Poor Family Support Tribe- NO DEBATE - Page 11

[~Jenna~]

Originally Posted by 2Sweeties1Angel

Isn't that frustrating? I've noticed more subdivisions popping up on the road toward my house. The funny thing is, these people complain about the smells Hello? You're in the country--it smells like cow poop out here! Deal with it or move. I live on 240+ acres and a guy down the road own the property right across the road (uses it for hunting) and some guy we never see keeps cattle on the property next to us. On the other side, we (meaning Grandma) own the property far enough up the road that we never actually see or hear our next door neighbors unless we go to visit them. It's nice. Hopefully, when Grandma dies and Dad inherits the property, he won't be greedy enough to sell it. It's worth a lot of money but I think it's better to leave it alone, undeveloped, for the wildlife.

I would love to live on 240 acres! We live right in front of a wildlife management area, so I'm hoping and praying that the county doesn't sell that land. They aren't supposed to but it happens.

I know what you mean about people moving out in the country and then complaining about it...it's silly. Sometimes the farmers clean out the chicken houses and it stinks sooo bad, but that's what you get!

[JesseMomme]

TY mamas : I just looked closely at the paperwork and it said in office interviews can be waived in certain events and transportation difficulties is one of those events listed. I think the car not starting would definately qualify!

I assume we will have to send in copies of paystubs, etc. Still cheaper than the cost of gas to get there and back. This may be doable - thanks for making me look!

[kytheria]

Originally Posted by ~Jenna~

Just call your caseworker and talk to her/him. My dh is a caseworker (and we still qualify for foodstamps, Medicaid and he is usually willing to work with people who will work with him. He has a lot of people come in another day, or have someone else drop their stuff off (like I do for my mom), or call in.

Wow, Jenna. I wish your dh was my caseworker. My daughter and I have Medicaid and it's not uncommon for me to call my caseworker daily for a *month* before I finally reach her. She never returns phone calls. I'm supposed to get a notice of decision every month to let me know that we still have coverage, and I get it maybe once a year (we moved here in May of last year, and the only NOD we've gotten was March of this year). It's so aggravating and whenever we have to take our daughter to see the pediatrician, I'm holding my breath the whole time because I'm not sure if we're still active or if we'll have to pay. I really dislike my caseworker and wish I could get another one.

[kytheria]

One thing I want to mention. Walgreens has items every month that are free after rebate. You can get the first rebate sent to you on a giftcard, and every rebate after that added to that same card. You can also use the giftcard to buy other items that have rebates, so you can get a LOT of free stuff. My family has a three month supply of shampoos, conditioners, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, etc that only cost us sales tax. Earlier this month I got several free lipsticks too. That's always nice because I can't justify spending money to pamper myself when it's needed elsewhere.

Walgreens rebates are listed at http://www.walgreens.com/store/rebateclub.jsp

I've heard Riteaid and CVS also have programs like this, so check the drugstores in your area.

[~Jenna~]

Originally Posted by kytheria

I really dislike my caseworker and wish I could get another one.

You probably can get another caseworker. Have you called and asked? You can ask to talk to the casework manager or whoever and tell them you want someone else. It happens all the time at dh's work, but we are in a different state than you so I don't know how much is the same.

[kytheria]

Originally Posted by ~Jenna~

You probably can get another caseworker. Have you called and asked?

I've asked three times, twice over the phone, and once in writing.

The last time I had to "renew" my app, it was missing several pages. I called that caseworker for almost two months before I filled out what was there and wrote a letter detailing exactly why so much was missing. In the letter I asked for another caseworker- for the third time, as mine refused to return my calls. Three days later I received a phone call from the manager who promptly got everything straightened out. She said I wouldn't have that problem with my caseworker again. I haven't called since, because I've gotten used to not getting the notice of decision letters. At least the manager acknowledged there was a problem, the first two times I complained I was told that there were problems with the phone system. :P (If that were the case, you think it would be on the voicemail message the caseworkers change daily.)

The worker I had before this one was great. I really get the feeling she just doesn't care, and I wonder why she chose this line of work.

[josybear]

ok, i need some help prioritizing here, ladies.
we have 45$ in the bank. tomorrow is payday, i'm expecting around 300$.
i just got a 550$ credit card bill in the mail. i know that a 75$ internet & phone bill and a 150$ utility bill are coming any day now. dh and i need to buy bus passes this weekend so we can get to school & work in may. (wow, it's may already?!?!!) and tomorrow i'm scheduled to see the chiro, which is 30$. my poor preggo back is killing me so i really, really don't want to skip that.
usually we can get 5-7 days worth of food from the food bank every 2 weeks, but this coming week i can't go, they gave me an extra shift at work and i'm not passing that up; they hardly ever give me extra work and never will again if i say i'm not available. the food bank is only open that one morning and won't let me send anyone instead of me. i also need to pay my babysitter for the day i'm working...
so what's the priority?
food?
credit card?
phone & internet?
utilities?

i keep swearing that we're not going to use the credit card any more when we run out of cash, but then things come up that we really need, like food...
i have a feeling that the next two weeks are going to suck.

