How can I get out of debt while on SSI?

[aniceguy_2]

Re: How can I get out of debt while on SSI?

I am not sure about the medicare/medicaid aspects of my medical coverage.I just get Medi-Cal.That is the medical insurance given to the disabled and low income.Persons on SSI are atomatically enrolled in Medi-Cal first as far as I know.I just know that I have the card and all my medical and dental bills are paid.I never see the bills....Thank God!!!!I was checking the cost of my medication and you will never believe how much the pills cost.Just the pills.Not the doctors bills or dental bills.Just the pills.They cost nearly 10,000.00 a month, No Kidding!!!!But irjohnson was right about his/her earlier comments but the links he/she provided don't help with financial problems like mine.I still have the main problem of not having enough money to pay the bills.I already get the as much as I am going to get from Social Security.But how do I get financial assistance when I am in a financial emergency???

[sweeps]

Re: How can I get out of debt while on SSI?

Have you gone to local charities to ask for help? United Way, Salvation Army, homeless shelters and community centers, etc.?

[aniceguy_2]

Re: How can I get out of debt while on SSI?

Have you gone to local charities to ask for help? United Way, Salvation Army, homeless shelters and community centers, etc.?

Not yet.But I have checked with various church leaders.I am suprised none of them suggested I go to the United Way or Salvation Army unless they knew those places can't or won't help.But I will try those ideas.In the meantime I have gotten desperate.I decided on Saturday to open a new bank account at a different bank and if worse comes to worse I will transfer my SSI payments to the new bank and just give up on the payday loans.Let them put it all in collections.I know my phone is going to be slammed with calls if and when I do that.I have then new bank account though and it's just a matter of calling Social Security.I hate doing it that way but I have run out of options.

[miclason]

Re: How can I get out of debt while on SSI?

Keep trying, I know how difficult it is to go from a relatively stable financial situation (when you were able to work) to one where you can't cover your expenses....and, don't feel bad if you end up having to "flee" from the other bank....after all, you are not trying to get out of paying those loans, you just want TIME to do it ...and, yes, I know that creditors can be awful, but, once they can't take your $$ directly out of your account, they WILL have to settle for something and give you a payment plan...If you are on disability for 3 years, and have already been on disability for 1 year, at least you are a lot nearer to a time when you can go back to work and make agressive payments...whatever else, don't lose your courage! it CAN be done! - eventhough at times it seems as if it really can't!

[aniceguy_2]

Re: How can I get out of debt while on SSI?

Keep trying, I know how difficult it is to go from a relatively stable financial situation (when you were able to work) to one where you can't cover your expenses....and, don't feel bad if you end up having to "flee" from the other bank....after all, you are not trying to get out of paying those loans, you just want TIME to do it!

I know.Tell me about it.Those places won't work with you if ask them if you can make payments.If you don't pay it when it's due then they just take your check to the bank the next day.So the only way I can force them to accept payments is to change banks.And I did.So now the question is what I can afford to pay back.Right now I would like to have a financial breather where I don't have to worry about if I am going to have enough for food or rent.So I think I am going to put off the debts as long as I can before I have to pay them back.I know that I will end up in check systems and tele check.Which will make my checks worthless to businesses.But that's what visa debt cards are for.....But I still don't want that debt hanging on my record permantly.So I know I will have to do something eventually.

[Gailete]

Re: How can I get out of debt while on SSI?

I think some of the posters are confused about the different Social Securtiy programs. I too am on Social Security Disability and will be eligible for Medicare in March which is two years after my disability started. There definitely is a program to help people on SSD to get back to work called Ticket to Work, with stipulations as to how much you can earn etc. My monthly check is based on my earnings over my liftime and is basically the same program as Social Security retirement.

SSI is a totally different program which I believe is income based which is why the poster can't earn money without losing (I would suppose) a portion of his benefits.

Not sure what your disablity is, but their are some ways to save. Drop and cable and the internet, immediately. Most library systems have free computer access for the internet. Nobody needs cable TV (we canceled our months ago and get no TV channels at all). By extremely frugal shopping, you could drop your grocery bill by a lot. Generic/bulk oatmeal is a cheap breakfast food, etc. As you has nothing to do with your time other than rest, spend your free time cruising the grocery store and figure out the lowest cost ways to eat.

Take as many walks as you can get in, collect aluminum cans/bottles for the change you can get and the exercise.

Stop smoking if you are doing it and save alot!

We can only give suggestions here, we don't give hand outs. There are lots of books at the library on saving money and being frugal, you just have to do it. For you every penny saved is a plus.

I get the feeling that you are focusing so much in wanting someone to rescue you, that you are forgetting to do what you really could for yourself. For instance, how long have you been paying for cable and the internet? If you have been paying for them for a year, you have spent over $700 on frivolous items. Six months, you have spent over $350. How much could you have paid on one of those bills if you hadn't been paying for the other.

