How to navigate sudden poverty

amother

↑ Strawberry

Wed, Oct 25 2023, 10:31 pm

amother Bluebell wrote:

Personally I'm having trouble with the title of this thread You are not in poverty. You have a lot of assets. I was expecting to read something about you lost all your savings in some sort of scheme or you lost your house due to an act of Gd so the insurance wouldnt cover it. BH you arent living on the streets and you have food to put in your children's mouths.

When you have to pay six tuitions on that salary, absolutely, its poverty.

And where did she write that she has savings? There's money in the retirement account which they will need... when they retire. Plus it's not so simple to just take out money like that, pretty sure its tied up.

amother

↑ Bluebell

Wed, Oct 25 2023, 10:40 pm

amother Yolk wrote:

For someone to go from 600k to 70k is poverty. Even with assets.

Her dh is not ch"v disabled or worse. If he was making 600K there is no reason to believe he cannot make at least $200K, and then I think most people would agree they would no longer be in poverty.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Wed, Oct 25 2023, 11:19 pm

amother Bluebell wrote:

Her dh is not ch"v disabled or worse. If he was making 600K there is no reason to believe he cannot make at least $200K, and then I think most people would agree they would no longer be in poverty.

I’m OP and if dh finds a job for $300k or even $200k, I agree we would not be in poverty and I would not be freaking out. For whatever reason, it doesn’t look like he’s finding a job in that range any time soon (I did not specify why he lost his job but physical or mental impairment preventing him from performing adequately is one possibility.)

Again I’m fully aware, and honestly not very terrified at the prospect of living on a $250k salary. It’s living in the $70k range which is throwing me for a loop.

I will definitely ask for more hours and can probably/hopefully earn an additional $20k/year. We don’t have expensive cars, clothing, or furniture to sell.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Wed, Oct 25 2023, 11:23 pm

amother Bluebell wrote:

The only asset we have is our house (which I’m contemplating selling and doesn’t sound like it’s a good idea) and a few hundred thousand in our retirement account. We have no other savings (used any extra money over the past few years to pay back debt) and I honestly DONT see room in a $70k budget to put food in my children’s mouths.

amother

↑ Maize

Wed, Oct 25 2023, 11:28 pm

amother OP wrote:

If you sell your house (assuming you have a good interest rate and less than 700k mortgage) you’ll be very stuck as interest and housing/ rents have gone sky high.

Do you have a rav that can advise you? I feel like these are questions we can’t know answers to unless we knew more which may not make sense to share but depending on your kids ages etc. maybe if he truly can’t work in a high paying field any time soon it’s worth a drastic move. Like renting out your house and moving somewhere cheaper. But I wouldn’t make any big moves without getting some serious advice, I think mesila or that type must’ve dealt with this kind of thing before and would be a smart call.

B'Syata D'Shmya

Wed, Oct 25 2023, 11:31 pm

amother OP wrote:

Wishing your husband a refuah shelayma.
Do you have any disability insurance ?
If so please apply / speak to your insurance agent.

You also are eligible for unemploymement benefits as others also have mentioned. SO you have food tomorrow. The hope being that you can find some way of getting back on your feet before they end.

PSA - Please take this as a wake up call to have disability insurance.

amother

RosePink ↓

Wed, Oct 25 2023, 11:34 pm

amother OP wrote:

Are there really people in the tri state area with six school age children living on $70k? How?
Mortgage is around $40k/year and even if we beg and cry and plead I can't imagine the schools letting us pay less than $5k/child (we currently pay about triple that) which would be $30k leaving NOTHING left of the $70k salary. If you know of people who live on $70k/year (or do yourself), please give me tips on how

Op, I live in the tri state area with 6 kids on 90k. It’s possible.

amother

↑ OP

Wed, Oct 25 2023, 11:42 pm

amother RosePink wrote:

Op, I live in the tri state area with 6 kids on 90k. It’s possible.

Can you please give me a basic breakdown of your budget? I don’t see how to get mortgage and tuition lower than $70k (combined) and then there’s insurance, utilities, food, etc

amother

↑ RosePink

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 12:04 am

Housing is 2.6 k monthly and tuition is 30k yearly. Insurance is subsidized through the state. Water we get Liheap and utilities you can push down the line with payment plans. There are programs that help with utilities as well like USF and Heap. We live simply but aren’t poor.

mig100

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 12:30 pm

amother RosePink wrote:

That only leaves you with 30k for everything after housing and tuition. do you have food stamps? or any help with food. How much do you spend on food. I imagine it could easily be 1500 to 2k a month which would be most of 30K

There is also car, phone, basic shoes and clothing, , day camps etc

How do you do it

basyisrael18

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 8:18 pm

If you're in the Far Rockaway area, definitely reach out to Jewish Community Council of the Rockaway Peninsula - 718-327-7755, info@jccrp.org. They can help you sign up for SNAP, Medicaid, Child Health Plus, and sign your family up for their kosher food pantry. They also give out toys during Chanukah and school supplies before the new school year to families that could use it, and you can ask to be on their list.

Achiezer can help with health insurance and I believe they also have financial counseling, but you need JCCRP to get the other forms of assistance.

If you're not in Far Rockaway, you can still call them and they can direct you to places that can help you sign up for SNAP, WIC, and insurance.

amother

↑ Crimson

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 8:26 pm

amother OP wrote:

Can you please give me a basic breakdown of your budget? I don’t see how to get mortgage and tuition lower than $70k (combined) and then there’s insurance, utilities, food, etc

If you mean health insurance, your kids should now qualify for Medicaid.

Food, you likely won't get much from food stamps. You should apply for tomchei shabbos.

Utilities, there is aid but I get around $10 a month. It's a joke.

Is your husband unable to earn anything at all?

amother

Snowdrop

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:17 pm

amother Electricblue wrote:

She never said her dh has loans so how do you know he does?

She should ask about maaser

She definitely said they have student loans. Presumably it's her dh who is a "professional."