In a financial bind, need help finding assistance programs.

[bungiefan]

GF and I each have a full-time job and are still having trouble keeping caught up on the bills needed to just stay in our apartment. I make ~$1600/mo and she ~$1100. Rent is $1150 on a 2-bedroom apartment we've tried to keep filled with a roommate. Car and insurance are about $220/mo. Gas and electric are each $80-100 in the summer, worse in the winter, being Alaska where we reach -20F often. I have no medical insurance because it jumped up from $118/mo to $320/mo over the course of 4 years and I couldn't pay it every month so they dropped me. One cell phone for us to have to be called for job interviews, and to be able to call if we have an emergency out of the house is $40/mo from ATT, no contract. Internet so I can search for help and make online job postings without driving across town is $50/mo plus taxes for the slowest DSL 320kbps (roommate offered to pay $30 of the $40 for a speed upgrade, and has done so), might have to ditch that soon anyway.

http://www.anchoragegasprices.com/

Gasoline is dropping recently from just under $4 a gallon ($3.89 average today, $3.97 a week ago, $4.18 a month ago). My car gets about 30 mpg, and I've been bicycling to work when possible (4 miles away). GF works across town, 6 miles away.

The hitch is she has college tuition catching up to her. She qualifies for VA benefits, but the school has us in a catch 22. Her parents moved out of state before her ID expired when she turned 23, and she hasn't been able to get a new military ID to get on base for medical care. To be able to do it herself she has to be enrolled in school, but while she was lapsed she tried to get in courses to qualify for VA again, and one class dropped her due to being too full just before they started, so she didn't have enough credits to qualify and couldn't sign up for another on short notice. Now to get VA, she has to enroll in more classes, but they won't let her until the $2200 from last semester is paid, which I haven't had funds to spare to pay off completely yet. If she gets her VA, school tuition is completely covered, and they pay a stipend for living expenses of $1200-1600 a month for our area, which would completely pay her tuition off, get us ahead on our bills, and let us establish a savings again. The school has to report her as eligible, and they won't do it unil they have the money that is owed, which they would have in 2 months if she qualified.

We get a yearly income item in September or October of every year for being Alaska citizens, the Permanent Fund Dividend, which has been one thing keeping me caught up. However, the school is going to garnish that and send the rest to collections if she isn't paid off in a month.

I also have a student loan I'll need to pay about $100/mo going into repayment later in the year.

I'm 2 months behind on phone/internet/gas/electric, but up to speed on rent/car/insurance.

What can I do? Financial aid searches are directing me to scholarships and loans for school, not much else. GF tells me they won't accept a scholarship at this point, or such other educational benefits. This is UAA we are dealing with.

I found a home heating assistance program, but they only pay out between October 1st and April 30th, so it's the wrong time. Not finding much luck on rent payment subsidy unless we move into public housing, which has a waiting list, and I'd need money for another security deposit.

[Melena]

What other bills do you have? For simplicity sake, your gf covers the rent assuming 0 for the roommate. That leaves 1600 for Car/Insurance (220), Utilities (100), Cell and internet (100). Assuming approximately 160 a month for gas for your car as a worst case, that's approximately 1k left over for Food and student loans and such. Something doesn't seem to be adding up. If it's only 2200 your behind on her loans, I'd hit up her family to see if they can front you a loan for about 2k and just pay 250 a month back to them.

[Tyche]

Get a subsidized loan for the past due tuition, get the VA checks, pay off loan, and continue to profit?

[Eurell]

Seriously though, wish I could help. GL

[hey]

If it's only 2200 your behind on her loans, I'd hit up her family to see if they can front you a loan for about 2k and just pay 250 a month back to them.

That sounds like your best bet. It seems like you'll be fine once that is paid off, and she can get those benefits, so if you have any friends/family, i'd start calling them and asking for help.

[bungiefan]

I did actually get an offer of help from her mom, when she heard we were engaged, to try to hold us off getting married (she doesn't like me much). However, since she made the offer, she hasn't actually paid anything toward the tuition, and won't talk to me on the phone (hears my name and hangs up).

I'm still finding/totaling other expenses. It doesn't feel like we should be as behind as we are.

Thanks for the quick responses guys.

EDIT: She got a new job 2.5 weeks ago that pays more than the old one, in that it gives her 10 more hours a week for slightly less per hour. She's also not working with kids, so she doesn't have as many days out sick. Older paychecks weren't as much, so I should be getting ahead with this.

[hey]

and won't talk to me on the phone (hears my name and hangs up).

Have your girlfriend talk to her.

[Melena]

Did you throw a water bottle at her yet?

[bungiefan]

Have your girlfriend talk to her.

