We're winging it I don't know how other people do it

[MissMillie]

We have been hit by so many financial trials that I can't even begin... but I will

The truck will not pass inspection. It's the exhaust, and the bumper, and now the hydraulics are gone on the clutch.

Two months ago I had the nerve to ask my boss for a raise. He said no. He said he couldn't afford it. I know for a fact that in one year he paid for a $60,000 renovation for his kitchen, he paid for a $40,000 Rav4, and a $60,000 Toyota Highlander. Now, to be completely understood, I was being paid $6/hr. So I quit. I would have stayed, but one day he gave me shit.

So I haven't been working... not for lack of trying.

Right now:

We have 2 bags of wood pellets. That's it. There is no money to buy any more

We have, maybe, 20 gallons of oil. (We keep it turned off until we need to shower. We've been boiling water on the stove to wash dishes.)

We have a sh*t load of canned peas and beans, and a freezer full of bread. We're running out of eggs, butter, half & half for coffee. We may have enough meat for 2 or 3 meals.

We're also running out of laundry detergent.

We have 9 cans of dog food for 4 dogs, and that will last us 4 days.

I'm almost sure that if we applied for any help that we would be told that we earn too much... and according to how hard everyone else in the world has it, that is probably accurate.

Both of us have spent many, many years working and now....

Welcome to the world of trickle-down...... the rich get richer and the middle gets to figure out how to feed the dogs and heat their house.

[lunamagica]

1. K&R. I'm so sorry you are going through this, Miss Millie

I wish there was something I could do to help you.

[Control-Z]

2. I would love to be in a position to

donate or help in some way. The best I can do is say how sorry it makes me for you and how frightened I am for all of us who are headed for the same.

If I had it I would give it.

[lunatica]

3. Thats really tough

I know it was really hard for me when I had to file for bankruptcy and then I went through the foreclosure process. I was able to get a mortgage modification and keep the condo.

For years money was so tight that I had to get a lot of food, including dog and cat food at the dollar store during the end of the months.

I had a job the entire time but couldn’t make ends meet. If something broke I couldn’t afford to fix it or replace it. The refrigerator was held together with masking tape for years. The broiler in the stove burned out but it was still possible to use the burners. I lived in real fear that the washing machine and dryer would quit because they were over 25 years old.

Once I turned 65 I was able to get what’s called divorced spouse social security. It saved me financially. Combined with my salary it made my life OK.

Poverty truly sucks. In a very real way it is torture that just never stops. And I had a job in administration in the University of California in Berkeley.

[Stryst]

4. My family is in a similar situation, to many people to feed, food prices too high,

SSI and VA are pittances.

We have rice and beans every Friday. We've basically dismissed the idea of meat with every meal; my Grandmother asked for a roast, and it was nearly $20 for something that I would have called a thick cut steak.

Call your power company and ask about LEAP (Low income Energy Assistance Program).

Apply for food stamps because even if you get denied you can say you applied when EVERYONE else you apply to for aid asks.

Food banks often don't ask about your income, and my local food banks all give out dog food.

Vinegar and baking soda are cheap alternative to laundry detergent.

And this is going to be controversial, but when things get to bad at the end of the month, I will abuse the stupid frisking self checkout things at walmart. Nuff said about that.

Your situation sucks. I'm sorry.

[PaulX2]

5. Move

Help wanted signs everywhere in puget sound. 14 hr minimum wage in seattle.

Just have to find a place to live.

[handmade34]

9. seriously?

not a very good plan

[Stryst]

24. Not a plan

A few tricks to keep your body alive while you work out a plan.

And what would be your advice? Stop being disabled? Lower the price of food? Magically get the money and transport together to move somewhere better? Yeah, I love being told to just "move somewhere better". Well, a single bus ticket costs more than my VA check.

What would your "plan" be, since you seem to be a finger wagging authority on the subject?

[MrsCoffee]

31. I think you meant to reply to post #5, not post #9.

[Stryst]

32. Blagh

Sorry about that. Tabbed browsing combined with being an idiot.

