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~~~~2013 Low Income Support Thread~~~~

90K views 1K replies 77 participants last post by  zebra15 
#1 ·
Starting a new thread for a NEW YEAR!!! Everyone is welcome!!

Low income support thread, for those living with a low income or struggling.

Support ONLY... no flaming!
 
#1,227 ·
A turkey is really just a big chicken. You cook it the same way; it just takes longer.

I have cooked more Thanksgiving dinners than I care to count, so if you have questions, I'm happy to help. :)
 
#1,229 ·
Thank you so much for sharing the info for the ScaryMommyNation Thanksgiving project. We were approved this morning. What a blessing. I had never heard about the project before and so thankful you shared it here with us
 
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#1,230 ·
thatgirliknew, I'm the same. I've been a vegetarian all of my adult life. I've NEVER had the money or inclination to cook a turkey. I think I'll do the very smallest I can find for my omni girls though since they love it and I know it won't go to waste and we'll have the money with our scarymommy nation blessing. I'm also thinking cranberry sauce, broccoli casserole, fresh homemade rolls, and apple pie along with some raw veggie platters(my kids won't eat cooked veggies so the broccoli casserole is for me). I'm excited!!!
 
#1,232 ·
I already loved and admired the scarymommy board, and now I do even more. So happy you will all be blessed. Groceries are mostly bought, and I was able to pick up extra potatoes and cranberries since there was a sale. Babies loved trick or treating and got loads of candy. Now Im being lazy before I start on a late dinner.
 
#1,233 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sativarain1 View Post

Thank you so much for sharing the info for the ScaryMommyNation Thanksgiving project. We were approved this morning. What a blessing. I had never heard about the project before and so thankful you shared it here with us
No problema! I had NO clue about it either. A blogger I really like posted an article from there (The "Those People" article on ScaryMommyNation) and when I was reading the article I learned about the project. Well, that's one holiday down to not have to worry about. I'm missing out on HH here this year because I've been a member for a long time and have the post count, but I was without internet for a long time, so I've only been "consistently" active since August. We'll figure it out though. :)
 
#1,234 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by justmama View Post

thatgirliknew, I'm the same. I've been a vegetarian all of my adult life. I've NEVER had the money or inclination to cook a turkey. I think I'll do the very smallest I can find for my omni girls though since they love it and I know it won't go to waste and we'll have the money with our scarymommy nation blessing. I'm also thinking cranberry sauce, broccoli casserole, fresh homemade rolls, and apple pie along with some raw veggie platters(my kids won't eat cooked veggies so the broccoli casserole is for me). I'm excited!!!
I'm not strictly vegetarian. I eat meat when it's offered, but I rarely can afford it and I just don't enjoy cooking it. BUT, I'm going to let my cousin handle the meat cooking and deserts while I take care of the sides.
 
#1,235 ·
Yesterday was a fun day here- full of excess, but the kids had a magical time.

I have one of those giant pumpkin leaf bags FULL of Halloween candy from the kids' rounds last night. Oh my gosh- this is a tiny town, but wherever they went they were given a HUGE amount. We went to maybe 10 places? Each kid had a shopping bag stuffed with treats.

Plus, because I have not mastered being in two places at once, we were out trick or treating and not handing out the treats I bought to hand out, so we have all of those, too.

In other news, I also managed to buy some pumpkins at 4/$1 so now I have 7 pumpkins here. We carved one last night for a window display, but the rest are intact, so I need to put them in the root cellar except for one, and turn that into baked pumpkin for some pumpkin cookies as a fall fun celebration later this weekend. And some pumpkin soup, but my kids won't touch that.

Also managed to find a thrift shop yesterday to trump all other thrift shops. $5 for a big black garbage bag full of anything you want from the store. I got all the kids new winter jackets, new boots, some warm sweaters and a bunch of warm sweaters for my husband. Such a great find! They are open twice a week for a few hours at a time. I suspect I will be there regularly.
 
#1,236 ·
I am so thankful we got in too! My girls are happy and have already ask me to make a few of their favorites on Thanksgiving. Looks like I will be making a turkey or ham (they both go on sale CHEAP right before here), some veggies, deviled eggs, and a pumpkin and apple pie.

News front- I couldn't pay the house payment this month I thought since we have only had about $600 total in income come in but my husbands boss tacked on a few more hrs to his check and we somehow ended up with a extra check yesterday to pay it. Never been so happy in my life!

Things are going well here. I have been working a lot more then normal and just trying to make it.
 
#1,237 ·
Last night was sooooo fun for kiddo. I thought for sure at 13 he would be 'over' halloween but nope, and honestly he was a 'small' kid out there !!. We went to our usual neighborhood. 2 pillow sacks of candy later we headed home, one exhausted mommy, one tired dog, and one happy kiddo.

I am thankful for the T-day sponsor from scary mommy

I need to get to work on HH and decide if I want to apply - really on the fencer about this.

Thanksgiving is late this year... not much time between t-day and xmas...less than 4 full weeks....
 
#1,238 ·
Hope everyone is doing okay and hanging on....Between working,taking care of E 3 nights a week and my classes I am so happy it is the weekend...I am so tierd and just want to sleep in tommorow...It is cold and raining here...But it didn't stop my from taking the kids TT...They each got a bucket full...L has so many allergies she only goes for the fun..and the small toy I manage to scare up from the Pumpkin Fairy to replace the candy with...LOL

I want to thank whomever posted about Scarymommy and the Thanksgiving help...I applied and got my accepted email awhile ago...I am so excited..I have never made my own meal before this..We have always gone to someone elses...But with L's allergies it was always awkward and tense...I look forward to making a meal at home that my girl can 100% eat and not have to took on with sad eyes because nobody cares that she can't eat it as long as they can...

