How far would the Average person go???

Ginger - posted on 05/31/2012

Umm, go ahead and get assistance. With what ever you can. Enroll in a community college or trade school with a fasfa grant. Try not to take out loans. Take what ever job you can get and keep it till you move up or get a better one with the degree or certificate you will soon obtain. If you have to get a job at resuarant waiting table you do that too, so long as the kids are safe. One day you can get yourself off that assistance it can be done. I know it takes time and dedication. I am doing it now. My son was born early and I had to leave my job and stay home with him. i admit I had to take assistance, but for us it was better than the alternantives and now I am proud to say I just made it off assistance. Funny thing about living in a nieborhood is people generally stick together and put meals together. Sometimes we all took turns eating at each others houses. I am glad this transistion is here for me and hope that you will get it soon too. It does take dedication and eyes on the prize :)

Corinne - posted on 05/18/2012

I think it's funny that all of you expect to get accepted for government assistance. While you're waiting to get approved, you have nothing. I'm not proud of it but when I was a teen mom and had been abandoned by my daughter's father with no money and no way to medically go back to work I got money by any means necessary including selling drugs, stealing and arranging "meetings" for my friends and their clients if you know what i mean. As far as everyone else is concerned it's a personal problem when rent's due, you just used the last of your formula and the electric bill is due with nothing in your bank account, even when you have a baby to take care of. I doubt any of you would look at your newborn and say "Sorry kiddo, you're just gonna have to stay hungry because I'm too good to steal it for you."
It was never going to be a long term source of income for me but I had responsibilities; I took care of them the only way I could at the time. I finally got the ok from my doctor to go back to work and never looked back to that easy money lifestyle because I would never want my daughter thinking that's ok. But like I said, you gotta do what you gotta do. It's not the governments job to support you when times are hard; it's a HUGE bonus to living in a country like we do that gets taken advantage of so those who do need it are still stuck between a rock and a hard place.

America3437 - posted on 05/03/2012

Whatever it takes to feed my children!

Emma - posted on 05/03/2012

We're dirt poor. Our apartment is awful. We don't have true ghettos here, but our place is as bad as it gets in this city. I don't think I'd do anything illegal, since our gov cheque is enough to pay the bills for now, but I've considered doing things that are immoral.

Jessica - posted on 04/25/2012

I don't know what is to be a single mom but my FH and I started with nothing. I did take assistant for the simple reason my FH wasn't making enough. He was there but the money wasn't stretching out for bills just the rent and light. There were times we had no food in the house. I had WIC for a yr for the formula which helped so much. When we didn't have food we would go to my mom's house to eat or she would give us food so I can cook. We decided to move out of that apt which was too high for 1 bedroom apt. We moved back with my mom. Things were getting a lot better. My FH got a raise and then we move out to our apt now of 2 bedroom apt. I will never sell drugs or put myself in that kind of harm. I think things through before I do anything besides I know I always have my room open in my mom's house. My mom don't want to move to a smaller apt just in case like things happens or my sister needs to move back home.



I know times are hard but in my family we help each other out. I am one that don't ask. I am too proud for that. The only one that really knows my problems are my mom not even my sister. There's no point to breaking the law if there consequences in the end.

Cyndel - posted on 04/22/2012

I would apply for government help, and do everything I could to get a job, move, what ever. It is part of parenting, we live in a country where we can get food, either through the government, shelters, churches, etc.

Illegal stuff, yeah we would have to be on the point of utter starvation, but in our country there really is a lot of options if you can buckle down your pride and do it.

Linda - posted on 04/22/2012

I would not break the law, I would look toward special needed resources. And do what it takes to achieve wellness for my babies and I. What's the sense in trying to provide or do what it takes to take care of them, when it could end up not being with them? I do have family and dear friends if I needed for emergency! but never to rely on to take care of us for a long period of time. I wouldn't take advantage and use my kids. That's all I have to say for my life and personal opinion. It is a hard life now a days. But You ladies seem very very strong!

Rachael - posted on 03/13/2012

i would do whatever it took, apart from physically hurting another person, to take care of my son. if i had to i would give him to someone who could afford to feed him, like his dad or grandparents, until i was able to get back on my feet.

