Can't afford food | Imamother

amother

Lemonlime ↓

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 10:49 am

amother Ruby wrote:

I get almost $100 a month in fruits and veggies, tons of shredded cheese, 4 dozen eggs ( not a large family)

But yes, good luck and hope you find a job that works for you. If you live in Lakewood, babysitting makes a ton of money.

Agree about babysitting. Not just in Lakewood, virtually any Jewish community you can make a ton from babysitting.

amother

Seablue

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 10:52 am

amother Lemonlime wrote:

Agree about babysitting. Not just in Lakewood, virtually any Jewish community you can make a ton from babysitting.

How? 4babies for 5dollars is only 20 an hour

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 11:00 am

amother Wheat wrote:

People who write this, and Ive seen it often, to my mind, have never been where the OP is at.
Weve been there. And we both work. There was no possibilities of increasing our income as we both have jobs and bring in money. How would one increase income anyway? To find a new job? Thats also easier said than done.
Its not just so easy to do that.

Thanks! Exactly this. As if it's so easy. B"H I have emunah and believe Hashem can give money from anywhere. I'm doing my best to work when I can and so is DH.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 11:04 am

amother Lemonlime wrote:

Agree about babysitting. Not just in Lakewood, virtually any Jewish community you can make a ton from babysitting.

I have one child on WIC so it's $20 for produce which is not even one weeks worth for my family of 6.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 11:05 am

amother Lemonlime wrote:

Agree about babysitting. Not just in Lakewood, virtually any Jewish community you can make a ton from babysitting.

Also, I have a master's and profession. But I took time off due to having kids. B"H I work for myself a bit, I do hope to increase it.

Also, not everyone can do babysitting. It's so easy to throw that around. It would be bad for my mental health.

amother

↑ Lemonlime

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 11:07 am

amother Seablue wrote:

How? 4babies for 5dollars is only 20 an hour

Not true at all.
I don't know anyone who charges $5 an hour for 4 babies. Only people who take a lot of babies charge $5 or $6. If you are taking 4 babies, you can charge $8-$9 in Lakewood, Monsey and Chicago (I have friends in all three of those places that are paying that much!).

amother

↑ Aconite ↓

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 11:55 am

amother OP wrote:

Wow so helpful thanks. How would you like me to increase my income? Who says I don't go to gmach for uniforms and clothes? DH is not a taker and refuses for me to call tomchei shabbos. And I never said anything about school. This was about food. Please read the post before responding.

I read the post.
Sounds interesting. You have money for everything else just not for food???
I was trying to be helpful, no need to be so nasty.
Some ppl are in bad situations because they know everything better than everyone else and there's nothing else to do but whatever they're already doing.
Good luck with your finances! I hope you find money for food!

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 11:57 am

amother Aconite wrote:

I didn't say I have money for everything else. I said I am behind on many bills. We live in a state where we get tuition vouchers so that's not an issue. We get all clothes from gemachs.

amother

↑ Ruby ↓

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 12:19 pm

I think you have your answer. If you have a masters degree and took off time from work …now is the time to get back to your regular hours. If you just venting about needing money for extras, maybe my answer would be different. Food is a necessity.

amother

↑ Ruby

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 12:21 pm

Bh you don’t pay tuition or for clothes so the money you make can really take you far.

amother

↑ Honeydew

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 4:41 pm

I don't think you need DH's permission to ask for Tomchei Shabbos. Your kids need food to eat. If he doesn't want to take tzedaka, he can try to get a higher paying job. But if not, your family needs to eat. Make the call.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 5:24 pm

amother Honeydew wrote:

It's not about permission. It would cause shalom bayis issues. He really doesn't want people delivering tzedaka to our house.

amother

↑ Aconite

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 5:34 pm

amother OP wrote:

It's not about permission. It would cause shalom bayis issues. He really doesn't want people delivering tzedaka to our house.

In Lakewood you have the option of picking it up if that makes a difference.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 5:35 pm

amother Ruby wrote:

Bh you don’t pay tuition or for clothes so the money you make can really take you far.

I pay mortgage, childcare, food, utilities, tutoring, ), car insurance, car repairs, dental needs, therapy, and more.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 5:36 pm

amother Aconite wrote:

In Lakewood you have the option of picking it up if that makes a difference.

Hmm, I wonder. That would definitely help I gotta find out if they have that in my city.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 5:42 pm

lamplighter wrote:

Please accept Tomchei Shabbos. Your husband doesn't have to feel comfortable but your family needs to eat.
I'm so sorry you are going through this right now.
Do you have a grocery store account that people can send some money directly to?

I'm thinking about this offer, I definitely can use a Costco giftcard, I can buy some important stuff there (cutlets, cheese, eggs, etc). I really don't buy a lot there because some stuff is more expensive (like cereal), but these few basics are much cheaper and I can stock up.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 5:45 pm

amother OP wrote:

Hmm, I wonder. That would definitely help I gotta find out if they have that in my city.

Ok I just looked it up. One needs to be vetted by a Rav to be added, DH is really against that. He would be upset if I went to the Rav.

B"H the food pantry doesn't have that restriction so I can get from there. Also a weekly produce pantry, which is also really helpful (although a lot of times the stuff is moldy or mushy)

amother

Alyssum

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 9:51 pm

If u live Cleveland, go to the chesed center - you'll get chicken, cheese, canned goods, etc besides for produce

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 9:58 pm

[quote="amother Alyssum"]If u live Cleveland, go to the chesed center - you'll get chicken, cheese, canned goods, etc besides for produce[/quote

I don't want to say where I live but my city has a kosher food pantry that gives items like that. It's definitely helpful but not nearly enough

amother

Sunflower

Tue, Aug 29 2023, 10:09 pm

Same boat, my dear.

I asked our grocery manager to raise our store debt limit from 550$ to 750 today:(((

We are expecting the Covid Snap funds shortly so I hope to pay it off then, but yeah...