Gratefuls for...

My own home...

Heat in this chilly weather..

My rent is paid this month..
 
#1,240 ·
Got a few things together for a thanksgiving box Im donating to a local freecycle drive. So far I am donating a can of pumpkin, a spice cake mix, two apple pie fillings, four large ears of corn, and a candy dish with fall candy. I am roasting a chicken tonight so I want to save the stock for the drive as well. Im freezing it in two cup servings so we will see how much birdie gives up lol. Since we can do homemade things for this drive Im able to give more, I ony bought the cake mix for them in mind.
 
#1,241 ·
Ladies, I'm trying to budget for *post divorce*. I need an idea how much I'd pay for childcare for 3 kids...I'm hoping to find a home daycare that won't mind having my 5 year old since I'm trying to home school. This won't be every week either so I don't know if it would be more or not. Ideas?
 
#1,242 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by micah_mae_ View Post

Ladies, I'm trying to budget for *post divorce*. I need an idea how much I'd pay for childcare for 3 kids...I'm hoping to find a home daycare that won't mind having my 5 year old since I'm trying to home school. This won't be every week either so I don't know if it would be more or not. Ideas?
The 5 yr old shouldn't be a huge deal since lots of kids turn 5 before school starts. Also my kiddo did homeschool and stayed with inhome care until he was about 10.

Inhome care runs *about* $100/week/kid. But thats every week, they need to hold those spots for you, even if your kids are not there, unless you are able to find someone to take your spots when you are not there, idk any provider who is willing to float 3 spots, ya know?

You might be better off looking for several inhome providers with drop in care and enough floating spots for your kids. If they know you are coming several times a month you might get a better daily rate.

Can you nanny share? have a sitter come to you, that might be cheaper. In home care is not cheap, daycare is not cheap. With that many kids depending on the hours a sitter at your place could work to your benefit.
 
#1,243 ·
Full time care in my area is about $200 a week for that age. NOT cheap. Even just after school care for a school age child is $90 per week. Before AND after is $150. But I think you'll run into trouble once he gets a little older if you want full time care for him. Like age 6 and older. You may be able to work out something with a sahm or a friend who would keep him though. But I would budget at least $150 a week for his care alone. Then again, I live in the super expensive New England area.
 
#1,244 ·
Ugh yeah I'll probably have to find a sitter. Typically my mom or mother in law will be able to watch them but my mom goes out of town occasionally and my mil works at a school during the school year.

Can I put in our parenting agreement that stbx will pay half of childcare costs? Maybe throw it in there with the part saying he will pay half of education cost?
 
#1,245 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by micah_mae_ View Post

Ugh yeah I'll probably have to find a sitter. Typically my mom or mother in law will be able to watch them but my mom goes out of town occasionally and my mil works at a school during the school year.

Can I put in our parenting agreement that stbx will pay half of childcare costs? Maybe throw it in there with the part saying he will pay half of education cost?
I found someone who was certified and charged according to a parent's ability to pay. I paid $70 a week for one child, while others might have paid up to $125.

On the parenting agreement question, yes you can put in there that he is responsible for half of childcare costs and then hang onto receipts and tax statements... I know that you can make him pay for half of school expenses and uncovered medical bills as well.
 
#1,246 ·
Thanks, I already know I can ask for more child support since I will have sole custody...hoping it'll be enough to live on.
 
#1,248 ·
I know my babysitter agreement is AMAZING and hard to find but I got lucky. My aunt runs a inhome daycare and charges $50 a week full time between the hrs of 6am-6pm. We just have to provide our child's food (not a big deal) and she lives 4 houses from me. I know I got lucky and my son LOVES her. We do drop in so my son isn't there everyday but almost everyday. She only watches 3 kids right now and she sometimes watches my older girls if they are out of school and I need care for them. She charges me $5 per day for both girls.
 
#1,249 ·
You are very lucky!!!! I schedule work out of the home during school hours or times they are with their dad. On the times I need care, I pay a sahm up the street to take my kids. It costs me $10 an hour, which is the same as I make. So obviously it's not ideal and I have to do that only for short periods of time.
 
#1,250 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by justmama View Post

child care costs are figured in with child support. usually at the hearing they ask. if you need to, just file for a modification and go back and get them put in. it's quite simple, you don't even need a judge to hear it.
They were considered separately in my county. My ex was ordered child support and a separate order for both unpaid medical bills and childcare expenses.
 
#1,251 ·
Just popping in quick - my net got cut off & I can't get on MDC from my Kindle. Currently at McD's using the free net :)

Big thanks to whoever posted the Thanksgiving program - we applied & got in :) SOOOOOOOO glad as grocery prices are really going up here & with our SNAP cuts it is getting tight.

Question for the mamas in the know - Right now I get TANF level medicaid but not TANF {refuse to jump through the hoops for $100 a month}. I *think* my income may be too high (about $400 a month) when I recert this month for TANF level medicaid. Anyone know anything about *transitional* medicaid for when you are coming off TANF? I'm in TX FWIW. I've heard of it a few times but don't know anything about it. I'm terrified I'm going to lose my medicaid - I take $50 of rx's every month plus have to see a specialist & do bloodwork every 2-4 months or I get sick from my thyroid. Can't afford it at all without medicaid :(
 
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