Maciasci- do you qualify for medicaid? That is what I have and it pays for things like that. It would be worth looking into if you have not already? They also have a step down program- for people who make more but do not have medical insurance.
Living in the Great Lakes Region means we need Umbrellas, rain coats, extra clothes for those unexpected thunderstorms, (ds hates HATES wet feet). What can I say... Target loves me. I forgot how quickly the weather can change. I've spent way too long in the desert.
No word on a job yet but I'm doing the resume dance and getting calls/emails. fingers,toes, everything crossed. heck, I may even french braid my hair for an interview if that would help!
update--- lost my job. well, technically, I "resigned" instead of getting fired... i thought it would look better. tried to reinstate my SDI but they said they had to start a whole new case because it's been so long... awesome. lost my apartment. moved all my stuff into a storage unit I don't know how to pay for next month and moved DS and I into my dad and his new girlfriend's beach town love nest. it is WEIRD. on the upside, the area is wonderful. I would love to find a place around here in the future but it's pretty expensive. when I was working i wasn't eligible for state benefits even though rent took 3/4ths of my income and i couldn't pay for food. Now I'm trying to reopen that case and I'm not getting any calls back. I feel like a failure. I'm so embarrassed to have to rely on my dad. They say we're not imposing and they are crazy about DS, but I feel very out of place and cramped here. :sigh: hopefully I can get some financial aid and do a 2month phlebotomy program so i can get another job that isn't so devious and coniving so I don't feel so wracked with guilt and anxiety about it every day. and hopefully I'll be able to afford a decent daycare for DS while I work so I don't have to beg my friends to watch him. and hopefully I don't have to work at night anymore.
Ok for future reference let them fire you so you can collect unemployment most likely...
with that said...
Go to the social service ( food stamp medical ) office! Do not call on the phone - go in to apply AND sit and wait to meet with a case worker. See what all you qualify for. You can be considered homeless since you are in short term housing with a relative I think. As far as food stamps... put in that you prepare foods seperately and then you should qualify for food stamps. If you have any other bills 9 car payment- rent at dads, responsibilit for portion of the bills ) all you have to do is have your dad write a statement that you have to pay such and such portion of this bill and you get that taken into account on your service amounts.
I am happy your dad took you in - my parents wouldn't I am always so glad when I hear of people having this as an option.
I hope you can take phelbotomy and I hope that works out for you! Good luck!
Also depending on where you live you should be able to get daycare paid for thru the state for school and work! Here in Illinois it is in limbo- but many places there is a subsidy and that would be better for your ds then being somewhere different everyday.
Mama is broke!! My kids and I live off the social security we receive from my late husband and the very little I make working at an organic restaurant. I'm done working next week. I'm going to be at home with the kids for the summer before I start back to school to finish my nursing degree. Jeez Louise. I was relatively comfortable until recently when I truly accessed my economic situation. Shocking. I'll be able to float the major things but it's going to be tight, squeaky tight. My son needs braces. I have a gigantic ER bill that I've been making payments on, car breaks down and we're walking, I have a controlled mental illness and my meds run (and I am very serious) $1,600/mo, etc. etc. I am 33 years old. My stress is to the moon but I love life and I still have my humor. 
My husband worked crazy and long hours managing a restaurant...65-72 hours/wk. our benefits from SS are a hair over qualifying for state aid. bummer. Fortunately, I own the house we live in and half of it, duplex, is an income property which generates some income. We'll be fine. Someone always has it worse than you. Moving forward and eventually upward and always learning. 
Still hanging in here. I have an interview tomorrow and another on Monday. I hope someone offers something. I need to get some money coming in. I know I've only been here a couple weeks but adult children and parents just do not mesh well. I am set with my own psych meds and DS asthma meds but I really REALLY need a job (for the money and my own mental health)
We are starting to hook up with homeschoolers, DS is starting to make friends and I may even have a few mommy friends *gasp*
In excellent news I got a statement with a ZERO balance from our old apartment- finally some good news (I didn't clean it nor did I fully empty it when we left).
hi i'm pollyanna
i moved to texas last yr because living in mass was too had finacally on me with the high cost of living.
