Summer '11 ***Low Income Support Thread*** - Page 7

[maciascl]

Originally Posted by zebra15 

Hillymum- can you ask the social worker to audit your application?  Unless you've had a major increase in income you should still receive benefits?

Are you receiving LIHEAP for the electric bill?  Its a small credit given to low income families.  You need to apply with your power company.  Summers are my high power useage months because of all the A/C.  I refuse to turn the heat on in the winter.  When/if it gets cold we just wear a sweater/socks to bed.

I really hope this is the last hot month.  We've had rain and some cooler days (90's)  LOL so maybe one day that a/c will finally shut off.

My son is eating me out of house and home.  He is a total bottomless pit.  He just turned 11, the next 7 (10) years are going to kill me.  I'm so glad he is healthy and no longer such a skinny little thing but my gosh, the kid inhales food like nothing I've seen before.   I definately didn't get this memo when he was born!

With 3 boys I am terrified what feeding them will cost in a few years. Hopefully by then we will be in a better situation.

Thanks for the reminder about LIHEAP I applied June 1st and never heard back. I called a month ago and they had my app but were so overloaded they hadn't processed it. I've still not gotten anything. I think a trip to their office is next since my bill was due today and I can't pay it. Crap 

[Thystle]

Looks like fall officially begins on the 23rd this year. I guess then we will need a new "fall" thread. Want me to put it up on Friday???

Our situation improved but at the cost of living somewhere that I did not choose to be in, for who knows how long. Sigh. Still I am grateful for the paycheck. Knock on wood.

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

[Thystle]

I bumped up the "Surviving as a Full Time Parent Tribe" thread: http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1182411/surviving-as-a-full-time-student-tribe 

Either someone on here asked about it or it was a pm... can't remember but that was a while ago.

[frugalmama]

I'm still here, worse off now than we were before, but at least the roof is patched so we have no more gaping hole. Discovered the beams have dry rot, so we need an entire new roof - no idea where the funds to completely replace the roof are going to come from now. Our income just dropped WAY down - we are coming up short every month just paying the essentials now. We're a month behind on the mortgage, and I don't know when we'll be able to catch it up. 

On the flip side - we're drowning in FS now thanks to being so low income. I'm so used to stretching it that we are ending up with extra left. This is our last month on WIC though which will take up some of the excess. I wish they would just give cash instead of FS sometimes though - I need the cash a lot worse. I've been trying to buy foods that give rebates and stuff to help with that, but it's not much. 

[maciascl]

Called LIHEAP again yesterday and my app was finally processed last week but since we don't have a shut off notice the funds won't be applied for 30-90 days. So I only paid part of the over due bill. It will be great to go longer without paying a bill, but I was really counting on it to cover the high summer bills. Oh well, I am just blessed to be getting it.

We need to reapply for Medi-Cal the 1st of Oct and FS the 1st of Nov. I am kind of worried. Either we will lose them both because we have 0 income or if we get them FS will go way up.

Frugalmama: Once the funds have been applied to your card they don't take them away so you can accumulate a balance. We've always had a balance because they backdated our app and gave us 2 1/2 months all at once when we applied. I've always looked at it as a small nest egg for when we finally someday are able to get off FS. 

[SierraBella]

Hillymum- Can you get some food from the food bank? What about WIC?

[Paigekitten]

Our food stamps just got dropped from $600 a month to $200.  Right before the baby too : (  They should go back up once the baby gets here though.  But, I got medical so now my birth is paid for!  Yay!

[SierraBella]

Originally Posted by Paigekitten 

Our food stamps just got dropped from $600 a month to $200.  Right before the baby too : (  They should go back up once the baby gets here though.  But, I got medical so now my birth is paid for!  Yay!

That stinks. But you're right, they should go up once baby is here. Yay for getting medical!

We get $300/m in FS, and BARELY make it. It would be much easier if it wasn't for all our varied dietary restrictions, and we end up spending about $30 a month out of pocket. We also get WIC though.

[maciascl]

Originally Posted by Paigekitten 

Our food stamps just got dropped from $600 a month to $200.  Right before the baby too : (  They should go back up once the baby gets here though.  But, I got medical so now my birth is paid for!  Yay!

That is a really big drop! I hope you had an increase in income to make that much of a difference. I am sorry!

[Paigekitten]

Originally Posted by maciascl 

That is a really big drop! I hope you had an increase in income to make that much of a difference. I am sorry!

We did, we went from zero income to DH working again.  We have a bit of a hole to dig ourselves out of, but once we catch up I should be able to put our own money towards food.  Until then, I'm feeling a little stressed...but it's good, it really is....

[gabbyraja]

Frugalmama, have you read my previous post in this thread? Is there a low-income loan or grant program for home repairs in your area? Do you have 211? You can call them and ask if you have no other ideas, but your state's housing development authority should be able to give you some numbers/leads, too (in MI it's mshda, yours would be whatever your state letter is...). It was your roof I was thinking of, from last year, that I mentioned in that post. I hope something will help!

[frugalmama]

Originally Posted by gabbyraja 

Frugalmama, have you read my previous post in this thread? Is there a low-income loan or grant program for home repairs in your area? Do you have 211? You can call them and ask if you have no other ideas, but your state's housing development authority should be able to give you some numbers/leads, too (in MI it's mshda, yours would be whatever your state letter is...). It was your roof I was thinking of, from last year, that I mentioned in that post. I hope something will help!

No program here - we're in south Texas and everything is out of funds. Our credit sucks {as in I defaulted on student loans} so anything loan-wise we don't qualify for. There is a church program we might qualify for, but it's at least 6 months before we can even apply to see.

