March 2010 Low Income Support Thread - Page 3

[MayLibertySprout]

Originally Posted by maciascl

I so know what you mean! After 2 years of major pay cuts & us relying on credit cards to get by, DH was laid off in August. In Nov we got (surprise) pregnant. We have turned in our van & are in the process of short sale on the house, which means we will be moving to pretty much where ever will take us while I am 5 months pregnant. Then we have to find a car that will fit 3 car seats again by August. After that is all done we are filing bankruptcy. It is a sad, sad economy we live in right now! I hope your DH finds something wonderful very soon!!!

Thanks--and wow--sorry to hear about your situation too. it's so crazy that things are so ruff for so many right now...good luck to you too! we talked to a bankruptcy attorney, last week, we hoping to avoid this step, we'll see.

[MayLibertySprout]

Originally Posted by dhinderliter

that sounds like a great deal on a preschool to me! anything around here is likely to be $500 just like daycare! i'm worried about what to do with the new baby next semester....i can't use DES cause I don't "work" and I CANT afford "real" daycare while I go to school. also theres a waiting list for DES subsidies anyways...of thousands... but i'm trying not to worry about it yet...there is way to much to be done before then.


hey girly! glad you were able to talk to the ugly house buyers...they have a LOT of resources and nifty weird ways of getting through things and getting people out of bad situations but still being a good situation for them!

AFM: 36 weeks over here so I know how you feel Bethla! I'm not going through bankrupty but at this point i have nothing left to loose! Still not getting money from the ex and waiting on the clearinghouse for childsupport to get it all put in the system (which has been going on since mid Jan). Been living on practically nothing. Thankfully the BF still has a job and that's the only thing that's been keeping us from being homeless. Exh is trying to get away from paying the court ordered amount of $1500/mo which I understand but he wants to pay just for dd of only $450/mo which i find to be a ludacris number considering all of the other factors. One more week of school before spring break which is when i scrape up whatever money i have and go buy the neccessities for the baby and it also signals the last day for one of my classes. I'm also on track for getting all my homework done for the other class so i'll be "done" except for tests . However I am having to prepare for court before the baby comes as well and I am just tired of it all! I want to nest, and nap, and shop....instead i'm worrying about court and homework and money and my ex being released from jail a bare 3 weeks after the baby is due....i don't know what to think about that....

Good news is that because exh hasn't been paying much and we just had our recertification for food stamps plus they hadn't changed the rent amount that i TOLD them about back in oct so our "income" went down and rent went up so our foodstamps went up to $410. I should really try to buy some nicer cuts of meet.

hey back! hope things work out with the child support and all... glad you got more FS's. I can't imagine going through all that pg either(Bethla too)!
Danielle-I have the baby clothes set aside for you- we need to meet up soon I think I pm'd you my #(?)

[Sweetmama26]

Originally Posted by cwat

Yah on the new house, sweetmama!!!!!

Thanks!!! It works out to a bit less utility wise and our mortgage is a bit less then we are paying for rent, by $40 when we work everything in. I have a cousin who is a contractor so if we need any house, foundation or anthing contracting wise I can get that done at cost or less then cost. He has family that is an electriction, one that is a roofer and his dad is a contractor too and knows about plumbing as well so if we have problems in that area they are wlling to fix it for free or for minimal, which is AWESOME That and we're coming into some money soon so YAY!

[Ianthe]

Originally Posted by zebra15

Those who asked, my student teaching is suposed to be done april 9th.
Today was positive DS and I went out to breakfast then went to the park. This afternoon I hit the grocery store and did some errands. Tonight I plan on finishing my crochet project.

Tomorrow (sat) a good friend got tickets for DS and and herself to go see the 'globetrotters' and DS is sooooo excited and I get the afternoon to get a pedicure

Sunday foodstamps pay so I will stock up on some needed items and go from there.

