What price range should we be going for?

amother

Lavender

Wed, Apr 14 2021, 8:55 pm

amother [ Papaya ] wrote:

Because the qualification figure is gross -- before taxes -- while her income seems to be net -- after taxes.

If the income she mentions were gross, she could not possibly be asking if she could afford $2200 a month for an apartment, as their take home would be $2400 to $2600 or so.

Despite this I believe food stamps deducts expenses such as utilities and childcare- so you can really make more than the limit if you have expenses (I think I am remembering right. bh its been some years since we were on)
OP- there are case workers that can help you navigate the programs. google or ask around. im sure there are other imas from BP that would know where to go

PeanutMama

Wed, Apr 14 2021, 9:11 pm

Hi. I’m back. I spoke with my husband. I asked about the food stamps and wic. He said “I don’t know” but in a tone of voice that implied that it was up to me.

Honestly I would take it but idk how the process works and all that stuff. I heard yeled vyalda does it for you for a small fee (250$ I think not sure). But with all that paperwork I’d definitely be lost.

It would really be a huge help to be on that.

The reason why I’m nervous about it is because of that stereotype 🙈 but when you desperate you gotta do what you gotta do.

Also, we were advised by my husband’s immigration lady to not tell the wic people that my husband is working, and I should apply for food stamps for me and my son as a single mother. We do have a marriage certificate by the state of New York so what if they find out I’m ACTUALLY married? I don’t want to lie about that, it just feels so wrong to lie and I’m not comfortable. I want to do things honestly.

But with a toddler and a baby on the way I guess I should definitely give it a try.

And yes, frum life is expensive!

So our apartment is very simple. Nothing super fancy. The dining room table and chairs were probably made 5-10 years ago. It’s glass top and iron idk. One of those kinds. No couch or sofa or comfortable reading chair to sit on in the dining room (which could also be a living room but it would be impossible to squeeze a sofa in there.) We do have backyard chairs to lean back on so I use that lol. My husband built a plain unpainted and uncarved seforim shrank all by himself and has a lot of seforim BH. Theres also a small glass cabinet left in the apartment so we use that to store our Yom tov and shabbos stuff and extra tablecloths.

Baby’s room has a full size crib a bookshelf and a 5 drawer dresser. His crib has a drawer and he has a lot of toys. His room is filled with toys, big and small but nothing dangerous.

My kitchen is narrow. Our washing and drying machine is there side by side and I use the top to fold and sort laundry. We also have our plastic dishes there and the toaster oven too.

I would love to do babysitting in my place but idk I think our place is small and I can at the most take care of 2 children plus my son comfortably. We’d have to push that table off to the side against the wall and put the chairs in our room so the children can play and run around safely. But where would they nap is the question.
I guess in order to scrape by I would have to charge maybe 13-15 per hour if I were to start babysitting again. I usually leave it up to the mother but I realize it’s not good. I was actually told in a Facebook group to charge no less than 16$ hour.
I’m nervous about bed rest and early preterm labor which is also why I’m not working at the moment. BH everything’s normal now but eh I tend to worry. I had a few scares when I was pregnant with my son.

amother

Silver

Wed, Apr 14 2021, 9:11 pm

amother [ Lavender ] wrote:

The deductions are taken from the max earnings to figure out how much fs they will receive
Unborn children are not eligible for fs or wic,
They are eligible for medicaid
Please go to nachas health on 13th and 48 and speak to them about fs. They will not charge you anything
They can also help you with medicaid

amother

cornflower

Wed, Apr 14 2021, 9:26 pm

Do not lie.

The WIC office will be happy to help you apply. You are 99% for sure eligible, and they provide some useful basic foods.

We lived in a one-bedroom apartment for 5 years, until we were expecting our third and we moved to a different state. I made my oldest a "bedroom" in a seldom-used hallway by putting a toddler mattress on the floor. My baby slept in a crib in my room.

We did have room for both a couch (hand-me-down futon) and a table, and got second-hand bookshelves.

Offhand, can you move your table against the wall instead of putting it in the middle of the room? That could give you comfortable space for a couch, and if you have guests on Shabbos you can pull the table back out.

If that sounds like it might help, we can probably help you with other ways to maximize your space.

amother

Emerald

Wed, Apr 14 2021, 9:26 pm

Hashem_n_Farfel wrote:

The $250 you think yeled vyalda charges to “help” is not a low fee. It’s a large chunk of your monthly income and if thats the real amount they charge, thats criminal. There has GOT to be someone who helps as a chessed.

The immigration “lady” - what is that? An attorney? She is telling you to commit fraud. Do not do that please.

Unless your obgyn thinks you should not work, why do this to yourself now? You need the income. If you can take your son to a steady babysitting job, do it. If there is no medical reason to worry, do not worry.

PeanutMama

Wed, Apr 14 2021, 9:33 pm

amother [ Emerald ] wrote:

Yeah the person who told me about yeled vyalda told me that was the price to send in an application and then 180 a year to be certified again, whatever that means, earns way more than I do was just copying what she said. So to her 250 is cheap. To me that’s a lot of $ and I told her so and she was like “so don’t get it then” 🥴

I’m not even sure what she is lol. She was the lady who arranged my husbands papers and immigration stuff (so he can be a US citizen— he is Hungarian but BH has his green card now.) but for sure! I’d never ever do that. It feels wrong to lie. Idk why she would tell me to do that.

ROFL

Wed, Apr 14 2021, 9:33 pm

Quote:

Also, we were advised by my husband’s immigration lady to not tell the wic people that my husband is working, and I should apply for food stamps for me and my son as a single mother. We do have a marriage certificate by the state of New York so what if they find out I’m ACTUALLY married? I don’t want to lie about that, it just feels so wrong to lie and I’m not comfortable. I want to do things honestly.

You should do thing honestly. There is no shame in that. What do you mean by immigration lady? Is your husband not a citizen or legal here ?
Please go to yeled v yalda and apply for WIC and see if they can help you with food stamps
https://www.yeled.org/ This the website you can find the address and phone number
Don’t lie about being married - the government keeps track of that.
You can get govt help and then see how you can help your DH get a better paying job
What does he enjoy doing ? Maybe he has skills that we can help lead him to find a better job
Working with special needs is great and it is obvious you worked in a group home with those hours ( so did I when I was younger)
If you chose to go to work you have to have a job that can help pay for child care It does not make sense to work for $15 per hour if the babysitter costs $10 per hour.
You too will have to see what education or skills you will need to have a better parnassa
Best wishes to you !

PeanutMama

Wed, Apr 14 2021, 9:35 pm

ROFL wrote:

Quote:

BH we don’t use that organization anymore, my husband already has his green card

ROFL

Wed, Apr 14 2021, 9:38 pm

Hashem_n_Farfel wrote:

Yeled v Yalda Charge for application. How unreasonable and possibly fraudulent. They say they have a program for that. They should be getting state funding ! I will google to find you a place to go for free

amother

Emerald

Wed, Apr 14 2021, 9:38 pm

Hashem_n_Farfel wrote:

It is free to apply to wic and food stamps. I guess yeled vyalda has a fee, but most people do it on their own. If its true that they charge for this, thats just not cool. Maybe they are charging because they do it for you? Still, there has got to be some kind soul out there who helps for free. Its really not complicated. You just need to have all of your financial information ready.