Wic.........

i hate that, i qualified for wic living at my parents though the wic in fla put it as just my paychecks, my pay went to my bills and i paid my dad "rent" $200 a month. and the rest went to diapers and extra formula etc. My husbands military now and we still qualify for wic but his pay is really low. we recently refinanced our car before i moved here though and got my grandma to cosign and it dropped our interest 10% wich helped out alot.
my sister got off wic when she really still needed it. her husband now ex was in korea and she had his bills to pay etc but while i lived there i just told her to pay the rent, water, electricity and phone and groceries, worry about his credit cards later, pay the important stuff first, her phone got shut off a few times. but we did ok.
we only have one credit card but thats so jason could establish credit , its hard to sign for cars , loans etc when u have no credit whatsoever. If we didnt need the help on wic i wouldnt get it . i did breastfeed at first for a while wich was nice, no money spent on formula at all, when i switched to formula i had bought a can then went up to wic, since its really expensive. im sure if jason was in afghanistan now i wouldnt need wic, we would be getting hazardous duty pay so we would be fine thats like an extra $100 or something a month if not a little more and familiy seperation. the military tries to do its best to compensate for the price rises etc but still they aint came far enough yet to catch up, speaking of wic i have to go out today and get some more formula.

i understand military life.. being am navy-military wife is rough! specially when myhubbby is gone 6 months out of the year! hes out right now! i wish we qualitfied for wic because things are really hard but i stretch the it out.. we i dont think qualify! and to the girl who posted i wasnt there to offend you but as far as some pepole who r on wic i too get mad at the material items they have.. ironically some of the money they make to opurchase material things are with under the table money..its not everyone its some! but the whole situation sucks.. hang in there and i hope things get better and that you and your new addition will have exactly what you need! let me know if you need advicew for coupon and stuff! i use coupons all the time or i couldnt purchase the good things for him! ttys and i wish u the very best.

those are odd questions, not sure about people on govt assistance being put on birth control unless they voluntarily did it, but personally if the 2 are on government assistance already they cannot afford a child. So therefore shouldnt even think to become pregnant. most people working at wic and even in there books advise to get the store brand if at all possible. And use coupons. Here we dont have a superwalmart with store brand milk and food etc. But i do use coupons when they are available at the commisary on wic products when using my wic checks. there formula checks give u the option like we have 3 cans similac advance or 4 cans nestle goodstart, i started her on similac advance before i got wic. so we mostly use that but sometimes they only have the nestle so we get that . but sometimes they have coupons for formula etc that we can use also.

Hey Birch!

I believe that people who get gov't assistance should not be allowed to use it to purchase junk foods, etc. Wic is a bit different since you get coupons/checks for certain items like formula, juice, eggs, etc. But food stamps, that's a whole different ball game. I get ticked as all get out when I have to stand in line behind some one buying chips, cookies, cakes, sodas, and paying with food stamps. I mean they have name brand everything in the cart. I work every day and have to get generic everything with no goodies. It's insulting. So yes I believe the ability to purchase certain items should be limited while on food stamps.

Birch, if people can't afford the necessities, they shouldn't have the wants.

Our first was a very unplanned pregnancy. We were in no financial situation to be having a baby, but we are against govt assistance. We took responsibility for our situation, and started cutting back on everything to provide for the baby we created. We stopped drinking soda and smoking, stopped going out, cut out internet, and cell phones. We only worked and slept, sure not a fun life, but we did what we had to do to be self-sufficient. Doing so, gave us self-confidence. And made us realize there are no real financial burdens, you just have to eliminate the wants for a while to provide for the needs.

No, I don't think there are real financial burdens. Two week ago, the engine went out on our car, we put in a used instead of new engine. Hubby worked a few more hours than usual, and I cleaned some homes and did yard work for a few weeks to pay for it. Doctors can do financial arragements, and recycling is a great way to pay for meals for the little ones in between paydays. There is ALWAYS a way, you just have to think outside of the norm.

Thank you everyone for your replies; it's a very interesting issue to me; and I can't decide how I feel about it.

I do see a difference between those who can work for a living, and those who cannot-whether they are physically or mentally ill, for example. Do those people deserve to have the 'wants'? Do they deserve to be taken care of by their gov't?

I'm just musing. Thanks!

Natalia,

Listening to your situation makes me thankful that there is help for people who truly need it. I can appreciate what Kim did to not go on government assistance as I wish most people would do this; however, there is not always a way!! Not everyone has money to buy a used engine nor do they have resources to get someone to put it in. Not everyone lives in an area or a job where they can readily work a few extra hours for pay, either. I live in an area where people are begging for work or more work and the unemployment rate is just so high.

If I couldn't work, we would be in a very similar position as you are. I hope you get free medical as well that would pay for those prescriptions!! I am also glad you are going to get on food stamps. People like you and your family truly deserve the help! Take care

A few hours have passed, and I'm over my gloating. I was wrong, and want to apologize if I have offended any. There are real situations and burdens that come up, and for those times, it is a wonderful program. I am sorry, I just think there are too many people that abuse it.

Kim,

That was such a nice apology!! Take care,

Karin

you should see the abuse of the gov't down here.

Talk about nausiating.

Food stamps are *not* meant for people to buy fudge bars, and marshmallows!!!! It tears me up!!

Nat, I didn't know you were going through all of this. (I knew about .trace's condition) but not about your personal goings on.

I'm sorry that you have to go through this. Especially with a 10.5 month old.

Sarah