There is 'student teaching next week' then a week of spring break. DS and I have plans for the zoo, science center etc... I should use that week to SUB in another district but I need to watch my mental health. I can not 'afford' to sprial downward again. I have spent too much time rebuilding my mental health and trying to rebuild $$ as well... I know I am stronger than this one woman and I will not let her tear me down.

Money is tight... but things will be okey.

What are everyone elses plans for March... spring break is coming up... thats a week that kids will be home (those who are in school)

Not too much longer.. hope you can hang in there!

Spring Break... we have been doing a nice family vacation for spring break but this year we are just going to Boise to see my best friend for the weekend.. It's about 6 hours from here. I'm SUPER excited! DH, not so much

Originally Posted by Sweetmama26

Our spring break was this week, we spent it looking at houses, we found one and had an accepted offer so we move in on the 30th of march. Its a lot more to worry about but, in the long run it will be better for us.

Congrats!!

[crazyeight]

may~ no i haven't recieved a recent pm from you but i can look and see if i have your number anyways!

spring break~ the daycare on campus is going to be OPEN and taking children through spring break and that includes people using the grant will still have the discounted fee so the kids are still going to daycare! it's my week to get really ready for baby. i have to do EVERYTHING baby related in that week and try to cram in as much other need to do stuff as possible. so not really a break.... i'll still be doing 2 assignments that week as well for math.

i think we're FINALLY going to start making headway on fixing my van. it's been in some bad shape for months and months now. needs the rotors turned/machined possibly new brakes ($100), needs new struts/shocks ($200?), needs 3 new motor mounts (the most expensive part @ almost $400) and needs a tranny flush ($80ish). basically a lot of front end work. so this weekend we're doing the brakes. the poor car just HAD to hit that dreaded 100k mile mark right when income just dissappears.

[Sweetmama26]

Originally Posted by LizzyQ

Congrats!!

Thank you!

[Satori]

Danielle,

Might want to check the price of the struts, they wanted $500 to replace mine. $200 seems very very low for shocks and struts.

[crazyeight]

Originally Posted by Satori

Danielle,

Might want to check the price of the struts, they wanted $500 to replace mine. $200 seems very very low for shocks and struts.

My BF can do the work for free/close to it. I just saw today that shocks installed were $60 and struts installed were $200 (or vice versa?) so even at a shop it would be just over $250. I just pulled the number off the top of my head. I haven't really planned to save for it yet anyways it's just amazing that all of the sudden the car is just about to fall apart at all axles and wheels.

[missmich]

She stole my wine!

March sucks! I can not deal with anything else to go wrong right now.

I'm in debt and getting way behind on bills. That could have been dealt with. I had some roommate issues and had to ask her to leave early instead at the end of March. So of course she took her share of the rent. I thought I'd rented out her room,but that girl changed her mind. A few days later,maybe March 3rd I got a new roommate who moved in from out of town with one small bag. Her mommy was supposed to bring the rest of stuff this weekend.

Well this girl hasn't paid me rent yet,I said it was fine as long as she paid me tomorrow since I'd talked to her mom (she's 18 and here for 2 months) who said she's be sending in then. Tonight she came in with a friend to get a few things cuz she was spending the night with the friend. Fine with me.

I got a bad feeling about the whole thing so got up to check her room after. Sure enough,door was wide open and all her stuff was gone except for a couple dirty socks and some garbage. All her bathroom stuff is gone alone with MY bottle of wine from the kitchen! Sure,I won't be drinking the wine for quite some time,but it was mine.

So now I'm stuck with coming up with all the rent in a very short amount of time and trying to figure out if and when I should move as well get myself to my first prenatal classes and Dr.s appointment this week. Oh yeah and some groceries may be nice as well.

[happyhats]

how awful, missmich! Karma will get her, though I know that's no consolation right now. When you go to your prenatal appointment, can you ask about help for pregnant women/new mamas in your area?

[Satori]

Originally Posted by missmich

March sucks! I can not deal with anything else to go wrong right now.