I'm a single parent to a 
boy. i work at a fastfood restarant and right now we scrap by but this pat yr has been hard had to get a second job so i could get 45hrs a week to pay bills had to get a new car last one broke down and could afford to fix it anymore. i worked both jobs for 6 monthes and the food stamp office said i made so much they cut me down to 89/m in snap benifits. tomorrow i'm going in with my new paper work and hope for a raise in benifits because if not i will have to find another job again and i miss my time with my son :(
HI Polly-
Hi Polly! I am a single mom to. There is a single parenting forum you should check out on here- unless you are already over there and there is also a poverty thread you may want to check out to. I am always playing the balance game with social services- if I work I have to work 2 jobs,,,because no matter what I am working for nothing basically if I lose my health insurance and food stamps and all money would go to daycare .... and I never get to see them.... it was insane... so I clean houses. I hope your snap benefits go up. They did not have down that I paid rent and my rent is $650 a month! So now that they figured that in- my fs went up.... by $100 a month. So that is good
Hugs
EMilie
i'm not sure why my benifits went down as much as they did when i got the second job. between the 2 i averaged 44hrs at 7.25/hr. i feel they didn't take into acct all my bills. it was the first time and last time i do the phone interview.
but daycare isn't even one of my expenses. My mom watches him all i need to do is bring his own food.
thanks for the welcome just trying to keep on target for paying all my bills everymonth some monthes that means we have a bit less for food.
I need to talk about two things-
HOW oh HOW do you not obsess over the spiritual implications about being broke, broke for a long time?? I suppose it is a bit OCD but not entirely. I worry about Feng Shui, about if I am being too negative or have some other "bad" thoughts that are causing this situation. Is God, or whoever, listening? How do I pray when a huge part of this is my DH's doing? I am sick with stress about money but almost more so about the anger and fear I am not "getting" something.
The other thing. One thing that goes down the drain is health. This makes me resentful. I mean my BODY is suffering. I am busy, no babysitter, ever. My bed is SO uncomfortable. I have no health insurance. I really could use some herbs, massage, chiropractic, acupuncture whatever! I can't even sleep!!!
Any thoughts?
I wonder about these things as well. I am constantly wondering what is it I'm doing or thinking that is keeping us from getting ahead. Is there something I'm supposed to learn spiritually? (my pride has sure been kicked mercilessly to the ground...) Is there some kind of victim complex in my head? How do I get past it if there is?
We are so sleep deprived, working well into the night and up with the kids for the rest of the time. DH is having stress induced panic attacks (which AREN'T helping ANYTHING). We do at least manage to get him a physical once every couple years to check for diabetes (every member of his family has it) but other than that we tend to just suck it up and pretend we are fine. I'm struggling with my gall bladder right now and it sucks because the foods we can afford are the ones that trigger my attacks. This is the first year I've had a successful garden and it has been such a blessing.
I try and focus on the good things, that's the only thing that helps right now.
ETA: I am kind of stuck right now, my breasts change sizes with every baby and my nursing bra from dd#2 is too small, small enough that I keep getting mastitis and then it abscessed and I had to have it drained, so not I have a hospital bill AND I still can't afford a new bra and I have a plugged ducts again now. It's stuff like this that is absolutely maddening.
Sorry I haven't been here in forever. We've had about the busiest spring/summer of our lives. Consequently, I have a good update. I posted back in Feb or so about looking for a house. We found one and closed a couple of weeks ago. We're doing some light reno now (ripping out fake wood paneling and putting up dry wall, painting, putting in some cork flooring in the basement, etc) and will move in in about 3 weeks. We'll be saving $400/month after moving out of this rental.
Also, dh got a small raise in late June. And, my mother, who has been living with us with zero income for the last yr and a half starts getting SSI survivor benefits at the end of Aug. While we will no longer get her $200/month in FS she has committed to giving us $400/month for "rent"!