[MrsCoffee]

33. Happens to me too!

[MrsCoffee]

13. /facepalm

[George II]

17. That's your reaction to someone having problems in life?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. Why would you stay in a job that pays less than the federal minimum wage?

Your situation is dire, but surely you could get a job that at least pays the federal minimum, as bad as that can be.

[democratisphere]

7. Sympathetically sorry for your situation MissMillie.

It has been a long hard Winter for many with heating bills that take away available funds from other needs. Hopefully the weather will be breaking soon to allow those funds to be redirected back to other necessities. Many business owners don't give a damn about the people that work hard for them; this appears to be the case with your situation. Try finding a better job that pays you for your worth; that former boss was a drumpfian scoudrel. Dire situations require drastic measures and positive thinking so keep forging ahead knowing Spring is coming and there will be something that will come along to help you soon. Best of luck and I will be thinking of you and yours!

[jodymarie aimee]

8. I tell folks "somebody always has it worse than you"

my neighbors have no cars, no computers(to type this on), no teeth...In WI a single adult gets $15 a MONTH in foodstamps..so to them you are millionaires !!! And no washers/dryers...so detergent is superfluous...they wash clothing in the sink..they have no bathtubs....

We all do the best we can, and try not to whine. It doesn't help.

[blogslut]

10. You know what doesn't help?

When you express the pain of poverty and someone calls you a whiner.

[MrsCoffee]

12. +1

[CanSocDem]

11. "I cried....

...when I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet."


.

[jodymarie aimee]

14. I forgot the most important part

they don't have houses....they live at the homeless shelter and wait to move into the HUD bldg. next door..30% of income, and less than 300 sq ft. So yes, next to them, you are fortunate beyond words. They dream of being you.

[demmiblue]

15. Go away.

I would say more, but I don't want to get my post hidden.

[MissMillie]

20. You don't need to say anymore.

Whether DU hides you or not, you've shown your colors.

I sincerely hope you don't run into the troubles we're in. I really mean that. If, by some stroke of misfortune you end up worrying about how to heat your home, and you need to talk to someone about it... I hope no one says to you..."go away."

I've been a loyal DU member for a very long time, and I would hate to think that I can't come here and vent w/o someone telling me to "go away."

[demmiblue]

21. My response was not to you, it was to jodymarie aimee...

for her completely callous and inexcusable post.

I hope that you find some relief soon.

[RandomAccess]

16. Gee, could you BE any more unsympathetic

and unsupportive?

That's the kind of attitude that makes a good Republicon.

[jodymarie aimee]

18. I work with and FOR the disabled elderly and poor every day of my life

and I have never entertained the notion of becoming a Republican...shame on you.

[RandomAccess]

23. well, I pity them

your lack of compassion is surely an additional burden they bear.

[lunamagica]

25. I hope you show more empathy for those elderly and poor people

you see in your job.

The fact that you work for them only says that you work for them, nothing more.

And I hope you don't preach to them that someone has it worse than they do...please, don't

[MissMillie]

19. I hope that wasn't meant for me (n/t)

.

[RandomAccess]

22. Absolutely not

My heart is hurting for you and I'm really upset that my own finances are so perilously close to yours I can't help you.

[Eliot Rosewater]

28. What a ridiculous and unnecessary comment.

You did save me some time in the future on this board though.

[Freedomofspeech]

30. Try not to whine?

I find that a somewhat shocking response.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

34. Yes, there will always be someone, somewhere who is worse off.

But knowing that others might have problems worse than mine doesn't make my problems go away. My neighbor has cancer and I only have the flu, but my neighbor's cancer doesn't make my flu go away or make me feel less sick. The fact that your neighbors have no car and no teeth and no washing machine doesn't mean the OP ought to shut up and stop "whining." Just how poor does one have to be to qualify for your sympathy? Your comment is judgmental and mean.

[Heartstrings]

26. Food pantrys and some churches

are well equipped to assist in a non- judgemental way....

Hang in there!

[TEB]

27. Try the Lutheran church

Our church helps out folks that find themselves in tight spot all the best Dm me if you would care talk Msmillie

[Croney]

29. Sent you a message. n/t