General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "I live on $710.00 a month, what exactly am I supposed to cut?" [View all]avebury
(10,951 posts)1. If unlimited phone use is not an issue - ditch the phone and buy an inexpensive phone (like Virgin Atlantic) and just get a 200 minute card each month (I used to get a VA card for $20).
2. Ditch the internet. The library is not the only place to get internet access. Learn where all the free wi-fi places are. For example if you have easy access to a local Mall, the Mall's often have wi-fi. If the Mall has an Apple store you can find a place to sit close to the Apple Store where you can pick up their wi-fi. Hopefully a person on limited income has a laptop versus a desktop. At our local library you can have unlimited access to wi-fi if you have your own laptop. Otherwise you are having to book time on the library's computers. Free wi-fi is available, it is just a matter of finding all the locations and one that won't expect you to fork out money.
I know that it can be hard to ditch the internet at home because the internet becomes the one way to obtain reasonably priced entertainment. If someone really needs it at home it becomes a matter of shopping around to get the best deal and when one deal expires, you shop around again. I have my phone, cable and internet with Cox and I have no problem with calling them and trying to get whatever deal out of them I can. If I lived within easy walking distance to one of our library branches or a free wi-fi place I would probably ditch the internet at home without a second thought.
3. Pets - Find out if there is a local pet food bank. Some places have pet food banks for low income people. Some places will also have pet clinics for low income people so that they can get their pets spayed/neutered and necessary shots.