Thirdly, thanks to thystle's (I think it was her) recommendation to creditboards.com a little over a yr ago we not only got high enough credit scores to get the house, but after the house closed I apped for all the rewards cards and necessities we didn't have (like a lawn mower). Dh got an additional $16,700 in credit last week (we no longer carry debt, except student loans while still in school, after doing a debt snowball a few years ago, so no worries there). With available balances like that, including a $3000 overdraft line of credit, we should never have to pay a bounced check fee again simply because I was too busy to keep track of our balance, which will save us hundreds of dollars a yr. And even if we needed to carry debt (for instance, 18 months no interest on a new laptop for school is worth carrying the debt for 17.5 months) the utilization shouldn't cause him any hit to his credit score. (Yes, I learned how to play "the credit game" over there) Yay!
Our student loans will be coming in about a month, too, so the emergency fund we're somewhat depleting with reno and moving costs will be replenished and we should be in SO much better of a position next yr it's not even funny! I'm so filled with hope and optimism. Not only have I worked so hard to get us better credit, thus a better permanent living situation, I've been working on self-sufficiency, too. We will be raising animals and a huge garden at our new house. It's just outside of town limits, 15 minutes outside the city. We have an acre and a half and will start with chickens, ducks and quail this summer. We'll be moving the rabbits outside and breeding them for some periodic income (show rabbits. the bunnies sell for $30 a piece). And in the spring we will get a few sheep and small pigs. The kids are allergic to cow milk, but do great on sheep milk, so having our own on tap is going to be freaking awesome! Plus, selling icelandic fleece and lambs each year... And then meat on the hoof, sure of what's gone into it and how healthy the animal was raised outside on grass, and that it won't make us sick... Priceless. A big step toward never ever finding ourselves in real trouble again, I hope. Wish us luck! Just as I wish it for all of you!!!
I need to talk about two things-
HOW oh HOW do you not obsess over the spiritual implications about being broke, broke for a long time?? I suppose it is a bit OCD but not entirely. I worry about Feng Shui, about if I am being too negative or have some other "bad" thoughts that are causing this situation. Is God, or whoever, listening? How do I pray when a huge part of this is my DH's doing? I am sick with stress about money but almost more so about the anger and fear I am not "getting" something.
The other thing. One thing that goes down the drain is health. This makes me resentful. I mean my BODY is suffering. I am busy, no babysitter, ever. My bed is SO uncomfortable. I have no health insurance. I really could use some herbs, massage, chiropractic, acupuncture whatever! I can't even sleep!!!
Any thoughts?
I could have written this post just about word for word. I worry about it ALL THE TIME. My health is horrible now. I have an anxiety disorder and I believe I now have Chronic Fatigue or possibly Fibromialgia from the years of chronic stress. I am in pain and have lost alot of strength in my hands and arms. I need to get a job but I couldn't possibly with all of this going on. However I don't have insurance so I can't see a dr about any of it either. The constant worry is worsening the situation, how could it not be. I try to do positive affirmations and visualization but it never lasts very long. If I think about how so many others are worse off than I am I just feel guilty that I am so worried and then I feel worse. I want to try doing yoga or atleast some type of exercise but between the pain, exaustion, and depression I an't get myself motivated. It is a no win situation. Not helpful, but I feel your pain...
Gabbyraja: That is wonderful! Congrats on all of it!
So today is the dreaded day after FS recertification month. My account was made inactive beceause my paperwork that I turned in on time, hasn't been processed yet. DS3 lost my card this morning and they won't send me a new one because my account is inactive. I have always been a very careful shopper and have built up a sizeable balance but I can't use it if I don't have a card. I am panicked that they won't reinstate my account even though they have my paperwork and I will lose that balance as well as my monthly benefits. We were denied cash aid and I can't understand the reason they gave. It sounds like they think DH and I both work or that DH doesn't live with us. I am afraid I filled something out wrong that is now going to mess up our FS too.