[kytheria]

I am so psyched! I just checked out my county extension office to see if they offered anything cool and I found out they rent gardens within the city. I can rent a 900 sq ft plot for a year for only $25! And it's only ten minutes from my apartment too.

I've never gardened before but now seems like a good time to learn. Guess I'd better go borrow some gardening books from the library. Now I don't feel so bad about not being able to afford a CSA subscription.

This might be a good solution for other people as well, if their county does something like this.

[Unreal]

okay...
I'm totally giddy cause I just got news that we got the apartment we applied for

and since I'm in a celebratory mood, I'd
put food, phone/internet, and utilities on teh CC and then pay the CC

and then I would wonder wtf was I thinking for the next 7months as I paid the new higher CC payment

[Nature]

Originally Posted by kytheria

I am so psyched! I just checked out my county extension office to see if they offered anything cool and I found out they rent gardens within the city. I can rent a 900 sq ft plot for a year for only $25! And it's only ten minutes from my apartment too.

I've never gardened before but now seems like a good time to learn. Guess I'd better go borrow some gardening books from the library. Now I don't feel so bad about not being able to afford a CSA subscription.

This might be a good solution for other people as well, if their county does something like this.

Thats awesome!! I wish my area did something like that.

[sarah_bella1050]

Originally Posted by josybear

ok, i need some help prioritizing here, ladies.
we have 45$ in the bank. tomorrow is payday, i'm expecting around 300$.
i just got a 550$ credit card bill in the mail. i know that a 75$ internet & phone bill and a 150$ utility bill are coming any day now. dh and i need to buy bus passes this weekend so we can get to school & work in may. (wow, it's may already?!?!!) and tomorrow i'm scheduled to see the chiro, which is 30$. my poor preggo back is killing me so i really, really don't want to skip that.
usually we can get 5-7 days worth of food from the food bank every 2 weeks, but this coming week i can't go, they gave me an extra shift at work and i'm not passing that up; they hardly ever give me extra work and never will again if i say i'm not available. the food bank is only open that one morning and won't let me send anyone instead of me. i also need to pay my babysitter for the day i'm working...
so what's the priority?
food?
credit card?
phone & internet?
utilities?

i keep swearing that we're not going to use the credit card any more when we run out of cash, but then things come up that we really need, like food...
i have a feeling that the next two weeks are going to suck.

Food(top priority)$100
Utilities $75 (You can make up the difference during the summer)
Phone & Internet $75
Bus passes $30?
Babysitting $?
CC whatever is left

That's what I would do

[sarah_bella1050]

Just wanted to add that AT&t has $14.99 DSL and you can get a the cheap bassic unlimited local calls for about $40 or under all together

[1growingsprout]

1. food
2. bus pass
3. babysitter
4. call utilites, ask if you can pay a small amount then catch up next month
5. min pymt to cc


good luck and keep us posted

[heartmama]

I wanted to mention Skype here, I'm not sure if it's been discussed. We cancelled our land line permanently. If you have high speed internet (dsl or broadband) you should really look into Skype. The Skype phones are for sale at Wal Mart for about 20$. They include the Skype Software. The service fee is a one time annual fee of (I think) 25$. This gives you unlimited local and long distance calling in the U.S. and Canada.

At first the quality was mediocre with lots of echos--however at the end of every 3rd call a pop up window asking for call quality feedback appears, and we faithfully filled that out. Within a few weeks the call quality was dramatically better--at least as good as a good cell phone.

In the past Skype was free and there was a monthly 3$ fee for your own voicemail and incoming phone number. I don't know but this may be included in the one time fee nowadays. Still 3$ a month is very low! The WONDERFUL thing is that you can see every incoming call number, and you can attach a name to any number, so you know who is calling. It takes messages as well.

It's a fantastic deal if you have high speed internet. No more phone bills or long distance bills at all.

One other issue is that you may have to take the area code of the nearest large city if you are rural. They don't always have a number available to assign you in your local area code. They may, but they may not. That means anyone calling you locally has to call long distance--or if you call home, you call long distance. This isn't normally an issue for us as we don't call ourselves, and most of our friends are long distance, and if we do call home it's on the cell and location doesn't matter.

Edited to add this link: www.skype.com

[Ruthla]

Originally Posted by josybear

ok, i need some help prioritizing here, ladies.
we have 45$ in the bank. tomorrow is payday, i'm expecting around 300$.
i just got a 550$ credit card bill in the mail. i know that a 75$ internet & phone bill and a 150$ utility bill are coming any day now. dh and i need to buy bus passes this weekend so we can get to school & work in may. (wow, it's may already?!?!!) and tomorrow i'm scheduled to see the chiro, which is 30$. my poor preggo back is killing me so i really, really don't want to skip that.
usually we can get 5-7 days worth of food from the food bank every 2 weeks, but this coming week i can't go, they gave me an extra shift at work and i'm not passing that up; they hardly ever give me extra work and never will again if i say i'm not available. the food bank is only open that one morning and won't let me send anyone instead of me. i also need to pay my babysitter for the day i'm working...
so what's the priority?
food?
credit card?
phone & internet?
utilities?

i keep swearing that we're not going to use the credit card any more when we run out of cash, but then things come up that we really need, like food...
i have a feeling that the next two weeks are going to suck.

