October Low-Income Thread - Page 15

[Purple Sage]

I've been thinking about her too. I really hope she is alright and posts soon.

[Marlet]

Hoping she checks in soon!

Good grief. We are in the 2 weeks before DD1's dental work. The 2 weeks in which she CANNOT get sick at all to any degree or the dr. has to deny her physical (even if she's healthy at that time).

I've slept all day because I don't feel well. I thought it was just low iron since I have issues with that (pregnant or not). I took one and took some vit. c just to be on the safe side. I've napped all day long. I've officially been up for maybe an hour. Just in time to cook the girls some dinner (aka a repeat of how lunch went). I was very hopeful it was iron until this go round of being upright. My throat is achy and my nose is stuffy.

PLEASE oh PLEASE don't let DD1 get sick! I do not want to put this off any longer than need be. Timing wise life is busy too so it's not like I can just duck and cover for the next 2 weeks. What's the max dose of a vitamin c supplement for kids, anyone know? I have a bottle of 500mg. I looked up the doseage for me but when I tried finding it for DD1 it was vauge. I had a friend suggest until bowel irritation but that seems a bit harsh to do to her.

[Goddess3_2005]

Can I join you all? DH has been out of work for almost a year. WE are living off of $150 a week with 6 kids. My inlaws are paying our bills, but for how long is any one guess. To top it off I had a big company steal my patent pending design and its running my into bankruptcy and I don't know what to do.

On the bright side, DH has a job interview for a good job today. So I am praying it works out!

[Satori]

Dear Universe,

I thought we talked about this, In fact I'm sure we talked about it just yesterday. I am seriously not amused by you right now. Blowing a head gasket is not amusing nor is its funny or entertaining.

[Ianthe]

Originally Posted by Satori

Dear Universe,

I thought we talked about this, In fact I'm sure we talked about it just yesterday. I am seriously not amused by you right now. Blowing a head gasket is not amusing nor is its funny or entertaining.

[Satori]

Crap, FS and cash are gonna be late next month. Why you may ask? I couldn't get all the documents I needed together until today and of course this is when the state decides to switch over to a new system so they can't even enter it into the system until the 2nd and if I'm really lucky I'll get everything a week late. Were already low on food and I don't think I can make it last another 2-3 weeks. Praying my Pell is disbursed on schedule so I can at least pay the rent and not incur a $50 late fee which I can not afford.

[ediesmom]

hi all

nothing much to report. edie's birthday (13th) is tomorrow and i got nothing....

other than that no one is knocking at my door wishing to shut something off. thats always nice

and, its been warmish here.

i had credit at a nice consignment shop and stopped in today and found the coat. THE COAT! thats a good thing

hope you all are keepin the faith....and a sense of humor

[Ianthe]

Originally Posted by Satori

Crap, FS and cash are gonna be late next month. Why you may ask? I couldn't get all the documents I needed together until today and of course this is when the state decides to switch over to a new system so they can't even enter it into the system until the 2nd and if I'm really lucky I'll get everything a week late. Were already low on food and I don't think I can make it last another 2-3 weeks. Praying my Pell is disbursed on schedule so I can at least pay the rent and not incur a $50 late fee which I can not afford.

Can you call up a food bank for an emergency food box?

[sunanthem]

Hang in there Satori.. remember.. finesse the universe with good vibes and hopefully, it will return some to you.

Happy Birthday Edie!

So nope, no luck getting the car back. Just gonna have to suck it up for awhile. I've been applying to jobs online, dh's taking the bus to school. I'm going to use this time at home for productive things and I've been cleaning alot. I've let my etsy shop slide awhile, so its time to get crafty.. which should also help my mind process some new ideas for the hunt, and make me feel better.

Hang in there mamas! Hugs!

[Pumpkin_Pie]

I am so sorry that so many of you mamas are having such hard times right now. It is not fair, and this time of year always seems to make things 10 times harder anyway.

On my front, I was offered a full time job yesterday! I am so glad that I had thought it through before she offered it to me. I had thought that I would be applying and re-interviewing for the position, but my supervisor outright offered it to me! It is still not a completely livable wage for a single mama, but I really feel like this is the start of our climb out of poverty. I hope it all works out and I can get DS into the childcare associated with my company. That will be such a huge help. (75% off tuition)

It just really feels like we are finally turning a corner.

[kbond]

Pumpkin Pie--that's great news!

On a related job note, I'm feeling almost crippled with the pressure to find a job, do my internship (which will not turn into a job), finish school (21 credits ), and get ready for the bar exam. I really, really don't know how I'm going to do it. I've already said screw it on housework, and the craziness that is our home does not help me feel more calm.

But, WIC and FS have been a god-send. And, we should hear back any day now on whether we got the Utilities Assistance. Now, if we could just figure out a way to get some help with our Heating Oil since we broke down and turned on the heat 2 weeks ago.

