the good news is, i have zero debt. the bad news is, i don't enough money to live! 
my credit was ruined long ago by an ex (my responsibility for allowing it to happen) and i haven't been financially able to get a secured card - yet - to rebuild my credit. my DD's father refuses to pay a dime of child support. he told me when there was a hint of a breakup, he'd go homeless before paying child support ... he is now homeless.
if you had told me 7 years ago that today i'd be on the federal and state dole, living in public housing, going to the local food pantry and raising a child all by myself, i'd have thought you were nuts. but here we are, struggling, very frustrating, but somehow making it. (partly thanks to all the frugality tips i find!)
since January, it seems the state has run out of money, and they simply move numbers around to make it seem like the poor are richer and therefore not eligible for services. i'm spending most of my free time on the phone or writing letters, trying desperately to get adequate health care and food, and working damn hard to fix the errors that the social services make along the way. of course, it takes them forever to find that they're in error, and there's no restitution or back pay (they just resume the services).
in the last 3 years, my Social Security check has increased by a total of $12/month. (and this last year showed no inflation, therefore all COLA increases were frozen.) yet every year, my rent increases by $20/month and my medication co-pays have gone up to $40/month. most frustratingly, food stamps have dropped down to $40/month! (it seems random, i know singles with no kids who are getting $150+!) we do have a food bank, they also serve a dinner each night, however they've lost a lot of funding and donations so it's slim pickings and nothing healthy.
i'm thankful my daughter gets excellent care in all areas - no complaints there!! *knocks wood* adult dental coverage is a joke. for me the only thing covered is "emergency" dental, meaning you have to be not just in pain but be running a fever and showing signs of an abcess or infection before you can get care ... which is just an extraction. they don't cover complex extractions (broken teeth) at all. i had one extraction, which damaged the adjacent teeth and they now require complex extractions. even with meticulous dental care at home, i find i now need a bridge, something i never expected in my life. $500 minimum is the cheapest i can find, which is an utter impossibility. i make all i'm going to make $-wise, and that's that. i know so many women here in housing with the same problem ... it's basically "wait til you lose 'em all and get full uppers or lowers" and that can run up to $800 at the very least. it seems ludicrous not to offer preventative care like cleanings!
the last straw for me was Friday - i'd waited a long time to get in to see the eye doctor, my prescription has changed drastically and it's affecting all of my daily activities. the dr. said i've definitely changed a lot, especially in my right eye. however, Medicaid won't pay for new lenses unless i change even more drastically ... and they won't pay for the right lens.
the standard social services explanation is: "the state adjusted their tables downward." so, the poor aren't as poor as they were, even if they make the same amount of money, or even less money - in their world, the poor are "richer" simply because they've slid some numbers around. so frustrating!
we left home in a hurry because of domestic violence issues, moved to another state. i have nothing left to pawn or sell. it was so obviously the best move i could have made, i don't regret that! we're safe and the babe is super happy. now i am just struggling to survive and hoping to thrive. luckily my daughter has always been happier with crayons and popsicle sticks and books and yarn than she ever has been with toys
we have a safe roof over our heads, we have an old beater car (a gift from a fellow disabled friend) the kind of car you pray for every time you start it, but she works. *knocks wood again*
if i hear "you're just falling through the cracks" ONE MORE TIME i am going to explode! well, i probably won't, but still. geez. i'd always thought social services were there to help the people falling through the cracks who had exhausted all other resources!
my last big expenditure is internet, which i may have to cancel if things don't improve in January and rent goes up.
similar stories out there? please tell me i'm not the only one falling through those cracks! and how can we plug 'em up??
my credit was ruined long ago by an ex (my responsibility for allowing it to happen) and i haven't been financially able to get a secured card - yet - to rebuild my credit. my DD's father refuses to pay a dime of child support. he told me when there was a hint of a breakup, he'd go homeless before paying child support ... he is now homeless.if you had told me 7 years ago that today i'd be on the federal and state dole, living in public housing, going to the local food pantry and raising a child all by myself, i'd have thought you were nuts. but here we are, struggling, very frustrating, but somehow making it. (partly thanks to all the frugality tips i find!)
since January, it seems the state has run out of money, and they simply move numbers around to make it seem like the poor are richer and therefore not eligible for services. i'm spending most of my free time on the phone or writing letters, trying desperately to get adequate health care and food, and working damn hard to fix the errors that the social services make along the way. of course, it takes them forever to find that they're in error, and there's no restitution or back pay (they just resume the services).
in the last 3 years, my Social Security check has increased by a total of $12/month. (and this last year showed no inflation, therefore all COLA increases were frozen.) yet every year, my rent increases by $20/month and my medication co-pays have gone up to $40/month. most frustratingly, food stamps have dropped down to $40/month! (it seems random, i know singles with no kids who are getting $150+!) we do have a food bank, they also serve a dinner each night, however they've lost a lot of funding and donations so it's slim pickings and nothing healthy.
i'm thankful my daughter gets excellent care in all areas - no complaints there!! *knocks wood* adult dental coverage is a joke. for me the only thing covered is "emergency" dental, meaning you have to be not just in pain but be running a fever and showing signs of an abcess or infection before you can get care ... which is just an extraction. they don't cover complex extractions (broken teeth) at all. i had one extraction, which damaged the adjacent teeth and they now require complex extractions. even with meticulous dental care at home, i find i now need a bridge, something i never expected in my life. $500 minimum is the cheapest i can find, which is an utter impossibility. i make all i'm going to make $-wise, and that's that. i know so many women here in housing with the same problem ... it's basically "wait til you lose 'em all and get full uppers or lowers" and that can run up to $800 at the very least. it seems ludicrous not to offer preventative care like cleanings!
the last straw for me was Friday - i'd waited a long time to get in to see the eye doctor, my prescription has changed drastically and it's affecting all of my daily activities. the dr. said i've definitely changed a lot, especially in my right eye. however, Medicaid won't pay for new lenses unless i change even more drastically ... and they won't pay for the right lens.
the standard social services explanation is: "the state adjusted their tables downward." so, the poor aren't as poor as they were, even if they make the same amount of money, or even less money - in their world, the poor are "richer" simply because they've slid some numbers around. so frustrating!
we left home in a hurry because of domestic violence issues, moved to another state. i have nothing left to pawn or sell. it was so obviously the best move i could have made, i don't regret that! we're safe and the babe is super happy. now i am just struggling to survive and hoping to thrive. luckily my daughter has always been happier with crayons and popsicle sticks and books and yarn than she ever has been with toys
we have a safe roof over our heads, we have an old beater car (a gift from a fellow disabled friend) the kind of car you pray for every time you start it, but she works. *knocks wood again*if i hear "you're just falling through the cracks" ONE MORE TIME i am going to explode! well, i probably won't, but still. geez. i'd always thought social services were there to help the people falling through the cracks who had exhausted all other resources!
my last big expenditure is internet, which i may have to cancel if things don't improve in January and rent goes up.
similar stories out there? please tell me i'm not the only one falling through those cracks! and how can we plug 'em up??
s
