Anonymous wrote:I lost my job when the economy tanked in 2008. We maxed out credit cards, took a $40,000 loan, defaulted on my credit cards and loan, moved from a house in a nice neighborhood into an apartment in a shitty one, lost our nice car and bought a piece of junk (repeat a bunch of times since cheap used cars break down quickly) and still haven't gotten any government hand outs. We are still taking care of ourselves.

Get a crap job, OP. Deliver food for Uber or some other bottom of the barrel job if that's what you have to do while you look for something better. I think getting on welfare is the end of the line. I would not risk it.

I just want to point out that you HAD a credit card to max out (and then default on). How much was that? And on top of that, you had decent enough credit to be extended a $40,000 loan. Which you also defaulted on.

So, you didn't need any government handouts, but you DID need that money. Which you never repaid.

What would you have lived on, if you had not had a credit card and if you had not been approved for a loan?

That's probably the situation of people who are getting government handouts. No credit card and no one will give them a $40,000 loan!

Anonymous wrote:When I lived in much after college, I worked at a Bog 4 form as an associate. I made $36k in 1997. There was a nut article at the time that detailed the value of the free stuff people on welfare got. Things like housing, food stamps, healthcare and feee childcare. It was more than my salary.

I see what she’s saying.

So why am I passing all of the homeless emcampments every day on my way to work? If poor people get so much "free stuff" why are they living on the streets?

Anonymous wrote:Yep. Op, you have discovered what one of my friends discovered about 5 years ago now. It pays to not get paid.

I still have trouble imagining that its better to have no income at all. I guess if your salary is very low - you might make out better getting assistance than you do working. But isn't that bar pretty low?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone I know back home in a LCOL part of VA that isn't $0 income but probably isn't more than $40K. Their kids get to go to private school for free and are probably getting a much better education than I could afford to give my kids.

Most private schools in the US are absolute garbage. They are usually religious institutions and accreditation is done by fly-by-night companies, with no oversight by the government.

At least with a public school there are minimum requirements and you can sue.

Having taught at both public and private in Fairfax, I would send my kid to my religious private school in a heartbeat. The writing and math curricula were miles above FCPS.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lost my job when the economy tanked in 2008. We maxed out credit cards, took a $40,000 loan, defaulted on my credit cards and loan, moved from a house in a nice neighborhood into an apartment in a shitty one, lost our nice car and bought a piece of junk (repeat a bunch of times since cheap used cars break down quickly) and still haven't gotten any government hand outs. We are still taking care of ourselves.

Get a crap job, OP. Deliver food for Uber or some other bottom of the barrel job if that's what you have to do while you look for something better. I think getting on welfare is the end of the line. I would not risk it.

It is not. You need to expand your bubble. There’s a small percentage of people who go on “welfare” and stay there for the rest of their lives. Please note the Temporary part of Temporary Aid to Needy Families or the fact that welfare reform limits how many months of assistance can be received. Most people use it to ride through a rough patch. Those who can’t get on their feet in the allotted time fall into two categories: a) people with extraordinary circumstances like drug addiction or a disabled dependent and b) those living in broken local economies. Do either of those sound like you? If not, you’ve impoverished yourself for no reason other than misplaced pride.

What does pride have to do with it? If I can continue to support myself and my family on a meager income, why shouldn't I do that? Why do I deserve to be in a nice house and drive a nice car if I'm no longer making enough to pay for those things?

Anonymous wrote:I lost my job when the economy tanked in 2008. We maxed out credit cards, took a $40,000 loan, defaulted on my credit cards and loan, moved from a house in a nice neighborhood into an apartment in a shitty one, lost our nice car and bought a piece of junk (repeat a bunch of times since cheap used cars break down quickly) and still haven't gotten any government hand outs. We are still taking care of ourselves.

Get a crap job, OP. Deliver food for Uber or some other bottom of the barrel job if that's what you have to do while you look for something better. I think getting on welfare is the end of the line. I would not risk it.

It is not. You need to expand your bubble. There’s a small percentage of people who go on “welfare” and stay there for the rest of their lives. Please note the Temporary part of Temporary Aid to Needy Families or the fact that welfare reform limits how many months of assistance can be received. Most people use it to ride through a rough patch. Those who can’t get on their feet in the allotted time fall into two categories: a) people with extraordinary circumstances like drug addiction or a disabled dependent and b) those living in broken local economies. Do either of those sound like you? If not, you’ve impoverished yourself for no reason other than misplaced pride.

Anonymous wrote:Yep. Op, you have discovered what one of my friends discovered about 5 years ago now. It pays to not get paid.

If that's the kind of person you are.

Yep. Op, you have discovered what one of my friends discovered about 5 years ago now. It pays to not get paid.

Anonymous wrote:I lost my job six months ago and for the first time in my life I qualify for grants, scholarships and government assistance. What I have noticed is if you are making zero income you qualify for all sorts of assistance, discounts and free items but when I was working I didn't qualify for anything and was going further and further into debt.

