Yes, I got the job!
And with the way pay cycles work, I probably won’t be paid until March 1st. Yay, paycheck. Boo, a whole month without cash flow.
So I’m gathering my ducks in a row and trying to figure out what I can do. Where i live, there’s emergency help if your heat gets shut off, but I don’t think it’s going to help me pay the heating bill without first having to suffer without heat. So that’s out. I have just enough money saved to pay the rent and the utilities, with some left over for transportation. Hey, I still have to get to the job, right? I don’t think there’s anyone out there who will pay my rent for me this month. Not government, not sugar daddy, not patron. I’m on my own. OK. I can deal with that.
So, utilities and rent are on my head this month. The only thing I think I can get help with is food stamps. There is an emergency food stamp program here, that would give me more money than I allow myself to spend on groceries in a month. And that might be just the thing to get me from February first to March first. See, when I panic about money, I go shopping. At the grocery store. And I fill my cart full of stuff. Just so that, no matter what happens, I can feed my son. The other thing I do in a panic is refuse to eat all the yummy things I just bought, trying to ’save’ them for my son… but so much of it ends up going bad that I’m forcing myself to eat them. Blueberries and blackberries. Almonds and peanut butter. Whole grain frozen waffles.
A bottle of wine. Hey, I do need some small indulgence!
So, if I have the time and the courage and the paperwork together, I’m going to the Department of Health and Human Services tomorrow morning to see what I can do about keeping a roof over our heads and food on the table for another month until I get a regular paycheck.
In the meantime, I’m going to stay up late tonight obsessing on everything. I’ll go through my fridge and take stock, and actually make a meal plan for all the food that’s in there. I know I’ve got chicken breasts and pork chops that need to be cooked sooner rather than later. This month is going to be lean, but with an end in sight.
What do you do to make ends meet?
Photo Credit: Barndon Shigeta on Flickr
oh my woooooord- we are SO similar in this!
i do the same when it comes to grocery shopping!
and long ago, when damien and i first moved out on our own, i went “hungry” a few times to make sure he could eat properly (and i say “hungry” ‘coz i’ve always been pretty well padded and can probably do with skipping a few meals every now and then, LOL).
nice work christina- i’m very impressed with how far ahead you’re planning!
I am so glad you have this to fall back on. I am glad you know what to do.
And, that you got a job.
At the moment I have income sufficent for my needs and some to spare. But that wasn’t always the case and I am always quite mindful that it could evaporate at the drop of a hat.
I could SO relate to your comments about stocking up on food to calm your anxiety of potential deprivation. I remember doing that too.
I have a son who right now is struggling to get by and I worry about him constantly. He has resorted to selling his plasma to the Blood Bank to make ends meet. He says he gets $50 per week doing this. Some people consider it degrading, others find it an honor to be able to do it. All a matter of perception I suppose.
I do remember my own days of poverty, living on lentils and Ramen noodles. There were some very bleak days.
I found that burning scented candles help soothe my jangled nerves AND kept the light bill down. Listing every day 5 things I was grateful for (trying to come up with as many new ones as I could each day) helped me break my obsessive thoughts of worry over what I did not have or what might go wrong next.
Food banks sometimes also give out soap/shampoo/feminine hygiene stuff and that can be a big help.
oh hang it, i’m too tired to be writing! LOL thank you
It’s illegal to go without heat, but the heat can be shut off. There is assistance here for heating bills, but only after the heat’s been shut off, and the gas company isn’t allowed to release information about folks whose service has been shut off. So they mayor is organizing a house to house survey in neighborhoods where this sort of thing happens. can you believe it?
I think you mean March 1st, above?
In PA, it’s illegal for heat to be shut off in the winter months. Different in DC?