I grew up being taught respect for this nation....now I feel nothing

[Stargazer99]

but anger. My social security does not cover enough for rent, utilities, food and heat. I've been trying to pay Puget Sound Energy as much as I can each month. Now I've been give a shut-off notice. I receive only $700 a month and half of that goes to rent the balance to food, utilities etc. for a month. How many of you live on that for a month? I've already paid Puget Sound Energy $160.00 the first of Feb now they want $156 more at the end of the month. or it will be shut off..the money is not there...and yes I've applied for energy assistance...so far no answer. My teeth are in dire need of care but the State of Washington says they will not care for adult teeth and will only pull them. Not eligible for medical either (too much income) Try to get employment lacking teeth, not to mention the pain and the destruction of health when teeth are dying. I just started a part time job last week and deal with the finances of others. Last week a finance paper came through my desk. The husband earns over $3,400 per month and the wife earns $4,300 a month. Almost $8000 a month..that is how much I get on social security FOR A YEAR! how many others have their back against the wall like this? I'm getting where I hate this country.

[NMDemDist2]

1. this needs to be in GD

so I can nominate it for the Greatest Page

I'm so sorry :hug:

[Breeze54]

2. I'm sorry you're feeling bad tonight.

Yes, I'm almost in the same boat as you, so I know how depressing it can be.

I'm glad you've at least got that monthly check and a new part time job!

Congratulations on that! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Have you considered getting a room mate and reducing your rent and utility costs?

Have you checked out these dental clinics yet?

dental services provided by community dental clinics.
http://www.chs.hca.wa.gov/deliverysites.shtml

Have you contacted a local church for assistance with your electric?
Sometimes they have a community emergency fund for residents.

Maybe the Salvation Army?
I know they help with utilities, food and rent in emergencies.

I hope you hear from energy assistance soon!
I'm sure they're backlogged to the max right now!
Maybe you should call them and tell them you're being threatened with a turn off and also
call the electric company and tell them you're waiting for energy assistance and see if
you can make a deal with them to keep your lights on until Energy Assistance is approved.

Good luck and cheer up! Hopefully the Dems will win in Nov and we'll
have programs fully funded again to help people like you and me. :hug:

[Stargazer99]

3. Thank you for the feed back

Yes, I am feeling badly tonight...I will try to contact the dental services I hope I can have the money for it...everything seems to go to the landlord, the utility company and food. Fresh fruits and veggies are just not plentiful money wise.
Some idiot Republican says let those starve who have not saved for retirement. When you work for "those that own the means of production" and all you can do to pay the landlord, doctor, dentist, insurance company (half of all bankruptcys are medically related)only an idiot would think you have enough to save for retirement. Those women who stayed home and were "good" mothers and wives according to the fundamentist values are the ones often stuck with no retirement.

[Breeze54]

4. You're quite welcome.

I'm adding you to my buddy list, if that's ok? ;)

Let me know what they say at the clinic!
Hopefully they have a scaled payment plan according to income.
That would be awesome!

I hear you about women and retirement. :(
Women always seems to get the raw deal, it seems.

Let me know how it goes when you make all those calls tomorrow!

Electric Co., Energy Assistance, Salvation Army, local churches and the dental clinic.

Have you applied for Food Stamps yet? You should anyway, if you haven't yet.

Is there a Food Pantry near you? You can locate one at this link: http://cted.wa.gov/maps/

I'm interested to see what they all say! Let me know! :hug:

[Forkboy]

5. Do they have any food stamp programs there?

I only get $303 a month right now, and after rent it works out to about $25 a week left over, so if it wasn't for food stamps I'd be dead. I'm waiting for an SSI hearing in April. It'll actually be a step up. Here's the link to the food stamp program so you can get some info. How much you get varies of course on different factors, but even a little bit will help.

http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/

Here in Mass it's against the law for an electric company to shut someone off in the winter, from something like December to April I think. See if that applies out there. It might, threats of a shut off or not.

Good luck. I know it doesn't really help, but I do understand where you're coming from.