November Low Income Thread

[Jyotsna]

Here's love and joy to all of you. I really hope November gets better for you. We WILL make it.

Okay, let's start posting over here. Happy November, and start thinking about your plans for Thanksgiving, which is in 3 weeks?

Don't forget to weatherize your doors and windows. You can make window blankets to cover your windows. Just be sure to open your window blankets at some point during the day to let out the moisture.

You can sew draft dodgers which are long strips of cloth that are filled with cloth or sand. Lay the draft dodger in front of your closed door and stop warm air for leaking out. Also you can make them for the size of your window, and place them below the handles, so that you can stop the draft in the windows.

If it gets bitterly cold, nail wool blankets over the doors to keep out cold air from one or two rooms, heating only those rooms.

Wear sweaters, sweat shirts, long underwear, socks, gloves and hats if your heat is turned off, and if you can't get it back on the same day, as a friend if you can sleep on their floor for 1 or 2 nights until you can get it back on.

Keep tea's like Throat Coat and Gypsy Cold Care in your house in case you get a cold.

Keep your cell phone charged. If you run into problems call family and friends to help you if you need it.

It's not easy being in a low income situation, so ask for help where you need it.

Again about keeping the house warm naturally, open the blinds towards the east in the morning to bring the heat/light into your house. Consider your windows as being three things. Sometimes they are negative, sometimes positive and sometimes neutral. If the sun is shining into your house, your window is positive. Keep the blinds open on those windows.
If the sun is not shining into your house, those windows are negative. Keep the blinds shut.
If the house is comfortable, and no sun is shining, you have a nuetral window. You could leave it open, but if it begins to get dark, you should shut it before the sun stops shining on the floor.

Remind your children about the windows so they can help you keep the house warm. If you are keeping your temperature low in the house, make sure you have plenty of warm blankets on your's and your kids beds, and make sure they have warm clothing or pj's to sleep in. No one should be shivering while sleeping. If so, put the girls together in one bed, and the boys together in another bed, or if your family sleeps all together, sleep together to keep your body heat warm enough to not shiver.

These seem like simple things, but when it is bitterly cold out there, and it may already be for some of you, you have to stay warm and safe.

If you use electric heaters, BE VERY CAREFUL. You will have to decide if you keep them on or turn them off. Some moms use them because they have no heat. You may want to ask around to see if someone has a wood burning stove you can have, and then start heating your home with wood.
I know in the house I was in, the owner would not let me use a wood burning stove.

Apply for programs to help weatherize your home, or programs to pay for a portion of your energy bill.
If you don't have food, apply for food stamps. If you don't have health care, apply for medicaid.

Love to all of you mama's and papa's on this journey!

[pollyanna]

hi,
This month I'm hoping Goes well for everyone. I've applied for a overnight job so I can watch my son during the day. right now my dad watches DS, but I know my Dad really wants to do things during the day. If i get this job I will save a lot a money in gas because I could walk to work.

Pollyanna

[cwat]

Hi everyone, Happy November
I hope November is a better month :cross
I'm going to go to UPS tomorrow and apply for the package handler job. Wish me luck everyone :cross
Jyotsna, glad that your parents are letting you stay! I was worried about you

[Ianthe]

Originally Posted by Jyotsna

Hi Mamas,

I'm sending out hugs and hopes to all of you struggling so much. I'm at my parents house for some time, and they are being "OKAY" about us being here. It's hard, but I'm thankful for their invitation.

I've got a terrible cold, and with all the stress, I have lost weight (not a bad thing).

Priya and I had a good halloween night, she was invited to a party, and most of the parents were there, so I stayed there too, and visited with some friends.

Things to be thankful for?
1. My van is running.
2. I have four new tires on my van.
3. We have good food to eat.
4. We have clean water to drink.
5. We are living in my parents home.
6. We have love in our family.

Hope all of you have these things too!

We are living with my MIL (not totally living with her, but in her basement apt) and it can be challenging.. HUGS to you, so glad you and your family are safe!!!

[remijo]

Hi, I am joining here. It has been a very difficult year for us. DH and I both got laid off in July and had to move in with the in-laws. We found an apt a couple months later and moved out thinking it would be a matter of time before I found a job. Not true... the job market is terrible and I guess no one wants to hire a 7 month pregnant woman - not even telemarketing which I thought would be a sure shot. DH is substitute teaching for the school district but is on call so it all depends on his hours. He is looking at a night job and I am going to call Domino's to see if I can deliver pizzas.