I am so tired of freaking out about everything. I am feeling like such a horrible parent because I am so depressed, anxious and frustrated all the time. Yesterday I cried because a group of friends went to the beach and I couldn't afford the gas money or $15 to park. We live in Southern California. The closest beach is about an hour away and my kids have never been to the beach. That is just stupid, but I am such a ball of nerves that I just can't handle it. Now we never have the money either. I don't hardly leave the house if I don't have to.
Joining this thread...hope you don't mind me coming aboard late in the game...
I have a lot of reading to do to catch up on everyone's situations & advice that has been shared along the way. I promise to do that homework over the next couple days. I can share our story as well if anyone is interested.
In the meantime...I had a quick question & thought maybe this was a good place to get some feedback...
How does non-steady income like from substitute teaching come into play when you are getting Snap/WIC & state insurance? I am in NJ & it seemed like they were going to check income again in March at our annual visit, but I don't really know for sure how it works & am afraid to ask anyone there.
ok, so today my Dh (not so d) was suppose to work in the am and then pm. He blew off the am! I know he didn't want to take the bus, I know it would have been hard doing both jobs. He said he didn;t want to leave me with out gas in the car. I said I was renting the am and he said he had wanted me to drive him to the bus stop. He says it was not worth our well being. Well, MY wellbeing IS tied inot every cent he makes! I would have stopped trying to get a tad more sleep. I would have got the gas. YES YES it all would have been worth the $80!! That would have paid for our dogs shots they need or some medicine I would like, never mind bills.
I can't stand how he seems not to care half the time that we are not affording life. That both of our parents have had to help us us survive (esp mine!). I mean why isn't he working at a shitty job so we can buy what we need? Why does he sit on the computer looking for jobs he doesn't mind doing? And am I bad for not saying I would work part time while he watches DD (which I really don't want). Our unhappy marriage and unhappy financial situation have become so intertwined.
sorry for the rant
*sigh* Not feeling very blessed this morning. Lots of things going really wrong and I'm just getting frustrated. It's all budget-related.....ya know.....like it always is. Kinda feeling like a douche-y parent because my 4 year old doesn't have a pair of shoes that fits right now other than her flip flops. 
Thankfully she starts preschool 2 weeks after her sisters start school so there's time to buy her shoes(since they can't wear open-toed shoes) but it makes me feel crappy. The kid is a barefoot little savage all summer anyway but still. 
Anyway, I guess I just needed to read through this thread to remember that I'm not alone and there are people that get it. Being poor just makes me so TIRED. I'm worn out from 5 years of struggling to pay bills and shuffling shut-off notices.
Going to go start dough for breadsticks for dinner, make lunch, and hopefully get the rest of the winter veggie garden planted. My kids are beastly today and I just want to lock myself in my room with a sedative.
I took kids to get an eye exam today- 2 kids. One needs glasses We came out and I asked for help. NONE and I mean none was given. I went back to a desk where the woman was munching on carrots and asked where the glasses that were covered by medicaid were. She say's over there- and flippantly points- to "there" where ? the brown boxes.? oh. thanks.
I take ds over there and- no there are none he likes.
So then I go back to desk and ask where are other frames for kids?
mixed in everywhere- medicaid glasses are over there... yes I know- where are other frames for little boys-
SO we go over to where the "regular" priced glasses are and he picks out a pair labeld 160- and they are really perfect- but ya know- 160-
Me- so I say does that cover lenses? What will the entire cost be for these frames complete?
Her- I does not know- the proceeds to takes glasses from me and says oh these are in wrong area and puts them back.
Me-No- I am interested in these glasses- how much are they?
Her- I don't know - these are not the medicaid glasses-
Me- YES I KNOW_ can I buy these if I want to?
Her-Yes she says.
Me- Can you find out how much they are??
Another woman appears and tells me the glasses actually are only $74 with lenses.
GREAT. We'll take em.
I hate being treated so poorly.
Mom31- Im so sorry about the glasses drama. I go thru that every year when DS needs glasses. He never likes the frames covered from state insurance however *usually* state insurance will cover a portion of any frame then I need to pay the balance. I totally get how frustrating it can be and how unhelpful some people can be.
I'm glad your kiddo found frames he likes - I bet he looks handsome now!
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