GF's mom has a history of psychologically and physically abusing her. She doesn't like me because I gave her daughter the support and confidence to stand up to her and move out of the bad situation to try to stand on her own. Seriously, she was beaten for breaking rules or getting bad grades past age 20. Her mom is always trying to plant seeds of doubt about me being faithful and loving her for who she is.

She only seemed to acknowledge me and talk to me on the phone last time with the offer of help, to try to delay us getting married, and I was only putting that out there to try for tax credits and being able to put her on work's health insurance when I can apply for it, since she wasn't getting her VA. Once she was satisfied I wasn't in danger of becoming part of the family, she went back to ignoring me.

My parents are tapped out with a recent divorce, and my brother getting married recently.

Unsubsidized loan, would that be through my bank?

Just checked, my loan went into repayment this month. $115/mo. Also, on top of tuition, somehow she has an old student loan, $137/mo. Mine is down to about $4k left, hers is twice that. I would have thought the VA was covering that.

Working up a spreadsheet and totaling up everything I can think of.

I try to shop at Costco for all the dry/canned stuff I can to keep from having perishable food. We go with shelf stable milk we can stockpile, rather than gallons that need chilled storage.

Not understanding the water bottle comment.

[Tyche]

Subsidized loan, Stafford. She should qualify. Tell your g/f to go speak with the financial aid advisor of the instituion.

[bungiefan]

OK, I have Alaska Supplemental Education Loan and Federal Stafford Loan - Unsubsidized showing up on both our account pages.

It sounds like she has the loan because her parent's didn't file for the VA benefit for her first year of college in time for it to kick in for her tuition. I have one because my parents made too much money to qualify for FAFSA and it would have completely drained my bank account to pay it all up front and I didn't have a job in the small town the state school I went to was in (quit my job at a national chain because they didn't have a location in that town).

I'll still send her to the aid advisor at UAA, to see what can be done.

[AidenCarby]

I'd apply for SNAP, first and foremost. You both work but are having trouble making ends meet, there's no shame in food stamps for people who are working hard and simply can't afford to feed themselves. That's why it's there. Having to not worry about a grocery bill will help you guys out immensely with your monetary issues, they've stopped using the actual stamp and swapped to cards as of I don't know when, and if there's an issue with being embarrassed you can always use the self check out line. When filling out the form, just put down your bills, your income and write a letter saying you are responsible for your own food etc. Have gf do the same since she makes less money, one of you is bound to get it.(Apply separately ofc) Have the roomie do it too.

http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/outreach/states/alaska.htm

Good luck brother

[guartz]

What do you do?

I mean,

You seem to sound like a competent young person, why are you only making 10 bucks an hour?

[Melena]

GF's mom has a history of psychologically and physically abusing her. She doesn't like me because I gave her daughter the support and confidence to stand up to her and move out of the bad situation to try to stand on her own. Seriously, she was beaten for breaking rules or getting bad grades past age 20. Her mom is always trying to plant seeds of doubt about me being faithful and loving her for who she is.

She only seemed to acknowledge me and talk to me on the phone last time with the offer of help, to try to delay us getting married, and I was only putting that out there to try for tax credits and being able to put her on work's health insurance when I can apply for it, since she wasn't getting her VA. Once she was satisfied I wasn't in danger of becoming part of the family, she went back to ignoring me.

My parents are tapped out with a recent divorce, and my brother getting married recently.

Unsubsidized loan, would that be through my bank?

Just checked, my loan went into repayment this month. $115/mo. Also, on top of tuition, somehow she has an old student loan, $137/mo. Mine is down to about $4k left, hers is twice that. I would have thought the VA was covering that.

Working up a spreadsheet and totaling up everything I can think of.

I try to shop at Costco for all the dry/canned stuff I can to keep from having perishable food. We go with shelf stable milk we can stockpile, rather than gallons that need chilled storage.

Not understanding the water bottle comment.

For the waterbottle, see any pet thread now since cream soda created a thread on dealing with a cat.

As for the stepmother, she seems like a real piece of work. Unsubsidized loan would be through your bank. If your credit is good you can probably get a loan though the interest rate will suck. I had to take one out to help pay for my wedding after tapping myself out moving my wife from Washington to California. Got 1 year to go on it but it blew having to pay 200 a month for 3 years to pay it off. Also look at how much you eat out. when the wife and I were having some financial issues one day I looked at the cost from every meal we ate out for the last month, whether it was me grabbing lunch at work, or whatever, and it was retarded how much we were spending. Almost enough to make a monthly car payment. It adds up very fast.

[bungiefan]

Yeah, that's a QWEST card here. I know people with them. The Wal-Mart 2 blocks away takes them. Thanks, I for some reason wasn't looking at food subsidy.

