6.15.2013

I'm not going to lie to you. I am a slacker. You can tell by the lack of upkeep on this blog. Sometimes, I get so caught up in my own nonsense I forget I have a place to vent a bit and maybe be of comfort to someone else in the world. Not that I've seen a lot of traffic here. My own fault, I know.

My latest vent is this: About two years ago, at the insistence of the school system, I applied for SSI benefits for my youngest boy who has PDD-NOS. I really saw not point, as we were not financially suffering at that time. We squeaked by and such. I honestly only applied to prove that we did not qualify.

Turns out, at the time, I was wrong.

My son was granted a certain amount of benefits to supplement our costs of his special care. It helped quite a bit, considering we were purchasing special foods just so he would eat. I mean, you have to understand that we ended up making two dinners per night because this child will not eat the same as anyone else.

So, we get these benefits for over a year. I am now told that they have overpaid me and they want over $2000 back immediately. I have no problem paying off my debts, and if it was not meant to be, so be it. I will be happy to pay the money back to SSI.

I am a little peeved, though. In the last few weeks, I have gone grocery shopping numerous times, scrimping, saving, couponing and really holding back on unnecessary items so I can make a $35/month payment back to SSI. In addition, I have medical bills piled up for myself and my husband because the insurance has increased our deductible to some outlandish amount that we just cannot afford. This is not what I'm peeved about.

Three weeks ago, my husband and I were standing behind a woman with a brand new Iphone, a HUGE diamond ring, expensive clothes, about $30 or more in dog food, and what does she pay with? An EBT card. Government money. Just today, my husband saw a guy counting $50 dollar bills, and pull out an EBT card.

What are we doing wrong that we cannot get any assistance for our son? I don't make a lot. My pay is $9.79/hour for a 35 hour week, and my husband only makes about $5 more per hour. We have three kids and live in subsidized housing where we pay the maximum rent due to our income. I see a lot of neighbors with brand new cars and food stamps, and we can't even get benefits for our son.

Honesty isn't always the best policy. This is what these circumstances have taught me.

I will continue to scrimp, save and coupon for my family. I will continue to not buy any necessary clothes, and if I do get sick, I will make sure to tough it out, because I cannot afford a $50 copay and the expense of medication.