Take the extra shift, even if it means losing the food bank stuff. It may not be worth it *this pay period* but it's worth it in the long term.

Bus Passes
Babysitter
minimum payments only on all utilities (including phone and internet)
minimum payment on credit card
Do you have enough left for food?
If yes, buy food and put any extra money towards the credit card, keeping about $5 in your wallet for emergencies
If no, use the credit card to buy food



I'm currently having another kind of financial dilemma. My ex finally paid me nearly 3 months' worth (April, May, and a bit of back pay from the year he was unemployed) and I'm not sure the best way to handle this sudden (but temporary) windfall. The last time he paid me in advance I went crazy and bought more than I should have and ended up in the same position the next month. I fully plan to hang onto enough extra in the bank to cover a month's worth of bills, so I won't deal with the bank fees if he pulls his usual crap in June. I normally get $690/month, he gave me $2,000

Should I buy a new bathing suit for myself this summer? My Mom will buy stuff for the kids, but not for me. I do have 2 bathing suits plus one cover-up shirt from previous years, and they're all in great shape, but I feel half-naked when I wear them. I dress modestly all the time and I think I went swimming about once, maybe twice last summer because I was just so uncomfortable in the bathing suit (with a thigh-length skirted bottom and short-sleeved t-shirt over the suit.) I found one on eBay that will cost me $65 with shipping, including the $5 for longer sleeves. I found the same suit on its own website for over $80, so I'm afraid that if I don't buy it now it will no longer be available at that price. But I really don't *NEED* another suit this year- I could deal with the half-naked look or simply not go to the pool or beach (or wear non-swimwear at the beach.)

[kijip]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

Should I buy a new bathing suit for myself this summer?

If you want to go swimming with your kids a lot, I say go for it. Everyone needs splurge now and again. Then set aside some of the rest of the back support to cushion yourself.

[sarah_bella1050]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

I'm currently having another kind of financial dilemma. My ex finally paid me nearly 3 months' worth (April, May, and a bit of back pay from the year he was unemployed) and I'm not sure the best way to handle this sudden (but temporary) windfall. The last time he paid me in advance I went crazy and bought more than I should have and ended up in the same position the next month. I fully plan to hang onto enough extra in the bank to cover a month's worth of bills, so I won't deal with the bank fees if he pulls his usual crap in June. I normally get $690/month, he gave me $2,000

Should I buy a new bathing suit for myself this summer? My Mom will buy stuff for the kids, but not for me. I do have 2 bathing suits plus one cover-up shirt from previous years, and they're all in great shape, but I feel half-naked when I wear them. I dress modestly all the time and I think I went swimming about once, maybe twice last summer because I was just so uncomfortable in the bathing suit (with a thigh-length skirted bottom and short-sleeved t-shirt over the suit.) I found one on eBay that will cost me $65 with shipping, including the $5 for longer sleeves. I found the same suit on its own website for over $80, so I'm afraid that if I don't buy it now it will no longer be available at that price. But I really don't *NEED* another suit this year- I could deal with the half-naked look or simply not go to the pool or beach (or wear non-swimwear at the beach.)

Personally I wouldn't. If you already have something that would work, I'de use that or wear just a tank top and boxer shorts. Whenever I am tempted with an unnessecary splurge I think about what else I could buy with that money. Like for that much I could take all of us to the zoo, or buy some knitting and sewing supplies, get take n' bake pizza and rent movie. I usually come up with a way better way to splurge that includes the whole family . We all need to have a little fun sometimes, just make sure that you choose wisely and that it's worth it

[JesseMomme]

Originally Posted by Unreal

okay...
I'm totally giddy cause I just got news that we got the apartment we applied for

and since I'm in a celebratory mood, I'd
put food, phone/internet, and utilities on teh CC and then pay the CC

and then I would wonder wtf was I thinking for the next 7months as I paid the new higher CC payment

Yay!!!!!!

[kytheria]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

But I really don't *NEED* another suit this year- I could deal with the half-naked look or simply not go to the pool or beach (or wear non-swimwear at the beach.)

Since modesty is important to you, I'd say buy the bathing suit but sell the other two if possible to recoup some losses. (If you can't, at least donate them.) Modest suits are really pricey, so I think $65 for one is a good deal.

[Ruthla]

Originally Posted by sarah_bella1050

Personally I wouldn't. If you already have something that would work, I'de use that or wear just a tank top and boxer shorts. Whenever I am tempted with an unnessecary splurge I think about what else I could buy with that money. Like for that much I could take all of us to the zoo, or buy some knitting and sewing supplies, get take n' bake pizza and rent movie. I usually come up with a way better way to splurge that includes the whole family . We all need to have a little fun sometimes, just make sure that you choose wisely and that it's worth it

OK, but I won't wear a tank top and shorts in public. Wearing clothes to the beach means a long skirt and a shirt that's at least 3/4 sleeves. So, yeah, I COULD wear my regular clothing to the beach, but then I really wouldn't be able to go into the water.