How careful are you of your utility usage? Turning the TV off would be a savings on electricity and the cable bill. The other poster was right about hanging your laundry. You could also probably drop your grocery bill by at least $50 with careful shopping--ask your librarian to order in cookbooks for living on a budget if they don't have any.

The thing you have to do is start doing and stop looking for a free ride.

Gail

[aniceguy_2]

Re: How can I get out of debt while on SSI?

The thing you have to do is start doing and stop looking for a free ride.

You seem to be under the false impression that I am asking for hand outs here.I am not.Advice yes.And I have been given some good advice.Also I can't just drop some of the services I have because I live with a roommate and he would have to agree to drop those services and I know he won't agree to live in the dark.He loves his programs that only cable gives.And quite frankly so do I.But this is not a question of whether or not I should drop cable or not because he would not agree to that and he pays a part of the bill.
I have been shopping rather cheaply for San Diego.I do a lot of shopping and 99 cent stores and Walmart.And I am on the electric companys saving plan for low income people and I watch my usage a lot.But of course because I am home a lot I don't not watch TV just because I need to save one fifth of a cent.
I was asking people if they knew of any emergency aide that was out there for people like me in a financial jam.But I think I have things figured out.I have just opened a new bank account and I will just not pay my payday loans.After that I will recover a lot of money that was tied up in those loans and will find myself in a lot better situation.I still have problems.The biggest will be that within a year my landlord plans on selling our building to devlopers.So my next big thing will be what to do when my credit is horrible and I am on a very long waiting list for HUD housing and I need a new place to live.But hopefully I will be able to think of something or find some good advice here.Thank you.....

[Gailete]

Re: How can I get out of debt while on SSI?

You had already mentioned that both you and your roommate were in the same type of financial jam. If he is paying half the bills then your cable bill alone appears to be almost $100 a month. You seem to be perfectly content to continue paying for a WANT of yours and at the same time deciding you will defraud the people you owe money to. Whatever the payday peoples terms are and no matter how horrendous, these are loans that you willingly signed up for and you owe them and should make every effort to pay them back.

The course of action that you have decided on (switching banks and not paying the loans) is a temporary easy way out that is most certainly going to bite you in the butt in the long run making it that much harder to get yourself sorted out financially. At the same time you (and your roomamte) are not willing to make even one simple sacrifice (cut out cable) to improve your financial position.

Do you have a social/case worker connected with your case or your doctor that you can discuss these things with? As they would know you better than we, do they would probably be in a position to give you some decent advice and help you think logically through your problem.

Please note that in my first paragraph to you, I mentioned that I too am disabled. What that has meant for us is cutting things out. I have to spend a lot of time at home also, but I don't do it with the TV on, there are plenty of other things to do than watch the idiot box like read and improve your mind. I am not completely heartless as you seem to suggest, but I spent an hour last night reading all these posts and one thing came through loud and clear, as much as you say you aren't, you are looking for a hand out or a way to walk away from your self-made debt without having to make any hard changes. The readers on this forum have been making the the hard decisions to give things up to improve their financial position and in that regard they are winning and achieving their financial goals. You seem unwilling to make those kind of changes and until you do, your life will not change. Husbands/wives have had to get their spouses on board and you too will have to get your equally poor roommate on board--if you both work hard at it, he should thank you in the end.

Gail

[katwoman]

Re: How can I get out of debt while on SSI?

Gail does have a point.

Even though my tenant is in the same boat he, too, tends to spend way more than he should. I've been able to steer him in the direction of grants and even our congressman for help, and believe me, he's been HELPED A LOT! Still, he won't do what he really should to help improve his longterm situation.

OP, the best thing you can do for now is to bite the bullet and pay off the loans. Don't add to your already bad credit. You may think "oh, what the heck, it's already in the toilet", but that is only defeatist thinking. There are ways of cleaning up your credit and getting back on your feet but it does take time and work. Why make your job harder by adding to the mess?

[aniceguy_2]

Re: How can I get out of debt while on SSI?

You seem unwilling to make those kind of changes and until you do, your life will not change. Husbands/wives have had to get their spouses on board and you too will have to get your equally poor roommate on board--if you both work hard at it, he should thank you in the end.