So we are a family of three (soon to be four) living on about 900 a month. Thank the powers that be that we have family in town and can go over there to eat anytime we want and can move back in if things are too terrible. We have two car payments and a house payment for a house we own and can't rent for the price of the mortgage not to mention our other cost of living bills. I have been very broke before but this is the first time I have had so many bills being broke. DH is joining the army in February, his pay will kick in in March so I am hoping things will improve at that time. So for right now, we are borrowing and using credit and going deep into debt.

I do have a serious gripe, wondered if anyone else can tell me how to deal with this. I went down to get food stamps, we definitely qualify but it requires that DH has to take a income verification sheet to his workplace which he won't do. He's too proud. He would rather rack up money on the credit card then do that. It makes me want to hit him, seriously.

[cwat]

Welcome, Remijo. I know what you mean about local job markets, I've been looking for a job too, but I might possibly have a job working at UPS.
It's only "seasonal" (package handler) till either the end of November or beginning of December, but there's a very real possibility that I could get hired as permanent part time starting in January. (the HR lady said that almost all of the people that were hired last year as seasonal are still working there now)

[EarthyMamaofDaisy]

Jyotsna - that was an awesome post There is a lot to consider at winter time when you are low income.

remijo - instead of having your husband's work sign a form can you save up enough weeks of paystubs instead? That's what we usually do.

I haven't posted on this thread in like a year and a half but I've been lurking this past month. We are on WIC, FS, fuel and electric assistance and our kids are on Medicaid. My husband just lost his job on Wednesday so I need to call my caseworker and get our FS increased again. There are pretty much no jobs around here but we're hoping he finds something soon. My birthday is this month and right now my car won't pass inspection without being fixed so I don't know what we're going to do if he doesn't get a job soon. We only have one car and we live in a rural area (no busses).

[zebra15]

HI mom's, I think I'm going to join your thread. I'm a single mom to a great 9 yr old boy but money just s*cks. My only real income was unemployment and subsutitute teaching however my unemployment was just contested last week so it looks like that will be stopping and they are going to want me to pay that back (ya right like I have the means to do that). I found out last month that our food stamps were cut from $285/month to $166/month for no reason. I called the office and they dont know why and I'm so frustrated with Arizona that its not worth filing a greviance over.
Our living situation is less than ideal. The rent is reasonable but the roommate is 'odd'. We were good friends but DS and I have been here 8 mos and after living with friends it defiently changes that friendship.
I am scheduled to student teach after the winter holidays which means absoluetly NO INCOME for 12 weeks and I was hoping for unemployment to continue but its not looking good.
Oh and my landlord/roommate is coming home with a new puppy on friday. This puppy is a BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOG. We already have a dog here, a nice old dog that just lays around and doesnt chew, doesnt bark, etc...
Things are tense... the holidays are coming and I feel like all the pieces are going to fall apart.
I'm stuck with daycare so looking for another job is tricky. Any money I would make would probably go right to pay for a sitter. I cant do childcare since we rent space and live with someone. Things should get better next August *if* I can land a teaching contract. But again this is Arizona and my teaching cert is in Secondary Business. (Mid life career change). I really dont want to go back to my old career, finance the stress was horrible and caused me to have a mental breakdown hence the career change.
BTW there is no child support, not a possibility,
I think I just need a hug today.

[Noelle C.]

Thanksgiving...oh geez, we're going to be pressed for food the next two weeks as it is. Don't remind me about T-day dinner stuff. Last year I made a couple cornish game hens. This year it'll be a regular day for us, not planning any special dinner. Holidays here don't mean anything. It's actually easier and less stressful to not worry about making a special dinner, especially if it means cutting back even more to have the money for a turkey! Especially when we already don't have the money for our baby to be born outside a hospital now (no money for the birth supplies for a home birth, no money to do what we need to do to get her turned head-down, even though our insurance policy says these things are covered, meaning it's probably going to be going to the ER and being at their mercy).

It's just going to be the regular day-to-day, week-to-week for us as usual, except for a couple days or however long for the baby to be born. It's a luxury to think beyond that, so I personally am seeing things day-to-day right now.

