Well,,,the way I see it you have 2 choices.
The most important thing is to get the stress off of you.
This is the perspective my bff took for the same situation you are in.2 children and wanted to make a better life. She now has her masters and teaches. My counselor at the spouse abuse center did this also" Both said they made a decision IF they every got thru college, they would help others in their positions. They are not a "freeloaders", but they realized if they would accept major help from churches and the government for 2 years, then they would be in a very strong position in 2 years -- able to contribute to charities, make up her own scholarship for OTHER struggling moms, and paying lots more in Taxes throughout her lifetime. Or she could quit college and work a lower paying job forever and struggle and never reach her dream.
So, if you want to go the route of getting all the "help" you can from the government and churches NOW with the intention of "paying it forward" later, here are my suggestions:
1) Get you children on medicaid. They then will get free breakfast and lunch at school.
2) After your children get approved for Medicaid, then apply for yourself. IF you get turned down, you only have to wait 8 months until you will be able to get on it. Why? With the new health care law people who cannot afford insurance--YOU---will have to be placed on Medicaid because remember in Jan 2014 everyone is required by law to have health insurance. I was told this by the medicaid office recently, but check on it yourself.
3)Go online and apply for food stamps (SNAP). I get 258/mo. because I am working,so you will probably get alot more.
4)Call your electric company and ask what charities pay the electric bill for people who need it. Get your paperwork together and go get them to pay your electric bill. In my area, there are several local charities who do this. You can go to a different one every month. Keep a record of what charity helped you and make a committment to volunteer or contribute to that charity on an ongoing basis when you grad and work. We also have a local charity that will give a Mom extra money every month. We also have a charity here that you can go in every week and get paper supplies. We have another charity where you can get 1 bread item every day donated from leftover bakeries.
5) Go to the department head of your college and ask what scholarships they have available for you. My friend was able to get many many scholarships this way, bc the department head was in charge of deciding who gets the scholarship!
5) Since you have health problems, I would definately get student loans. Do you know if later you are deemed disabled the student loans will be forgiven? Do you know if you get a job in a school district as a counselor or teacher that has a high poverty level (I think it's based on how many children in that district get free lunch) you will have some or most of your loans forgiven?(check on the current law on this, she did this several years ago)
6) Are any of your children under 12? If so you need to maximize your tax refund. If you pay someone XXX to keep your child while you work or look for work you will get that money back PLUS a credit! I paid 400 in child care, but the credit I got was 700!
7) Get a small job thru the school or anywhere, but talk to financial aid first to make sure you don't earn too much for your grants and scholarships. I do part time greeting cards. Alot of people don't know this: if you work and make I THINK 2,000 dollars over a year you can get the earned income credit. It was set up by congress years ago to get people out working instead of staying home collecting aid. They realized once people got out there working they would be promoted and could have a better life and could pay more in taxes over their lifetime. Back to the credit.... I made 7,000 last year doing part time greeting cards, but you can do some easy job at the college. My tax bill was 0 because I have 2 children. My REFUND was 3,000!!! Many people do not know this is how it works! A tax credit is not a deduction. It is a credit that comes right off what you owe and any left over goes to you as a refund.
Also, the tax refund cannot be counted as income for your finacial aid.
All this being said, I do not believe you nor any other single mom is a freeloader. I believe if you get all the help you can now, you are going to have a better life for yourself and your children, you will be able to set up scholarships for other deserving Moms for future years, and will be a contributor to society.
[This message edited by homewrecked2011 at 5:43 AM, May 21st (Tuesday)]