Dusty - posted on 03/11/2012

I don't know about where you live, but in my state you can also get food stamps, plus TANF (this is a certain amount of money the state gives you each month to pay for anything, such as rent) plus WIC, plus medicaid (medical insurance). And you can get all of this at the same time. If I didn't have these resources, & had no family who could, or would, help, then yeah, I hate to say it, but I probably would go to the extremes to make sure my children had food to eat, clothes on their backs, & a roof over their heads. Not that I would be proud of it, but I love my children more than anyone or anything, & that includes my respect for the law.

Eva - posted on 03/05/2012

Jenna King, it is god to know you are sorted and have more than one car to sell. It says you must have a privelleged life and be smart with money. Some people arent and dont have the family support or knowledge but there is always church. It does take a long time for less fortunate people to make a secure back up plan. It has taken my husband and I 5 years and we are finally geting ontop of things. It was not an easy thing as we started on smal money. I think having grace for people and letting then know that they did the best with what they had is key.

Mother - posted on 03/05/2012

such a nice thing to say Eva!!

Jenna - posted on 03/05/2012

Asking such a question isn't realistic. If I were truly in a situation where there was literally no money and I had no church to rely on, or family, for that matter, I'm not sure what I would do. Assuming that I'm still the same person I am today, with the core values I have, I would find ways to make do without compromising my standards. But if I'm not the same person I am today since I apparently wouldn't have my church or my family, I'm not sure what I would do.



If my husband were to lose his job right now, we'd be just fine, I think. Both of us have quite a few family members who could help us out either by helping with bills or letting us live there. We also have money invested in different places as well as a savings account. We can find lots of ways to cut back before going bankrupt. We own our home and even though times are down, we could probably sell it, since the market wasn't hit so bad where we are. We could sell one or both of our cars (since he's not working, he wont' need to drive). I could see us moving in with my parents. We would live off of our food storage, food that we've been accumulating and rotating through the years for just such a crisis.



If my husband died today on the way home from work, I'd dust the rust off my teaching degree, take money from savings to pay to take the test to get me certified, and go back to teaching. I'd sell my house and one of my cars and move in with my parents until I had a secure job and the money to go back out on my own with the kids. We also have life insurance that would cover our expenses for quite some time.



That's the thing. When you aren't down and out, in the beginning, you have to make plans for such things and be prepared. Have a food storage. Have some funds tucked away somewhere. Have a college degree even if you aren't or can't use it. or learn a trade, something you can use in the future. Have a backup plan for when things go bad.

Eva - posted on 03/05/2012

It is very enspiring to see the amount of love and strength you mums have. It makes me tearful to read these storys and know we make NZ$2800 a month and dont need to pay rent as we live on a farm house. I could not imagine having the same situation I would be lost. I pray that things are better and trust that God always provides. Brittney you are a very strong women and an awesome mother.

Brittney - posted on 02/26/2012

If I didn't have those things, I wouldn't have been able to care for my daughter, I couldn't work because of pregnancy problems and without food stamps we would have starved. I probably would have given my daughter to the nearest capable relative to care for her and give her the things we couldn't afford.

Mother - posted on 02/26/2012

Kudos...I'm happy you had family to help support you and even better a spouse. If you didn't have those things....what would you do??



Poverty isn't just in the projects....its all around us.

Brittney - posted on 02/26/2012

As soon as my daughter was born, my husband, Ruby, and I moved in my sister's attic. We payed $300/mo to live there. Ruby was a newborn baby so we set aside $200/mo for her. We only made $800/mo sometimes less than that. Our food budget was $40-80/mo depending on how much we made that month. I never let my daughter starve, she ate and we didn't, I got very sick from malnutrition when she was 1 month old, we couldn't afford to go to the doctor, so I stayed home and tried to get better. For us, milk was a luxury, Ruby's formula and diapers came first...When Ruby turned 5 months old, my sister recommended applying for food stamps. We tried and we got accepted, we could now afford $300/mo on food! I still buy off brand products and now that my daughter is 16 months, we don't have to buy formula. No food item goes to waste!