Ok.First, you have made the oddly unusual assumtion again that I am asking for "hand outs".I am not.Most of the users here have given some good advice."ADVICE".And I appreciate good advice.That is what I was asking for.Help is something I could use and have asked for in the form of advice.I thank every user here for such advice.But your rather hostile approuch of tough love is unwarranted and I don't appreciate it.You don't know or seem to know my whole lifes story or the circumstances involved.I was asking for advice.You gave it.For my reasons that advice is not the path to take.You don't need to get hostile though.How would you like being sick in bed from a life threating illness that you nearly died from while being toled that you can't watch TV?.......Me:Ok calm down...........You don't know what sacrifices I have made and what ones I have not.You only know what you have read here.And you also don't know my roommate and what his needs and demands are.So you can't get high and mighty about what he should and should not do.We are not talking about him.And frankly my problems are not his.He can afford his bills for one thing.I can't.Even if I cut everything you say and sit in dark while sick in bed with nothing to do except vomit I would still be barely living within the means to pay the payday loans back let alone live on the peanuts Social Security expects us to live on.And if you are truely disabled and living on SSI/SSA then I would think you should know that.
But if you are going to get sarcastic or tell me that I am not trying my best then we have nothing more to say.You have given me your advice.I am happy for you that you seem to be the head of the household and make all the rules.Good for you.I am glad you seem to hate TV.Good for you.Dare I ask what you are disabled from?Somehow I don't think you spend days sick in bed.
To answer your questions I have a social worker and a doctor I see twice a month.I also take a total of 12 medications a day.And my teeth were just removed.I don't see how any of that has anything to do with if I can afford to pay a 1,700.00 payday loan or not.Or if there is any help out there for people in financial need or not.I am so glad for you that you are not in this mess and that you seem to be able to know all the right answers without knowing who you are talking to.Good for you.I wish I could just sweep the floor of my health and financial problems with a brush of neo conservative absolutes.But my life is a little more complex.I thank you for you advice But I don't think there is anything more to say.You have your opinion very clear.I hope that I have made mine clear.

[katwoman]

Re: How can I get out of debt while on SSI?

Let me be the first to apologize. It's true that we don't know all the facts and there are differences in the degree of disabilities for those that receive aid.

What about becoming a ward of the state? I don't know what that entails but is it possible that it may work for you?

Another option is to move to another state. Folks here in IL have moved to WI since the aid there was more generous. At least, it used to be.

[jnsaver]

Re: How can I get out of debt while on SSI?

Gail and Kat definately have a point.

People here are making a lot of cuts: cable, telephone, internet, processed foods, brand name beauty products, trips to the salon, alcohol, cigs, tabacco products, magazine subscriptions, coffee, excessive meat and dairy consupmtion, big cars, netflix, tivo.

A lot of people here also walk or bike if they doing something in town. Some people here shop at thrift stores and garage sales, take hand me downs, fix things up that they find in the garbage etc. People here also take odd jobs.

This isn't exactly a watering hole for socialites.

[aniceguy_2]

Re: How can I get out of debt while on SSI?

Another option is to move to another state. Folks here in IL have moved to WI since the aid there was more generous. At least, it used to be.

First, sorry Kat.I was just venting because I thought the gail was getting a little to mean and tough love for me.She does not know all the details of my situation.Only the ones that were asked for to discribe the underlying problem.You have been real nice with your advice.Thanks.I think gail is not aware that the website is called savings advice.Or at least she doesn't know that I am aware of that."Advice" being the key word.

Anyway, I have thought about moving.I considered maybe Oregon or Washington.I need to get out of California.It is way to expensive here.My roommate does not really pay a portion of the cable or internet.What he pays is a way larger portion of the rent then me.Thats the deal.If I told you what the rent here was total you would gasp.Since I can't afford the rent I pay what I can and provide the entertainment.He still pays way more then I can.But thats the deal.

I will check into WI.I never heard anything about that state.I really need to get into discounted housing.I am on the list for HUD housing but that list is real long.I have been told it could take years to get a place that way.Maybe if I move to another state I could get in sooner.I just need to have the money to move.

[jnsaver]

Re: How can I get out of debt while on SSI?

Whoa there,

CA is expensive. But if you are paying less than $400 for rent, you might be getting a good deal. Moving might make things worse.

Figure out your health first, your living needs second and your debt last. Especially if this is temp.

[katwoman]

Re: How can I get out of debt while on SSI?

I don't think you would WANT to move to WI. It's freezing cold there! It's just that for people here in the CHicago area it was just over the border.

In your case I would try to choose a place with a major (and very respected) medical center to help treat your condition. Ask your doctors for any suggestions and go from there.

BTW, CA is one of THE BEST states to be in with regards to bad debt. TX is another. In WI, if the debt is out of the statute of limitations, it is quashed. Keep that in mind as well when you decide what to do. You definately do not want to live in a debtor unfriendly state!

These are a few boards for credit and debt:

creditboards.com
creditinfocenter.com
artofcredit.com

DO NOT DO ANYTHING until you completely understand the implications of your actions in regards to credit! Read, read, read and then read some more.