Oh, and does anyone have any tips for making yogurt? It's ridiculous. We have 4.5 gallons of milk in the fridge so we have to make some, but the last experiments (a) exploded all over the bottom of the oven (which wasn't on) or (b) didn't set in the yogurt maker.

We have so much milk because of WIC. But, none of us drink milk regularly.

[s_kristina]

I am so happy with the recent changes in WIC that allow soy milk. However we have run in to a problem. The only type of soy milk allowed by the state of FL is 8th Continent and none of the 10 or so stores we have checked either care it or have it in stock. Now I've got piles of checks for soy milk, but can't actually use them. That would be a huge savings in money if we could just find a store that carries the right milk. I've got to go pick up my check in a bit and I am not sure if we have checked the Albertson's near there as it is turning away from home, but we will be checking it today.

[Satori]

Originally Posted by s_kristina

I am so happy with the recent changes in WIC that allow soy milk. However we have run in to a problem. The only type of soy milk allowed by the state of FL is 8th Continent and none of the 10 or so stores we have checked either care it or have it in stock. Now I've got piles of checks for soy milk, but can't actually use them. That would be a huge savings in money if we could just find a store that carries the right milk. I've got to go pick up my check in a bit and I am not sure if we have checked the Albertson's near there as it is turning away from home, but we will be checking it today.

I'm pretty sure the Albertsons here carries it. If not talk to customer service at your preferred store and they can probably order it. I know our store didn't have all the WIC stuff yet but said they would order it. They did have the 8th Continent and so far I've been lucky that dd has been willing to drink it. She wouldn't touch the Silk or the 8th Vanilla flavor and would only drink the Chocolate variety on either. With the new package its knocking about $50 off our food budget which makes me happy Today I'm going to make a casserole with the tofu we got and a probably a pie with the silken package I got on accident

[Krystal323]

if you have cocoa powder, silken tofu can be made into a nice chocolate mousse, Satori!

I am lucky that the stores here carry 8th continent, and I'm so so glad that I can get all the soymilk we can drink now that we have WIC but wow it tastes different than Silk! My kids were so psyched about being allowed to drink soymilk with ovaltine again (something i havent' been able to allow them as i couldn't afford much soymilk), but one cup of that 8th continent and they were like, "Oh. Nvrmind." They eat it on their cereal but nobody's going thru it with gusto

So I'm still waiting for financial aid money. even tho i was supposed to get it by the end of the month, they haven't even sent it to my school yet... had to drop $100 on a textbook instead of pay two of my bills Ah well. We supposedly get paid today, but a lot of it is going to bills At least we'll be able to pay them all!

My biggest problem right now is figuring out how DH is supposed to get any sleep with the kids acting like screaming banshees all morning! It is seriously driving us both insane.

Oh! DH took a pizza delivery job on top of the overnight job, so he'll be working like 14 hours a day for the forseeable future....! He's really excited about the prospect of paying off our debts *before* tax return season, so maybe we can use tax return $$ to pay for something like a used car. I'm just worried about how his health is going to hold up if he keeps this up! i made him promise to quit one job if he starts to feel worse for the wear--but he's not the type to mention his health until it's way beyond a quick fix

sending everyone goodvibes, and hoping jyotsna's doing okay!

[crazyeight]

FS are a god send! I am so happy that our basic nessecities are taken care of and I feel like although many people would see me as scraping the bottom of the barrel i'm privelaged compared to many moms here! Child support is enough to pay the rent (which includes the utilities so i don't feel bad for staying warm or cool or cooking to much or whatever!) and getting $350 in food stamps is enough to cover even nice food! I received $257 the first time i applied (mid sept) and have just now used up all of that. I have a huge stockpile in the freezer anyways and even when i loose FS (who knows when!) i'll probably have a lot saved! It really makes a difference when you don't have to feed a full grown male all the time! Seriously they must double our eating here!

However I've got a car that needs some repairs. It needs new motor mounts (feels like that engine is going to shoot out the front unless you're real gentle) and shocks. One of my college classes got cancelled but they've already paid me my overages so I've gotta figure out if they are going to want that back or whats going on. If they don't however I'm gonna count my lucky stars, fix the car and get my lovely cell phone back! then any extra will go straight to the lock box.