I am looking for work here and in cheaper cities but I can see why many people aren't motivated. When I get a job it will probably be under $100,000 (I have never made six figures) and I have a school-aged child to support as well.

DC is crazy expensive and I will never, ever judge those on assistance again. If I can't make it on $75,000 (what I made before) how can we expect those who'd only make minimum wage to?

This isn’t WHY people are on welfare, but it is a reason why we need to protect and actually expand public assistance for those not well-served by our economy or struggling with extraordinary circumstances.

I lost my job when the economy tanked in 2008. We maxed out credit cards, took a $40,000 loan, defaulted on my credit cards and loan, moved from a house in a nice neighborhood into an apartment in a shitty one, lost our nice car and bought a piece of junk (repeat a bunch of times since cheap used cars break down quickly) and still haven't gotten any government hand outs. We are still taking care of ourselves.

Get a crap job, OP. Deliver food for Uber or some other bottom of the barrel job if that's what you have to do while you look for something better. I think getting on welfare is the end of the line. I would not risk it.

Anonymous wrote:When I lived in much after college, I worked at a Bog 4 form as an associate. I made $36k in 1997. There was a nut article at the time that detailed the value of the free stuff people on welfare got. Things like housing, food stamps, healthcare and feee childcare. It was more than my salary.

I see what she’s saying.

But since 1997, your salary has gone up and TANF hasn't in most states. In DC, they haven't even accepted anyone onto the Section 8 or public housing waitlists in almost 7 years. So it's not like you can just choose not to have a job and you'll automatically get most of this stuff. And in most states, there is a lifetime limit (usually 5 years) on getting TANF, and able-bodied adults without dependents can't get food stamps in most states.

It's better to be too rich for these programs than to have to depend on them.

When I lived in much after college, I worked at a Bog 4 form as an associate. I made $36k in 1997. There was a nut article at the time that detailed the value of the free stuff people on welfare got. Things like housing, food stamps, healthcare and feee childcare. It was more than my salary.

I see what she’s saying.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I don’t have housing assistance or welfare yet, haven’t applied either. My comments were merely that you have to really make decent money in this area to make going off government assistance worthwhile. Middle class is screwed basically.

OP I get what you are saying. It’s especially true if you have a SN kid. I hated depending on government aid awhile back but after we got off of it, WHAM! You find out fast what a gift Medicaid is when your employer’s insurance company keeps trying to stick you with thousands of dollars of denied claims, won’t pay for any therapy, and you no longer get supplemental income or free diapers. Plus, your student loan exits hardship status, the kid’s tuition is no longer subsidized and on and on. It’s really a wash until you make UMC income.

Still, I’d rather not take government aid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're kind of in that bind for 2019. My wife started a job that will boost our income about $20k this year, which will wipe out the extended Medicaid for our kids and the insurance subsidies for my wife and I. Between the insurance hit and the taxes, she's working for free.

We both found work with small employers that don't offer insurance and plan seems to be that everyone is married to a teacher or government worker that gives the country coverage. One of my friends is a doctor who empathizes with our predicament and openly suggested that we just lie on our taxes for the health coverage. How the frick did we get to this point?

Republicans, who refuse to deal with the cost of coverage. Rather than fix the affordability problems with the ACA, they kept trying to "repeal" it for 8 years. People need decent, affordable health coverage and if you don't work for a large company with generous coverage or make so little that you qualify for Medicaid or a huge subsidy, you are screwed. And Congress -- the Rs -- REFUSE to deal with the problem.

working is a good idea

Not that PP, but I do work. I also pay $425 per month for insurance. Before the ACA went into effect, I paid ~$175/month. I make too much to qualify for any subsidies through the marketplace.

Why do you think you see so many older people still working in this area? Not because they were foolish with their retirement savings, but because the insurance you must have in addition to medicare, which only covers parts A & B, is extremely expensive for them.

My mom is retired but works part time at a job that offers insurance if you work 30 hours. She does this because once she retired and lost her company sponsored insurance, they had to pay $1800/month for parts C & D to cover everything with medicare. That was the cheapest option they could get and it was still really terrible insurance.

Anonymous wrote:We're kind of in that bind for 2019. My wife started a job that will boost our income about $20k this year, which will wipe out the extended Medicaid for our kids and the insurance subsidies for my wife and I. Between the insurance hit and the taxes, she's working for free.

We both found work with small employers that don't offer insurance and plan seems to be that everyone is married to a teacher or government worker that gives the country coverage. One of my friends is a doctor who empathizes with our predicament and openly suggested that we just lie on our taxes for the health coverage. How the frick did we get to this point?

This is why I had to leave my job that I loved and was super flexible at a small company. They stopped offering insurance when Obamacare when into effect and it really only affected me and one other person. Everyone else had a spouse that they could get insurance through. I was single at the time and the monthly premiums for me, someone with a chronic condition, were nearly $1,000.