that I seem to fall through cracks when it comes to trying to get basic needs met. On the one hand, I got paid today (yay!) and that means I can spend a little on groceries...by little I mean maybe $15 or so. The rest goes to rent, assuming I get my cheque tomorrow from the station and it's what I estimate.
The problem is I just spent a week and a half basically eating nothing but about three peanut butter sandwiches a day or whatever friends could help me with. I have nothing in the house and since every paycheque since January has been pretty much spoken for, it's been impossible to build a stock back up. I may be able to start doing that come next payday.
I now realise that I wasn't just exhausted this past week; my blood sugar was off and my health is being affected. Not only was I hungry, irritable, and slightly out of it, making it difficult to do much with any enthusiasm, but my nails are breaking, my hair and skin are dull, and I've had both a filling and two bits of teeth come out in the last week. In other words, I'm a mess.
I'm trying to make things better. I got a book from the library yesterday that helps you maximise what money you do have. I'm tracking all my expenses, seeing where the money goes, and then I'll redo a budget with that in mind. Plus, come May 11th I'll work at the phoneathon like I did this past fall, and that will bring in some extra money.
A couple people have suggested going through God's Pantry. I checked into it, but I'd say it would be better to wait for now and then apply if I get in as dire a situation as I did recently; for now, I think things should improve. I'm not exactly sure if I qualify; 72% of their clientel make less than $10,000 a year; I make $15,000, meaning I'm about 157% above the poverty level, poor but maybe not poor enough. I do know I'm ineligible for food stamps. If I had a child, it would be different, but of course that opens up a whole other can of worms.
I did hope that I might qualify for assistance for the medicine I need but is too expensive for me to get because it's so new it's off formulary. I meet the income requirements, but I do have insurance that pays some of the cost, so I think this makes me ineligible. The customer service person at the 800 number I called couldn't tell me one way or another, just asked me to have my doctor decide how best to fill it out. The thing is, the questions were very straightforward...do you have insurance, followed by signing an affidavit that you don't. I can't see how my doctor can tell me it's okay to sign that, as it would be lying. So...that bit of bureaucracy was frustrating.
Still, overall I'm doing better, and I can at least get one of my meds today. I just hate juggling this eat-medicate-electric-rent thing.
I did apply for two jobs today, one full-time, the other part-time, with the public library today. I'm hoping if I just don't go away, they'll eventually hire me. It can't hurt, right?
Oh, well. At least it's almost Friday.
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