FAFSA last month and qualify for almost all assistance in paying for school. So that doesn't seem to be an issue.

I really need an objective opinion, Is this something you would do? Is it worth tightening the belts even more to go back to school?

[lamairs81]

Well, we have some good news at least. My SIL has finally decided to move in with us. I figure combining our resources certainly couldn't hurt...although, since she'll be living with us I don't think I can get paid by the state to watch my niece & nephew while she's at work & school.

[justmama]

Originally Posted by lamairs81

Well, we have some good news at least. My SIL has finally decided to move in with us. I figure combining our resources certainly couldn't hurt...although, since she'll be living with us I don't think I can get paid by the state to watch my niece & nephew while she's at work & school.

that's untrue. anyone can get paid, blood relative or no, living in the household or no, for watching children with child care assistance as long as they are certified. and certification in my state at least is as simple as a dcyf(your local cps) check and a police background check and attending a class in dealing with the paperwork to file for compensation. It's a 90minute class that literally only touches on filling out the paperwork each month to claim the children you watch. And compensation is very small but it's something. Watched a friend's child a few years back and normal daycare centers would receive $175 weekly for the amt of time she was attending but I only received $88weekly. So unless you are a licensed provider, you make very little compared to the licensed rate but it's not hard to get the certification and it's extra money each week. And I'm positive that someone living in the same home as the children can get paid to watch them(at least in my state) because an older woman in the class I took was there because she was watching her 4 grandkids while their mom worked and they lived in the house with her because mom was single and needed the help with 4 kids.

[lamairs81]

I'll have to check with our case worker. I got this for relative care provider off our DHS website:

'You are not the parent or legal guardian of the child needing care, a member of the Child Development and Care (CDC) program group, the CDC applicant/client, or the CDC applicant/client's spouse living in the child's home.'
'You must live in Michigan and not in the same household as the child. '

and then this for day care aide:

'You are not the parent or legal guardian of the child needing care, a member of the Child Development and Care (CDC) program group, the CDC applicant/client, or the CDC applicant/client's spouse living in the child's home.'
' You must only care for subsidy eligible children in their home.'

I'm thinking term program group would apply to her family & ours combined after she moves in, but I'm not sure.

[Ianthe]

Yeah... we're struggling/low income for sure!

I'm subbing to the thread, I'll add more here later