I am very tempted to see if we can get on the list for low-income housing, but my main source for income right now is garage sales and they are not allowed in housing. So it's a catch 22 - do I move into housing and lose my main income, or tough it out in a house that needs major repairs but I can earn income? Our neighborhood, while not the greatest, is very convenient and I'm able to walk or bus to everything we need really, which is a big factor since we don't have a car. Plus I'm not sure how well it would work to home school in public housing - has anyone here done it before?

[cameragirl]

We got turned down for food stamps today. We meet the income requirements, but our rent would have to be twice what it is in order to qualify. Right now we are paying $500 to share a house, plus splitting utilities. If we doubled that, we would be using most of DH's unemployment check on just housing. How they seriously consider that reasonable, I have no clue. The lady DH met with was apologizing, because the numbers just didn't make sense to her. She said we'd definitely benefit from it, especially since I am pregnant. She did say to come back if DH is still unemployed after I give birth, because we'd probably qualify then. We're going to call WIC tomorrow to see if we qualify. According to their online assessment, we should, but that was also the case with food stamps.

Luckily EDD finally got our paperwork straightened out and paid us. It had been three weeks since they were supposed to pay us, so five weeks from the last check. We borrowed money and now have to pay it back, but I'm glad we even had that option.

[zebra15]

I would call up the chain of command because that makes no sense.  You can be homeless and get foodstamps. You can be living in a shelter and get foodstamps.  I've gotten foodstamps when I've had 'no housing cost'  basically someone was paying my rent.  So what that case worker told you makes no sense.
 

Originally Posted by cameragirl 

We got turned down for food stamps today. We meet the income requirements, but our rent would have to be twice what it is in order to qualify. Right now we are paying $500 to share a house, plus splitting utilities. If we doubled that, we would be using most of DH's unemployment check on just housing. How they seriously consider that reasonable, I have no clue. The lady DH met with was apologizing, because the numbers just didn't make sense to her. She said we'd definitely benefit from it, especially since I am pregnant. She did say to come back if DH is still unemployed after I give birth, because we'd probably qualify then. We're going to call WIC tomorrow to see if we qualify. According to their online assessment, we should, but that was also the case with food stamps.

Luckily EDD finally got our paperwork straightened out and paid us. It had been three weeks since they were supposed to pay us, so five weeks from the last check. We borrowed money and now have to pay it back, but I'm glad we even had that option.

[frugalmama]

Originally Posted by zebra15 

I would call up the chain of command because that makes no sense.  You can be homeless and get foodstamps. You can be living in a shelter and get foodstamps.  I've gotten foodstamps when I've had 'no housing cost'  basically someone was paying my rent.  So what that case worker told you makes no sense.
 

Ditto - I have $0 housing cost right now and get FS. 

[cameragirl]

Originally Posted by zebra15 

I would call up the chain of command because that makes no sense.  You can be homeless and get foodstamps. You can be living in a shelter and get foodstamps.  I've gotten foodstamps when I've had 'no housing cost'  basically someone was paying my rent.  So what that case worker told you makes no sense.
 

I'll ask DH to call and ask for a supervisor. Thank you. It didn't seem to make sense to either of us. I'm disabled and reapplied for SSI/SSD, and we're going to call about that, as well. Another patient recommended that we call our congressman's office, since the condition is considered permanently disabling. She was approved a couple weeks after getting her medical records to the congressman's office. In CA we could wait two years for an answer, so it worth a shot.

[SierraBella]

Originally Posted by cameragirl 

We got turned down for food stamps today. We meet the income requirements, but our rent would have to be twice what it is in order to qualify. Right now we are paying $500 to share a house, plus splitting utilities. If we doubled that, we would be using most of DH's unemployment check on just housing. How they seriously consider that reasonable, I have no clue. The lady DH met with was apologizing, because the numbers just didn't make sense to her. She said we'd definitely benefit from it, especially since I am pregnant. She did say to come back if DH is still unemployed after I give birth, because we'd probably qualify then. We're going to call WIC tomorrow to see if we qualify. According to their online assessment, we should, but that was also the case with food stamps.

Luckily EDD finally got our paperwork straightened out and paid us. It had been three weeks since they were supposed to pay us, so five weeks from the last check. We borrowed money and now have to pay it back, but I'm glad we even had that option.

WIC has a much higher income minimum.. so hopefully that will work for you. All you need to bring is your DH's unemployment records/statement or something like that.

[maciascl]

Originally Posted by cameragirl 



I'll ask DH to call and ask for a supervisor. Thank you. It didn't seem to make sense to either of us. I'm disabled and reapplied for SSI/SSD, and we're going to call about that, as well. Another patient recommended that we call our congressman's office, since the condition is considered permanently disabling. She was approved a couple weeks after getting her medical records to the congressman's office. In CA we could wait two years for an answer, so it worth a shot.

This is a link to a FS calculator for CA. I've used it for several senerios and it has always been right. Once you download it and it opens you may have to change it so you can edit it. PM me if you have any questions, I've played with it a lot to see what would happen in different situations.
 

[cameragirl]

Originally Posted by maciascl 

This is a link to a FS calculator for CA. I've used it for several senerios and it has always been right. Once you download it and it opens you may have to change it so you can edit it. PM me if you have any questions, I've played with it a lot to see what would happen in different situations.
 

Thank you. We'll go through this and see what it says.

[Thystle]

Fall thread ladies:  http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1330532/fall-2011-low-income-support-thread