Welcome back. Today I want to address how I live off of so little. May not come as a suprise but I am on welfare for housing and food. I understand how people feel about people on welfare and i’m not here to argue or agree. It’s keeping us alive and i’m thankful it’s in place to help but I know it’s not a life support either. (I will talk about this more but won’t go into much of the details but my fiance was killed during a car accident and I got a check from the car insurance company for the car that I have been making last by living off as as little as I can because when it’s gone it’s gone. The amount was for $1,865.)
If you don’t know or are unsure how the welfare housing works is they based your rent off of your income and some portion of the rent you pay and the rest the government pays. My rent is currently at $175.00 a month. The car insurance check was placed in my savings account but the government considers it to be income. You have to have an income to stay living here, you can’t make nothing or else you’re kicked out. I pay the rent and take out $50.00 for what we need for the month such as bathroom products, cleaning products, etc.etc. Some months we don’t use it and I save it so it can carry over for the next month. Yes I mainly but our stuff from the dollar tree. Clothes and shoes at bought from thrift stores. Intimate clothes i’m sorry but I buy from Walmart but it’s the basic you can get but I know I can’t be picky.
Food is taken care of by government assistance and I use coupons every time I can to help save money and don’t get just junk food but meals that I can make last a while. (My opinion but anyone who says you can’t eat healthy off of assistance, I don’t believe because we have enough for produce and healthy options and little leg over for snacks but i’ve been able to make it work.)
We don’t have a car but most places are close to us. Laundry on the other hand is a hard task. The laundry mat is not that close and the machines cost $2.75 per load. I know this won’t sound real but I went back to old school and was everything by hand in our tub. (Our place doesn’t have any hook-ups for a washer or dryer and couldn’t afford one if we did.) I use some cheap detergent from dollar tree to soak them and wash them through and then hang them up on doors and let them dry. Honestly it isn’t easy because it’s hard to a regular load and limit amount of places to dry so it takes a lot longer to get everything done.
I do come to the library a lot to check out books and let my daughter check out some too so she has something to do when she’s not in school. I usually come here while she’s in school when i’m not needed to volunteer during the day and will use the computer for job application, I’m still trying even though I cannot work but i’m trying at least. We’ll go to the park after school a lot while it’s warm and that has mainly been the only vacation away from home lol. (Just to put it outside there too I don’t drink or do drugs so i’m not wasting money on useless stuff. I spend what we need to get by. I know someone will think it and I just want to clarify.) My cell phone just a dinky talk and text phone from, yep you guessed it, government assistance. Nothing fancy and thankful to have it in case something happens but no internet on it one crappie game, just a basic phone. Lol.
I think that about covers the cost of how we live. If there is anything I forgot let me know and i’ll answer it tomorrow or when I can. Some months I can he by and only spend about $25.00 but kids out grow clothes very quickly and it helps to stretch what I have as far as I can.
I started keeping a journal a while back just writing down what I was going through and how things have been and trying to figure out what am I going to do when the money is gone. I know this looks like a desperate beg from a stranger and sorry if I keep saying that but it’s more of my desperate plea that one day someone can see this and decided to help. I don’t want people to feel sorry for my situation to to understand that people are out there even worse than I and no one can hear them so i’ll still advocate that they need help more than I. Many people are losing everything due to weather or job cuts or health issue that they couldn’t foresee. Some are able to bounce back but some don’t. Being poor isn’t just from being a bad person or got in with drugs and such, (it is a majority, not denying that fact) but sometimes it happens that’s not within your control no matter how much you prepare. Thank you for reading again, sorry it was long and got a little dark at the end, i’m just trying to let out what’s inside. Hope you have a good day.
My PayPal if you would like to donate: paypal.me/LindseyLechuga
In Honor of Officer Joe Parise: gf.me/u/mhza5r
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