I'm in debt and getting way behind on bills. That could have been dealt with. I had some roommate issues and had to ask her to leave early instead at the end of March. So of course she took her share of the rent. I thought I'd rented out her room,but that girl changed her mind. A few days later,maybe March 3rd I got a new roommate who moved in from out of town with one small bag. Her mommy was supposed to bring the rest of stuff this weekend.

Wow, you have gone though 3 roommates in the last 2 weeks? Maybe its time to be a bit more selective? Or try to figure out why there not staying around? I know I am not roommate material, to difficult to live with lol I’d be in deep doo doo if I had to get a roomie to be honest. I hope you come up with the money you need soon, worrying about rent sucks big time.

[missmich]

Well the girl who had been my roommate for 3 months left after I asked her to. She didn't agree and was very vocal about my decision over my pregnancy. She then made a threat to me and that's when I asked her to leave that day. The girl who was going to take her room,sent me an e-mail (while I was cleaning the room for her) and said it was to small for her. So she didn't actually move in at all.

This other girl is 18 and here for a short time,mainly to explore and stuff. She has a few friends here and I think they sorta crash at another friends place. The reason I had agreed to her staying here was b/c I'd talked to her mom first.

I'm not sure what my options are for getting money,but I have to ask my welfare worker tomorrow.

I'm feeling super sick right now. Like barfy from being pregnant sick and I might barf at any moment. I kinda hope that I do so I can feel better.

Yes,I'll be asking the doc for any info they can give me for programs for new and single mamas.

[happyhats]

Just bumping this and checking in with everyone!

Let's see. We got our first movies today from our Blockbuster free trial. Blockbuster seems to be the cheapest way for us to rent movies since we only have a prepaid card. Netflix won't take prepaid, boo! Blockbuster will even take paypal! We rent from redbox but it's hard to get the good movies with high demand and only one box in my town. The rental store is waaay higher. And movies are pretty much are only entertainment expense.

I "applied" for a blogging position at another forum I frequent. I don't know what kind of chance I'll have but it would be fun.

I put up some trades and I found out about a pay it forward box with girl clothes. DD isn't hurting right now but she is always growing and I try to clothe her nicely for a cheaply as possible.

I'm trying to find an inexpensive outdoor toy for my dd for this summer. It has to be something that is portable, and hopefully foldable/dismantable. She has a car that fits in our storage unit, and a bubble machine though. I'd like a slide or the like. I have looked at our local craigslist, and other classifieds, but no luck so far. I'm thinking of asking my sil-I know she has one, she doesn't really like to use it, and I think her little ones are outgrowing it. I might even get it free, if not for a small amount.

I also applied to an add on my local classifieds about possibly doing some yardwork in the next week or so. I still have to ask dh if he wants to, but it's a nice bit of cash for easy labor and around here you better jump on it if you want a chance. There are a lot of out of work/under employed people. While hubby is employed our budget is extremely tight and that could buy him his bbq grill for the summer!

[Satori]

Originally Posted by happyhats

Just bumping this and checking in with everyone!

Let's see. We got our first movies today from our Blockbuster free trial. Blockbuster seems to be the cheapest way for us to rent movies since we only have a prepaid card. Netflix won't take prepaid, boo! Blockbuster will even take paypal! We rent from redbox but it's hard to get the good movies with high demand and only one box in my town. The rental store is waaay higher. And movies are pretty much are only entertainment expense.

Do you have a Paypal debit card? Netflix will take that You should also be able to buy netflix gift certs/cards with a prepaid card


I'm trying to find an inexpensive outdoor toy for my dd for this summer. It has to be something that is portable, and hopefully foldable/dismantable. She has a car that fits in our storage unit, and a bubble machine though. I'd like a slide or the like. I have looked at our local craigslist, and other classifieds, but no luck so far. I'm thinking of asking my sil-I know she has one, she doesn't really like to use it, and I think her little ones are outgrowing it. I might even get it free, if not for a small amount.