I'm trying to ignore the holidays. While it's easy to say we should all focus on what we DO have, it's hard to keep in good spirits with holidays designed to make us feel inferior unless we buy more and more, and to see/read about the things people are buying and planning. It's like a triple-whammy for us because both our birthdays and Christmas are lumped together, so not being afford to do something for one really means not being able to do anything for all. I want to hole up in our apartment and ignore the outside world until it's all over. It's not that I care about gifts for myself, but it upsets me that there are things I want to buy and make for people I love, and I can't. There are things that my fiance deserves, and I can't get them for him. He does everything he can for me, and it makes me feel bad that I can't even afford a video game for him. It's more or less a reminder of the things I can't do rather than a reminder of the things I can't have for myself. In typical years, my wish-list is still rather odd, usually things for around the home since, as far as I see it, I have enough clothes.


Regardless of what the midwife and back-up doc and all the docs I've seen during this pregnancy have said, I am still keeping an eye out for work. So what if I'm not supposed to, and so what if I'm eght months along and could technically go any time now. I want/need a graveyard job. If I pull through the delivery, then new-daddy can be home with the baby during the night and I can be home during the day. The overnight jobs I'm finding are security jobs and warehouse/stocking jobs, which even I know I'm incapable of doing right now. I'm trying to find a convenience store or something. This area seems to close no later than midnight, with many places closing even earlier.

If anyone has any suggestions for over-night jobs, please let me know. CraigsList is turning up empty for over-nights that aren't security/stocking, so I need to go straight to the sources of jobs, and don't know really what those would be.

[PenelopeJune]

Noelle, I don't know what kind of area you live in, but aren't McDonalds, Taco Bell, and Sonic open really late? I think a lot of McDs are even 24 hours. And Walmart is almost always 24 hours, maybe you could be a cashier? Or at a gas station? If I were you, I'd just walk into these places and put in applications, don't bother with waiting for an ad.

[ediesmom]

hi mamas....

i'm here, too

for thanksgiving i signed up for a free turkey....which i will pick up....even though i don't normally eat much meat. but, i was at the local coffee shop yesterday and they are having a fun family potluck tday dinner games, a movie, food, neighbors....doesn't get any better than that! and, their turkey is organic free range

i am so stressed already about christmas.

oh, well. i think if i squeeze really tight i can do it i have two grandkids this year, my 13 year old, my dd and her partner....no job....and the older dd has her birthday in december.........

good news....it was near 60 here yesterday and today and the heat in the house says 72*....even though i haven't had it on for days

and a woman on another board posted a recipe for an indian lentil rice dish that will feed me for 5 or 6 meals and cost almost nothing.... mujarrsomething or other....with cumin, allspice, garlic and carmelized onion.

this month WILL be better...i swear

[Ianthe]

Originally Posted by ediesmom

and a woman on another board posted a recipe for an indian lentil rice dish that will feed me for 5 or 6 meals and cost almost nothing.... mujarrsomething or other....with cumin, allspice, garlic and carmelized onion.

this month WILL be better...i swear

I love that dish, I havent made it in a long time, thanks for reminding me of it!

[frugalmama]

hi all,

we're okay here - money is tight but we're going to make it. Not sure about next month as it's very likely my FS will not come in on time for December. We have to recertify, and our state is taking 45-60 days to process it. So worst case is that we don't have FS until mid-January.

I'm trying to decide if I should try to sign up somewhere for a holiday meal - we have enough food I think to last until January but if they take any longer than 60 days we'll be in trouble. OTOH, I don't want to take a meal away from someone else who needs it worse than we do.

Thankfully DD is set for Christmas - it's all from the thrift shop but I had a little extra a while back and found some very good deals. It won't be a big Christmas, but she will be happy. No one else is getting gifts though - our family isn't close and they all have more than we do, so I don't feel bad about not doing gifts.

[Polliwog]

Do either of you have a recipe for the lentil rice dish? It sounds yummy.

[Leta]

Mujadara

You need brown or green lentils, brown rice, onions, and the 7 Lebanese spices.*

Put some oil in a hot saucepan and toast your rice. Cook with water and chicken bouillion for about 45 mins. Kill the heat and let it sit to absorb the water.

In another saucepan, cook the lentils (equal amount to the rice) in water and 7 spices to taste for about 30 minutes.

Heat some butter and/or olive oil in a saute pan and carmelize your onions- about 1 onion per person.

After your rice has absorbed all the water, combine rice and lentils and top with onions.

Serve with black olives, sliced tomato, greens, pita, tzaiki and/or garlic sauce, hummus, falafel, baba ganouj, tahini dressing... almost anything.

Freezes and reheats beautifully. So delicious. I LOVE Middle Eastern food!


*Allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, fenugreek, and ginger, all ground into powder and mixed together in equal parts. (I have omitted fenugreek or substituted cardamom for it and still gotten good results.)

[Leta]

On the keeping warm tip:

A blanket under the fitted sheet of a bed helps retain heat. A heating pad on the couch does wonders while you're watching movies or whatever.

[zebra15]

Originally Posted by Leta

On the keeping warm tip:

A blanket under the fitted sheet of a bed helps retain heat. A heating pad on the couch does wonders while you're watching movies or whatever.

I used to do this with fleece under the fitted sheet then also fleece between the top sheet and the blanket. I was always toasty warm when I lived in a cold climate.

I also noticed fleece sheets at either walmart or target the other day. (it was probably target)

[Pumpkin_Pie]

Originally Posted by Leta

On the keeping warm tip:

A blanket under the fitted sheet of a bed helps retain heat. A heating pad on the couch does wonders while you're watching movies or whatever.

Yes, yes, yes to this! I have a felted wool pad on top of my mattress under my fitted sheet, and I also have a wool comforter, so we are sandwiched in wool in my bed and we are HOT all winter long, no matter what the temps get down to. DS is a little furnace though, so that helps a ton.

Happy November to all of us! I love the tips above, thanks so much for the reminders. I really need to get on winterizing my apartment. I actually still need to take the a/c out of my bedroom window... I haven't turned the heat on, so no real expense, but it is starting to get a bit chilly here at night.

I am starting my full time job tomorrow, and I can't wait for my first paycheck on November 21!!! It is going to see so HUGE. I actually have so many things on my list of "need to buy" that my extra cash will go right out the window super fast. I am going to stash a bit for an emergency and then get right on replacing things that I have desperately needed to replace or purchase for so long. New sneakers, snow pants for me so I can play with DS out in the snow this year, jeans that fit to wear to work, a few well fitting shirts that don't have stains all over the front for work as well, and rain boots for DS. Plus there is all of the back due bills that I need to catch up on, and the fact that I really need to be thinking about a new (to me) car. Sigh...

[Pumpkin_Pie]

Originally Posted by zebra15

I used to do this with fleece under the fitted sheet then also fleece between the top sheet and the blanket. I was always toasty warm when I lived in a cold climate.

I also noticed fleece sheets at either walmart or target the other day. (it was probably target)

OMG, I so want a set of fleece sheets! I have a completely organic bed, so feel a little funny about putting fleece on it, but I still might do it anyway. My bed and all of the bedding were bought when I was forced to cash in my retirement account. I was so ticked that I had to do it in order to receive public assistance, that I splurged beyond anything I have ever done and probably shouldn't have done and bought the bed and everything that went with it. I love it, but I am still embarrassed at how much it cost.

[faerierose]

Originally Posted by remijo

Hi, I am joining here. It has been a very difficult year for us. DH and I both got laid off in July and had to move in with the in-laws. We found an apt a couple months later and moved out thinking it would be a matter of time before I found a job. Not true... the job market is terrible and I guess no one wants to hire a 7 month pregnant woman - not even telemarketing which I thought would be a sure shot. DH is substitute teaching for the school district but is on call so it all depends on his hours. He is looking at a night job and I am going to call Domino's to see if I can deliver pizzas.

So we are a family of three (soon to be four) living on about 900 a month. Thank the powers that be that we have family in town and can go over there to eat anytime we want and can move back in if things are too terrible. We have two car payments and a house payment for a house we own and can't rent for the price of the mortgage not to mention our other cost of living bills. I have been very broke before but this is the first time I have had so many bills being broke. DH is joining the army in February, his pay will kick in in March so I am hoping things will improve at that time. So for right now, we are borrowing and using credit and going deep into debt.

I do have a serious gripe, wondered if anyone else can tell me how to deal with this. I went down to get food stamps, we definitely qualify but it requires that DH has to take a income verification sheet to his workplace which he won't do. He's too proud. He would rather rack up money on the credit card then do that. It makes me want to hit him, seriously.

Will they take pay stubs? When we applied they just made copies of dp's pay stubs.