On Friday of last week I used my last $5 to buy a $5 burger for breakfast/lunch while at work since I can no longer take food from home so that my wife and kids can have food in the fridge. A couple of days ago this would have not been a consideration but since our food stamps and medical were cancelled we now have to ration food and do our best not to get sick. I make $4 more than I used to and I am doing worse now. The state tells us we are just above the line and we no longer qualify for the benefits that were keeping us afloat.
Now I am about an half an hour away from lunch time and outside of the fact that I am hungry I am also trying to figure out how I am going to drive back home. I work about an hour and twenty minutes away from where I live and only have enough gas to maybe sort of make it home. I am just about done with this whole situation. We do everything right, report earnings correctly, and are told we are no longer below the required threshold to qualify for assistance. Yet I still definitely feel all the way poor. Later today I am going to request to work from home on the grounds that I can't afford to make it here everyday and hope I don't get laughed out of the room. We are also in the process of booking as many appointments as possible before our medical benefits are taken away for good. The next step is to find affordable insurance and the best food banks that we can go to moving forward. Luckily I already have that second bit covered since we used to visit food banks regularly last year when I had a minimum wage job.
One step forward, two steps back. Credit card grocery shopping is the play for the rest of this week while I get paid and I will be looking for a second job, remote if possible. Luckily our kitchen here at the office has some happy Monday bagels for us today.