Wic & Foodstamps, selling houses, assets, etc.

These are the nation-wide income guidelines. The first set of

numbers is for the continental US. The 2nd set is for Alaska, the

3rd set is for Hawaii.

continental us

monthly twice-monthly bi-weekly weekly

1 18,130 1,511 756 698 349

2 24,420 2,035 1,018 940 470

3 30,710 2,560 1,280 1,182 591

4 37,000 3,084 1,542 1,424 712

5 43,290 3,608 1,804 1,665 833

6 49,580 4,132 2,066 1,907 954

7 55,870 4,656 2,328 2,149 1,075

8 62,160 5,180 2,590 2,391 1,196

Each Add’l Member Add 6,290 525 263 242 121

Alaska

Annual Monthly Twice-Monthly Bi-Weekly Weekly

1 22,663 1,889 945 872 436

2 30,525 2,544 1,272 1,175 588

3 38,388 3,199 1,600 1,477 739

4 46,250 3,855 1,928 1,779 890

5 54,113 4,510 2,255 2,082 1,041

6 61,975 5,165 2,583 2,384 1,192

7 69,838 5,820 2,910 2,687 1,344

8 77,700 6,475 3,238 2,989 1,495

Each Add’l Member Add 7,863 656 328 303 152

Hawaii

Annual Monthly Twice-Monthly Bi-Weekly Weekly

1 20,850 1,738 869 802 401

2 28,083 2,341 1,171 1,081 541

3 35,317 2,944 1,472 1,359 680

4 42,550 3,546 1,773 1,637 819

5 49,784 4,149 2,075 1,915 958

6 57,017 4,752 2,376 2,193 1,097

7 64,251 5,355 2,678 2,472 1,236

8 71,484 5,957 2,979 2,750 1,375

Each Add’l Member Add 7,234 603 302 279 140

The first number for each row is yearly income. The 2nd is monthly.

3rd is if you get paid on the 1st & 15th, or 15th & 30th of the

month. The 4th is if you get paid bi-weekly, and the last is if you

get paid weekly.

If you fall into those numbers, based on how many people are in the

house, you will qualify.

wic is much more relaxed on guidelines than foodstamps. as long as

there is a child under the age of 5, and you fall within the income

noted, you will qualify.

if you are denied for any reason, but fall within the income

guidelines, ask for a written note as to why you are being denied

wic.

the guidelines are the exact same, state to state, with the

exceptions of hawaii & alaska.

for foodstamps, the income levels do change by state, but the

guideline is the same for the most part- you have to make at or less

than 150% of the state poverty level. Meaning, if poverty level for

a family of 4 is $25,000 a year, you can make up to $37,500 a year,

and still qualify for food stamps. However, foodstamps also look at

other things, such as assets.

If you own a vehicle that you still owe money on, it’s considered an

asset. If you own a vehicle that’s worth more than a set amount,

it’s considered an asset. If you own more vehicles than the

household requires, it’s considered an asset. If you own your home,

it’s considered an asset. If you own more than 1 home, it’s

considered an asset. If you have more than a certain amount of money

in the bank, in cd’s, in money market, etc, it’s considered an asset.

assets count against your yearly income, jacking it up.

the reason for this is that if you are sitting on a house that’s

worth $120,000, and you can’t afford food, they expect that you’ll

sell it and move to a cheaper housing alternative.

This is in place to prevent people who do not need food stamps from

getting food stamps. Basically, you have to be down to your last

dime to qualify, which is why so many people are able to abuse the

system, and why people who are just down on their luck have a much

harder time qualifying for them.

I understand the resentment, but you have to look at the assets you

do have before saying you don’t have enough money to buy food. if

you have a large asset such as a house, and you can’t afford to pay

the bills, then the most logical way to solve the problem is to sell

the house, and move into housing that is much cheaper.

that is how the states look at it. people who abuse the system don’t

have any assets, for the most part, or they hide the assets under a

different name, a parent, a brother, a friend, etc.

the system does have flaws, obviously. but it can work, if you know

what they are looking for.

herlean- have you considered transfering your name off the title of

the house? put it in your husband’s name, and tell them you pay

rent. tell them you are seperating, but have no place to go, so you

are paying rent and half the utilities for now.

if you are doing that, you are considered a seperate household from

your husband. it cuts your income in half, and removes a dependant,

but you would qualify for help much easier if it is just you and a

child, as opposed to a family unit.

it’s crappy, i get it. i’ve been there before. but you have to be

willing to go to the lengths they want to get the help. i know

you’ve asked for help before, and it’s hard to get. we’ve given you

a lot of information over the past few months, and while it might

not all pan out, some will.

i understand the unwillingness to let go of the house, but consider

all the bills involved with a house-

gas

electric

insurance

water

trash

upkeep

house payment

how much does that come up to?if it exceeds 60% of your monthly

income, it’s too high. Selling the house might not be your preferred

option, but in my opinion, the kids come first. If you can’t afford

to feed them, then you can’t afford that house.

So many people out there are going through foreclosures because of

lost work, lost income, and they didn’t think ahead far enough to

try and sell the house.

Can you guarantee that in 6 months, you’ll both be working full

time, and can provide enough income to cover all your bills? If not,

then you will likely be losing money over the next 6 months, falling

further and further behind.

Robbing Peter to pay Paul only works for so long. Shifting the

amounts by paying smaller here and there WILL catch up, and make it

10 times worse in the long run.

My suggestion is that you sell the house, get a cheap apartment for

a year, save up what you can to pay off your debts, and a year from

now, buy another home that’s maybe smaller, and cheaper to start

out. