Taking the Scenic Route

Another tacky “Finances” post

It sucks to be us right this moment. lol.  We have a total of $10 to our name.  Our fridge is emptying fast, and we have no food stamps left. I just used the last of the cheese to melt over my white spaghetti.  (the whole grain stuff costs more, and I don’t have any left in my pantry).

However, we have money coming in soon.  It is just SO HARD to be patient!  Here is the breakdown:

• 10th:  Food Stamps available (read note to follow, this is a maybe)
• 11th:  financial aid money is available  (same day as my big sono, so this is a huge day for us!)
• 12th:  Zach’s paycheck from the college for teaching (theoretically, his last check for the summer session, but there are problems there too…see below)
• 13th:  Zach’s paycheck from the Dinner Theatre

So, a week from today, we will feel rich.  One flippin’ week.  Luckily, my mom is going to float us a loan tonight.  (they are coming to see Zach’s show tonight for their 39th anniversary.  Yeah them!)

About our food stamps.  We currently have one of those caseworkers that gives SRS workers a bad name.  We had a wonderful, compassionate worker before, but she left…probably got eaten by the sharks there.  This one always treats us with utter contempt and never seems to be able to believe we make it on such a low income.  (we can’t be the only ones surviving on a low income…heck, I know a number of people in the same situation we are, so I KNOW we aren’t alone.  We are just very frugal with our money…isn’t that supposed to be a good thing?!? )  Unlike our previous caseworker, who was clear on what was needed, processed everything quickly, and was nice to Zane (even when he was being a handful in her small office), this one is just incompetent. 

• When I have to go to his office, he seems totally irritated by Zane’s presence (which just confounds me…I know a lot of kids come into that office and how am I supposed to afford a babysitter?). 
• We get letters saying we are up for evaluation every month or two (before it was every 6 months) and when we send our paperwork in, he ALWAYS complains about something.  He doesn’t understand our financial aid paperwork, despite our highlighting, attached notes to break everything down, and verbal explanations.  He keeps insisting there must be more because there is no way we can make it with that. 
• He also sends out letters stating that we need to have our paperwork in the office by a date that was a week before the day we got the letter, and a note that our case will be closed if we don’t get it in within 2 days or something equally ridiculous. 
• Our ‘proof’ has to come through other government agencies (the school), so it can be a real hassle to gather the current proof needed. 
• We then hand deliver the paperwork before the cut-off date so it won’t get lost in the mail.
• A week later we receive a letter stating our case has been closed because we did not return our info before the cut off date (we did)
• I call.  He seems to never talk into the phone, so I can’t ever hear him, and then he gets irate with me when I ask him (politely, I might add) to please repeat what he just said.  I am put on hold for 10-15 minutes at a time.  He comes back to finally say we shouldn’t have gotten the letter because our paperwork is on his desk.  He says he looked at it and everything looks good.   I clarify that we should be receiving our food stamps on time and our case isn’t closed. He confirms.
• A week later I need to get proof of assistance to apply for my YMCA membership.  Again, have a problem because I can’t hear him.  (he is the ONLY person I have ever had this problem with on my phone).  He grills me for ‘why would I need something like that”.  I explain.  He says “didn’t I send something like that to you a month ago.  I respond that we never received any thing.  (we did ask for the same reason a few months ago, but he obviously didn’t send it, and I just let it go since I was put on bedrest and wouldn’t be going to the Y anytime soon).  He grumpily says he will find something to send us.  Then he asks if I have received the letter stating I needed to submit further proof of our paychecks.  I say no, he says I should have received it.  I tell him that I have received no such notice, but what kind of proof does he need.  AAAARRRRGGGGGG!   He tells me, and then tells me that if it wasn’t in very soon, our case would be closed.  We haven’t even gotten the demand yet.  Thank heavens I called because it gave Zach time to contact the director to have the paperwork available tonight when he goes in so we can, again, hand deliver the frickin’ thing on Monday. 

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!  We go through this almost EVERY MONTH.  He also keeps wanting to know if I am still pregnant, even though it has no effect on the food stamp case.  (it affects WIC, if I choose to get it, but not food stamps)  Such a hassle.  I also had to get a ‘proof of pregnancy’ from my dr’s office, even though it doesn’t actually affect the case. 

I feel really sorry for people that also get cash assistance, childcare assistance, utility bill assistance, and any other stuff.  The paperwork must be an absolute nightmare if “food stamps only” is this bad.

I understand that they have to have a lot of paperwork to ensure people aren’t cheating the system, but good grief, must they confirm the paperwork every month or two?  They can prosecute you if you don’t inform them of changes, isn’t that enough of a back-up?  I would feel sorry for him and how much paperwork he has to do if I hadn’t had such a smooth and pleasant experience with his predecessor.  This guy is just mean.

About Zach’s paychecks:  All summer we have not had a single paycheck be the correct amount.  Every two weeks it seems to be a different problem.  Apparently, it goes through about 5 offices.  (the department secretary, the head of the department, the dean’s office, the grad school office, then finally human resources).  Gotta love institutionalized systems. 

• the first paycheck:   they had him as “0″ dependents instead of “tax exempt”.  (very confusing since he has been getting paychecks for the spring semester already)  That took nearly $100 out of the check.  They also had his total pay for the summer at $200 less than what was promised to him.  Around 10 phone calls to figure out who can fix things.
• the second paycheck:  they fixed the “0″ dependents, but forgot to refund the money taken out of the first paycheck.  No change on the incorrect pay.  About 3 phone calls to try and get it fixed for next time.  $40 short of the rent amount, but the second job helps us cover rent.
• the third paycheck:  dependents right, refund right, pay still wrong.  Another 5 phone calls to figure out where the problem is.  Promises of ‘hand delivering the re-done paperwork” from people.
• the fourth paycheck:  still wrong pay.  Still short for our rent, but able to use part of the birthday money from his mom to help make up the difference.  (THANK YOU MIL!)
• the fifth paycheck for the summer is the one we are waiting on.  We don’t have high hopes that it will be right since yesterday the grad school office didn’t have the paperwork in yet. 

This could get even more fun for fall.  He has been verbally promised the GTA position to teach the class again, but the paperwork isn’t to the grad school yet, which means that the 50% tuition break isn’t registering yet at the Registrar’s office, which means that if it isn’t registered, we will have to pay full price for the classes and wait for the paperwork to come around to get a refund.  Plus, his paychecks still have to go through the same group of people.  Fun.

I continue to contend that the paperwork to remain in school is harder than the coursework.  He has a new form to fill out and return to the school every two or three weeks all summer long.  He also had to go through a financial aid appeal because of a paperwork snafu.  (approved, btw) What a mess.