Yes, eating out and movies appear to be part of the problem. I've voiced objections to the frequency of it, but now I have numbers to show her.

[Ganondorf]

Got anything laying around you'd be willing to sell? (serious question btw) Sometimes if you're not necessarily losing money each month, it's just getting ahead of the game that's the hard part. Living paycheck to paycheck always sucks, but it sucks less if you can bank a few grand. I'm sure you already know this, but if you're not banking anything, and God forbid an emergency should arise.... well, you're fucked.

Loans: no idea, sorry man. I would normally recommend you stay away from anything that could further increase your debt, but it sounds like you're already in "last resort" mode.

Phone: AT&T, aside from the fact that they're fairly reliable, sucks in terms of costs. Not sure what other options you guys have in Alaska. If they have Metro PCS up there, you should look into it. My Dad/Sister have it (2 separate phones/numbers with texting) for something along the lines of $35-40/mo.

Water Bottle: Old, occasionally funny, and consistently overused joke regarding advice threads.

[AidenCarby]

Actually if you just use the phone for emergencies/job interviews. Get magic jack, it's like 5 bucks a month of some shit.

http://www.magicjack.com/plus-v05/

For cell phone, again for emergencies only hit up a trac phone. Drop a 20 dollar card in that bad boy and you're good to go.

[AidenCarby]

Yeah, that's a QWEST card here. I know people with them. The Wal-Mart 2 blocks away takes them. Thanks, I for some reason wasn't looking at food subsidy.

Yes, eating out and movies appear to be part of the problem. I've voiced objections to the frequency of it, but now I have numbers to show her.

Any place that sells food usually takes them, iirc grocery stores are required by law. Most sandwich shops/corner stores etc take them.

[Dimmauk]

GF and I each have a full-time job and are still having trouble keeping caught up on the bills needed to just stay in our apartment. I make ~$1600/mo and she ~$1100. Rent is $1150 on a 2-bedroom apartment we've tried to keep filled with a roommate. Car and insurance are about $220/mo. Gas and electric are each $80-100 in the summer, worse in the winter, being Alaska where we reach -20F often. I have no medical insurance because it jumped up from $118/mo to $320/mo over the course of 4 years and I couldn't pay it every month so they dropped me. One cell phone for us to have to be called for job interviews, and to be able to call if we have an emergency out of the house is $40/mo from ATT, no contract. Internet so I can search for help and make online job postings without driving across town is $50/mo plus taxes for the slowest DSL 320kbps (roommate offered to pay $30 of the $40 for a speed upgrade, and has done so), might have to ditch that soon anyway.

http://www.anchoragegasprices.com/

Gasoline is dropping recently from just under $4 a gallon ($3.89 average today, $3.97 a week ago, $4.18 a month ago). My car gets about 30 mpg, and I've been bicycling to work when possible (4 miles away). GF works across town, 6 miles away.

The hitch is she has college tuition catching up to her. She qualifies for VA benefits, but the school has us in a catch 22. Her parents moved out of state before her ID expired when she turned 23, and she hasn't been able to get a new military ID to get on base for medical care. To be able to do it herself she has to be enrolled in school, but while she was lapsed she tried to get in courses to qualify for VA again, and one class dropped her due to being too full just before they started, so she didn't have enough credits to qualify and couldn't sign up for another on short notice. Now to get VA, she has to enroll in more classes, but they won't let her until the $2200 from last semester is paid, which I haven't had funds to spare to pay off completely yet. If she gets her VA, school tuition is completely covered, and they pay a stipend for living expenses of $1200-1600 a month for our area, which would completely pay her tuition off, get us ahead on our bills, and let us establish a savings again. The school has to report her as eligible, and they won't do it unil they have the money that is owed, which they would have in 2 months if she qualified.

We get a yearly income item in September or October of every year for being Alaska citizens, the Permanent Fund Dividend, which has been one thing keeping me caught up. However, the school is going to garnish that and send the rest to collections if she isn't paid off in a month.

I also have a student loan I'll need to pay about $100/mo going into repayment later in the year.

I'm 2 months behind on phone/internet/gas/electric, but up to speed on rent/car/insurance.

What can I do? Financial aid searches are directing me to scholarships and loans for school, not much else. GF tells me they won't accept a scholarship at this point, or such other educational benefits. This is UAA we are dealing with.

I found a home heating assistance program, but they only pay out between October 1st and April 30th, so it's the wrong time. Not finding much luck on rent payment subsidy unless we move into public housing, which has a waiting list, and I'd need money for another security deposit.

Your rent is too damn high. Move somewhere cheaper.

[Draylo]

What do you do?

I mean,

You seem to sound like a competent young person, why are you only making 10 bucks an hour?

What?