[cwat]

Hi, everyone
Things here are about normal.
Stressing about finding a job (still nothing) trying to figure out how I'm going to pay the front rent, never mind the back rent I owe.
Plus, the monitor on my computer decided to go pfft today, so now I don't have a working computer to DO job searchs on. Just keeps getting better and better, sigh.
I called Macy's and they told me they are running behind on getting back to people, so I probably won't hear from them till around Halloween or shortly thereafter (sigh, again) plus the job doesn't start till the week of Thanksgiving, so around Nov 26th-ish. I am seriously stressing out!
I do have a job interview on Thurs 10/29 with UPS so I'm going to hope for the best (it's permanent part-time, but right now I'll take what I can get)

[inkedmamajama]

yesterday i got a disconnect notice for our gas bill-it was 330$! i had no idea that my husband hasnt been paying the bill-(because we are one month behind in our rent) and that it had gotten that high.

well today i called the church we belong to (its actually an ethical society-we are humanist, not theistic) and the took my info and then said they would call me back (they have a specific fund to help with utilities) and then they called me back and they took care of the ENTIRE BILL-not just the shut off amount.

i started crying when they told me that. it was so huge. i had no idea how to take care of the bill-and now...its just overwhelming.

we are still a month behind in our rent (and the first of nov is looming-so we may be two months behind soon) and i dont think our elec bill has been paid in a while, and our vans are all broke down-but that was such an amazing help!


___________________________________________


in other topics-does anyone ever feel guilty about the material things you own? we have some nice things-like a GPS, a Wii, iPods, etc...(but they were all gifts, or in the case of one of the ipods we found in a muddy field, and one we got for 15$ at a garage sale) and the GPS was something my mil bought for my husband so he can do his limo job.

but ive had people give me looks like we should sell these things-like why dont we pawn them? well its not like we would get very much money for them-and then we would be without some of the only 'nice things' we have. its almost as if when youre poor, people expect you to have nothing...like we dont deserve it. sigh...does anyone else feel this way?

if i talk about having a wii-i feel like i always have to qualify myself and say, it was a gift, etc...

[Satori]

Originally Posted by cwat

Hi, everyone
Things here are about normal.
Stressing about finding a job (still nothing) trying to figure out how I'm going to pay the front rent, never mind the back rent I owe.
Plus, the monitor on my computer decided to go pfft today, so now I don't have a working computer to DO job searchs on. Just keeps getting better and better, sigh.
I called Macy's and they told me they are running behind on getting back to people, so I probably won't hear from them till around Halloween or shortly thereafter (sigh, again) plus the job doesn't start till the week of Thanksgiving, so around Nov 26th-ish. I am seriously stressing out!
I do have a job interview on Thurs 10/29 with UPS so I'm going to hope for the best (it's permanent part-time, but right now I'll take what I can get)

If your not picky you can usually get the big ones (ie not the flat screens) for free on freecycle or for like $15 on craigslist.


I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to school next semester, most of the classes I need are on campus again and my parents are not willing to help out since there moving out of state in the spring. I have no idea if I'm even going to pass this semester and if I don't I won't get fin aid next semester. Instead of studying I'm busy dealing with a child who is refusing to do school work and its getting ugly. I wish to god I could just send her to school which would take care of the child care issue (plus our education battles!) with her then I could try scheduling school days when the nurse can pick up other dd and take her to daycare. I have had an ad at 3 different colleges with RN/LVN programs plus a few other sites for a week and so far not even a nibble and its going to take 2-3 months to get it set up all because no nursing agencies around here take pediatrics.

ok, In the middle of writing this post it occurred to me to tap a resource and find out about any new in town nursing companies and turns out one does staff peds in my tiny town! There checking right now to see if they can do it it works out!

[Ianthe]

Originally Posted by s_kristina

I am so happy with the recent changes in WIC that allow soy milk. However we have run in to a problem. The only type of soy milk allowed by the state of FL is 8th Continent and none of the 10 or so stores we have checked either care it or have it in stock. Now I've got piles of checks for soy milk, but can't actually use them. That would be a huge savings in money if we could just find a store that carries the right milk. I've got to go pick up my check in a bit and I am not sure if we have checked the Albertson's near there as it is turning away from home, but we will be checking it today.

Our Smith's/Kroger has 8th soymilk.

[PenelopeJune]

Hi everyone!!! May I join you here?

It's been awhile since I've been on MDC. I shut my internet off in May to save money, and we've since lost our house and have moved into a rental house. I just got internet back last week. (And it's slooooooow! I hate dialup!)

Anyway, I've been freaking out lately because even though our rent is now 1/4 what our house payment was, we STILL can't afford anything! We have an entire week until DH's next paycheck, and there is no money in the account. It will be a week of pantry eating. We have no meat at all, which makes it really hard because my DH doesn't consider a meal a meal unless there is meat. Thankfully I have lots of the basics, and a few dollars to buy a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, and some eggs. I'm HOPING that will tide us over until payday so we can make an Aldi's run.

Today I tried to find a buyer for our really nice dining room table and chairs. No luck. It is the only thing we own worth selling and I can't find anyone who will buy it! I have had no luck on Craigslist or with our two local used furniture places.

To the PP who's store didn't want to allow her to make a charge on her debit for under $5...they aren't allowed to do that. If you contacted your debit card company and told them that, the store could lose their agreement and their card readers. Soooooo not allowed.