Just hypothetical. If you could qualify for any sort of assitance, would you? This had me thinking lately as my dh's income is less (more deductions) and I work out of town. The difference would mean a couple hundred $ more for bills and me picking up less hrs. (i'm on-call) Any thoughts?

of course, that sort of stuff is there to help you, why not use it?

(well, I qualify but dont use WIC, but it doesnt offer anything we need or use) But dh and Ds are on medicaid, and my fil gets foodstamps. When times were tougher, or we are having tight months, we also use our local food pantrys. If you qualify for help, I just don't see why people don't take advantage of the help thats there instead of struggling unnecessarily.

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stay at home mom to my crazy toddler with sensory issues

Yes!!! I definitely would!! I learned to get past my pride. We could have easily qualified for various sorts of assistance when my dh was in college (20 yrs ago), but we were too proud and said we were making it just fine on my salary. Now I think of all the money we could have saved from student loans and it could have made a big impact on our lives still today! The programs are there to help those who qualify. They should be used.

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~Happiness is a large family~

If you qualify and NEED the assistance, than you should apply for it. When I worked full time and when dh was going to school, we had daycare assistance. We had too. Daycare costs for two children by myself cost right around $1000/mo! There was no way we could afford that. *Wanted to add, that my assistance did not pay for all of my daycare costs, probably only about 40% of it, but it was better than nothing. My kids are all on medicaid, but we have NO insurance. And who can afford it if you dont have it offered thru a job?!?!? Even if you have insurance, it is still hard to come up with the money for visits, prescriptions, etc. I have two kids that take singular (chewable, 4mg.) just for one prescription for one month is $125! I do not have that much money to spend and if they are not on it, they are miserable-coughing, sneezing, stuffed up, they dont sleep good, etc. We have used WIC before and it was a life saver. It would get us about a case and a half of formula per month. It did not always get us thru until the next month, but it made it so we could afford to buy it ourselves when it was getting low. Plus at the cost that milk is, it would really help out those that need it. I think we got (dont know if each state is the same) about 5 gallons of milk, one lb of cheese, one or two dozen eggs, frozen juice and 36 ozs. of cereal for each child that you had signed up for it-until they are five.

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Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate.
Jon Bon Jovi

If you quailfy then you should apply. When my youngest son was born he required a special formula until he was 14 months old and we missed WIC by $5000. If we had had the assistance we wouldn't have gotten behind on our bills to buy formula. Just my two cents worth!

Michelle

Most definitely! I just became a SAHM in May and we get along fine without my income, but money does get tight. In fact, I just had an appointment w/ WIC last week and both of our kids qualify. At first I was hesitant. But then a few weeks ago I was behind someone in line at the grocery store who was getting WIC and she pulled out a HUGE wad of cash to pay for the rest of her stuff. And I had just had it w/ so many other people getting assistance for sitting on their butts (not speaking about this person specifically, just lazy people in general) and I thought if they can get it, I may as well try. My husband works his butt off so we can make ends meet and I can stay home with our kids, so I don't feel we are taking advantage of it. It definitely helps us out as our kids go through juice and milk so quickly. The WIC office didn't make us feel bad at all. In fact, they made us feel very good about using it. So if you think it will help you and you qualify, go for it.

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Loving wife to Matthew 6/26/04
SAHM to Jacob Matthew 4/19/03 & Evelyn Grace 2/15/06
Baby #3 due 3/14/09

Yep!

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As long as the child under 5 receives Medicaid (any form) my son has Health Care USA the child receives WIC. No matter what the income.

Like others have said if there is a NEED then I would absolutely apply for any assistance that you qualify for. Years I ago I used WIC and also got fuel assistance. Many of the programs I didn't think we qualified for but we did. Even though our heat was included in our rent we received a check for the assistance.
Sometimes you have to swallow your pride and use the help thats there. That is what it is there for.
Good Luck

If it will help you and you need it- I would go for it! The only thing that bothers me about assistance is how some people can really work the system and get everything and others who can really use that service is times of need get denied since they may make $200 over the limit (meanwhile they are this close to losing everything). What I mean by people that know how to work the system is like my cousins girlfriend- she does not work anymore (she quit her job a few months ago)- she gets cash assistance, food stamps, HUD, free insurance coverage, got a vehicle for free (so she could drive back and forth to work) and she was able to get her 4 year old SS for a speech ipediment (WTH- that is ridiculous!). She is living nicely for free- those are the people that drive me mad! Anyways as for people who work hard and struggle- I think if they qualify for the assistance they should!