One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Some of you may already know that we have been getting food stamps for a few years now. We applied right after I stopped working. I wasn't making enough money to warrant going to work each day, the kids were all starting school, and Junior was getting quite overwhelmed dealing with homework and supper. It made sense, at the time, for me to stay home and be available for the kids.

We qualified for food stamps, and were surprised when our case worker told us that we could have been getting them even when I was working, because I never made a lot of money. Turns out that when you get food stamps every month, it also qualifies your kids to get free breakfast and lunch at school. This was a huge burden lifted off of us, because we had three kids eating two meals every day at school, and it was expensive.

Last month, we got the paperwork in the mail, saying it was time for us to re-certify for the next year. Turns out I am making enough money online that we no longer qualify. Now, don't get me wrong, this is a great thing. But, if you do paid posting, you know that it is not guaranteed money. Just because I made good money last week, doesn't mean I'll make good money next week. I am also a little worried about what this means when the kids go back to school. We can still apply for free or reduced lunch, but there is no guarantee that we will qualify for either. It also means that the $450 we used to get every month for food now has to come out of the money I make, which kind of defeats the purpose of me working.

I kind of lost the point I was trying to make. I think what I'm trying to say is that when you are caught between poor and kinda poor, it sucks. I started the paid posting to pay off some bills, and we have done a little of that, but now I will be working to buy groceries. Just when we thought we were making progress, we get smacked back down.

I just hope and pray we don't lose the kids Medicaid, because if we do, we'll be screwed. There is NO WAY we can afford the health insurance offered at Juniors work. We would have to live in a cardboard box.

I don't want you all to think that I think we deserve to have things handed to us. I don't. Junior works very hard to support our family, but we are like so many people these days. There's just barely enough money coming in.

At least we have my money coming in. I just hope it continues to be enough.