According to the SNAP calculator (I linked it before), we were eligible for roughly $375 in food stamps. I made an appointment, went in with all the required paperwork and got approved (no big surprise there). The surprise came in the form of a letter this am. We are receiving $391. We weren't expecting to get any until next month BUT the card came with the letter. Why?
We are poorer than we thought we were. I had no idea that we were in such dire straights as to deserve "expedited" services. Apparently, SNAP thinks we need the money NOW.
May I put it out there that we've been doing alright on our personal budget of $350 a month? That we've actually built up a nice little stock of storables without this assistance? And all this time, we've been dirt poor enough that we could have been getting all that "money". Now, for the next 3mths at least, we have the extra $$ to put to the bills and land purchase.
I suppose I should be feeling that we were failing ourselves because we are so far below "the line" that we needed those food stamps ASAP. I don't. I'm amazed at the fact that we have been making it when according to the .gov we shouldn't have been. Doesn't that just peel your paint?
Bonus, we can buy seeds with this. Yippee! The catch, there are no seeds available at big box mart right now. So when the time comes that they are available, there will be some serious seed buying for us. I have to re-read the info, but I think food producing plants are included in this as well. Can you see my plans? Now to convince my father that we need our own garden plot (since we won't be out on the land until late next year at the earliest). Maybe we'll get lucky and find a rental closer to the land that will have a spot for a garden. We're looking to get out of here (too many issues with the landlord) and into something with an actual yard for the screamers. Alas, that will have to wait until later this spring.
Anyway, the point is that we got "assistance" that we didn't think we needed but in the long run this short period of accepting is going to help us out more than if we hadn't accepted. In the next three months we can pay an extra $900 on the land, bringing us approximately 6mths closer to having the deed in hand.
I can live with that.
8 comments:
Milk it Momma! If ya can't beat 'em, join 'em..... Me, I make "too much money" for "assistance".....
Don't be a bit ashamed to take what is out there, survival is survival no matter how you do it. :)
I think I'll try for it myself, since I make 0 income, and have little money in the bank, I'd bed that I would qualify too... hmmmm, that squeaky noise you hear are the the wheels turning. LOL
No that wasn't a freudian slip, I'm just at a strange angle to my laptop and the fingers sometimes find their own humorous letters...
"I'll bed" should read "I'll bet"
Mayberry~ will do for as long as we can. We pay taxes enough on everything AFTER taxes are taken out of the paycheck to justify it. I feel the making too much money thing too. My sis was in that same boat many years ago as a single mom. Apparently she made too much for all of the programs when my niece was little. Didn't know that $8hr was a lot of money in the 90's!?!
Wretha~ Not ashamed in the least. Heck, it's more food on the table and in storage plus extra $$ to put to the bills. I think you should go for it...use that calculator and see what they say!
Nothing wrong with using it if you qualify. We get them too and I'm amazed at how much they think we "need". We use the extra for stockpiling. We can't use ours for seeds though :( You're lucky!
I say take whatever "assistance" the government will give you. Those jerks toss our tax dollars around like it's confetti so you may as well get some of it BACK.
Sweetie worked for 48 years and me for 39 so we figure we've paid into the assistance pot for a long time. Besides, as one poster said, survival is the name of the game.
We just got a notice that our food stamps will go down by $8 because of his social security "raise." We currently get $330 a month and have never spent that much on groceries before. Now, we just keep increasing our stocks and sometimes treating ourselves to something decadent like shrimp for Sweetie and soy ice cream for me. I wish we could use our stamps for seeds AND things like toilet paper! Rules vary according to state though, but any "help" from the morons is useful.
I'm to the point where I sometimes think people who work ought to stop working and go on assistance. This whole country would come to a halt in about a week. Then, maybe those thieves would get the message.
Okay, enough ranting.
I'm with Mayberry. Use every bit of assistance you can get. We make too much money for any kind of help.
I think the garden's a great idea. We have a tiny one that is able to make quite a bit to supplement our food budget. I learned many, many different ways to use zucchini this summer. ;-)
Good on you. Indeed, take what is your due!
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