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Originally Posted by bmcneal  I have a question. For three people, DH, DD, and I, what is the average amount of Food Stamps, or does it matter on COL and other things? (I know it depends on income.) We get less than $150/month, and that doesn't even last 1/2 the month, even when I only buy discounted/coupon/sales items. When we got them last, in a different county, we got $300 some/month, so that confuses me even more.
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I think the amount you get varies based on your income and family-size, as well as the guidelines for your state. I didn't know states varied from county to county! Is it possible that your income was different in that other county -- or that that county has a higher cost of living, and that was taken into account?
Dh is taking one of his vacation days today -- he was going to help me take our 3yo for her dental work, but we had to cancel because of her cold -- it's sedation and not safe to do if she's been congested as she has.
Anyhow, he and our 8yo are going in to apply for the Food Stamps. When he checked the guidelines online, for our income and family-size it looks like we'll qualify for about $150 a month. This is a blessing, since we'd lost our food stamps a while back when dh got his raise. So I guess they've adjusted the guidelines because of the increasing cost of food, at least in Missouri.
I sure think they should adjust the guidelines in Tennessee, too!
About the dental work -- this is one hard thing about Medicaid, even though it sure is a blessing to have it all covered. Though I gave dd2 the same dental care as dd1, for some reason she just has major problems. I'm praying it'll be better with her permanent teeth, and also that the decay won't spread to her permanent teeth because of the long delay ...
It hadn't spread (to permanent teeth) as of her checkup last Feb. or March. But it's twice now that we've had to cancel because of her having a cold. And our girls aren't normally sick -- it just so happens that she got a cold when the work was scheduled back in August, then she got another cold just before today's appointment -- so now it's been rescheduled for late January. I'm so prayerful that she won't just happen to get congested again and miss that one, too!
A week and a half ago, I'd woken with a sore throat and decided it'd be a good idea for us to try to stay in and get more rest 'til after the dental work, I was just so paranoid that dd was going to get sick, and she did in spite of my precautions. So I guess I won't try to be so "careful" this next time, and I'll just trust that when it's God's time for the work to get done, it will get done.
I guess one positive is that every 3 months it gets delayed, she's just that little bit older and better able to cope with the procedure.
On a positive note, I talked with the nurse who rescheduled dd's work yesterday, and explained that our doctor had complained because of the dental clinic's policy that a child has to have a physical within 30 days of any sedation dental work. Our doctor says Medicaid will only reimburse her for one physical a year, so she didn't get paid for the last physical she gave dd, or the one before that.
I even tried to find out the cost of the physical, thinking maybe we could come up with the money -- and she said she's forbidden to charge us because of the contract she signed with Medicaid. I'm kind of thinking it's time to change doctors, though this one is in very close walking-distance from us. I just felt so hurt that she griped at me, when she knew there was absolutely nothing I could do about it!
There was an article about her in our local neighborhood paper, talking about how she chooses to stay in our neighborhood, rather than starting a more lucrative practice in the suburbs, and she chooses to keep taking Medicaid patients, in spite of the inconveniences. I guess it may be an inconvenience to give a free physical -- but, seriously, we took up maybe 5-10 minutes of their time -- though of course we were there waiting for much longer than that.
Anyhow, since the dental clinic is part of our local children's hospital, I asked the nurse at the dental clinic if there might be a way for us to get the necessary physical done there, and she scheduled it for us and everything. I'm thinking I might just try to get our primary care provider switched to the children's hospital (they have a clinic for regular care for children, and another one for teens). It means a bus-trip for appointments, but it seems like a small price to pay.
I've heard (from one other non-vaxing family) that they're a lot nicer in their dealings with non-vaxing families (as long as we're matter-of-fact and just say, "We don't vaccinate," they know not to push the issue), whereas our current doctor read us the riot act 2 years ago when we started the girls' care with her.
It has been a struggle so far this month and we aren't even halfway through. I still have $100 on my card and I have bought a bunch of whole food type things to do some serious meal planning and cooking and freezing. I also have 10 meals in the freezer, so we should be able to make it.
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: The Grocery Game can seem expensive, it's $10 every 8 weeks for the lists, but it more than paid for itself in that first trip. (FTR, I had done this before, and always keep a fairly stocked pantry, so I can just pick out the very best deals, and then fill in with any immediate needs. Most people just starting out take a few weeks to accumulate coupons and get a stocked pantry before they start seeing that kind of savings. But you can save from day one. It's really great.) There ae a few threads about it floating around in this forum. They have a 4 week trial for $1 so you can see if it works for you.
What can you do when it's family, YK?
but now that that is gone, and I am on food stamps, I haven't been back. I may end up needing some extra food help but am worried that I may be turned away because I already receive food stamps. Not sure what to do other than go in, wait forever with two small toddlers and then be turned away.
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