Try craigslist over the next few months, people start cleaning up the back yard/moving and getting rid of that stuff for free

I also applied to an add on my local classifieds about possibly doing some yardwork in the next week or so. I still have to ask dh if he wants to, but it's a nice bit of cash for easy labor and around here you better jump on it if you want a chance. There are a lot of out of work/under employed people. While hubby is employed our budget is extremely tight and that could buy him his bbq grill for the summer!

Yard work is not easy labor, thats why people pay so much to get it done. fwiw, I bought a nice BBQ grill from a neighbor who never used it for like $50, still using it ummm, 4 years later? You can get used ones for cheap/free pretty easy


Does anyone know how hard it is to patch a hole in the wall and make it look nice? Little bit took off all the door stops and last night decided it would be really fun to slam the door against the wall and as soon as mommy started yelling NO! STOP! (because I saw it making the hole) that meant DO IT MORE AND HARDER! The hole is clear though sigh... I have a feeling its gonna be one of those days... lil bit has been a demanding, whiny, ummm troublemaker since she got up this morning and its only 8:30 All I want in the morning is time to drink my tea in peace with no kids demanding, fighting, yelling, screaming, trashing or breaking things because I sat down for 15 minutes. Of course yesterday I made the mistake of sitting down to eat rather then chasing kids while I eat and dd shattered her dental work on her front tooth when she decided to climb and fell (stupid nurse was letting her climb up on stuff and despite 3 months of the nurse being gone I still haven't been able to break her of it!) She has just been a holy terror the past few weeks, usually its the older one driving me insane. Never thought I'd see the day the little one made the bigger one look like an angel. Being stuck at home is making things miserable for everyone

[Sweetmama26]

I'm hoping I can find a second job to supplement my income so that we have a bit extra money. I got my child support judgement back and it was a lil disheartening. I'm only going to be getting $168.42 per month plus my half of the DNA test money back plus $50/month in back pay from October 2009. Wow that's unbelievable to me.

[happyhats]

I've never heard of the paypal debit card! What's that about?

The yardwork in question doesn't sound too bad and I was told it won't be more than a day of labor. Rolling some logs, digging liner out of the ground and throwing it away, and that's about it. I have to get the full rundown before we go though.

I figure extra money is extra money, and hubby gets three days off of work a week so he can do this and still have a full weekend.
I'm set to help him and we can borrow a shovel from my mom and dad.

[Satori]

Originally Posted by happyhats

I've never heard of the paypal debit card! What's that about?

The yardwork in question doesn't sound too bad and I was told it won't be more than a day of labor. Rolling some logs, digging liner out of the ground and throwing it away, and that's about it. I have to get the full rundown before we go though.

I figure extra money is extra money, and hubby gets three days off of work a week so he can do this and still have a full weekend.
I'm set to help him and we can borrow a shovel from my mom and dad.

If you have a paypal account you can get a debit card to access those funds. I can't remember if its a Visa or Mastercard but it is available to everyone with an account.

[happyhats]

good to know. I rarely mess with paypal right now. When you add in shipping I can get most things cheaper at yardsales/thrift shops in my area. But I've applied a few times to jobs that pay through paypal, and that would be a great way to access my funds.

The blockbuster membership isn't bad. Saves me from remembering to take the movies in so I don't get a late fee (the redboxes can add up if you get multiples) and saves me from going near a store, because then I'm more likely to go in "just for that one item" and come out spending more than I wanted.

We're trying very hard to undo some bad spending habits, take care of some unfortunate debts, etc.

[cocobean]

Hi ladies! Just wondering if I can join in this group? My DH and I are in the process of bankruptcy. I know for most people that's the worst thing but for us it's going to get our lives back on track! So ready for it to be over!

[waiting2bemommy]

hi everybody...just saying hi....I haven't checked in to this thread lately but it's not because we won the lottery lol. Our new place doesn't have good internet signal. tday I was able to find an unsecured signal and log on to it, but it's spotty and there's no telling if I'll be able to "catch" that same connection again later, so I haven't really been online.

But we're still here, still low income and still pregnant and I don't see any of that changing anytime soon .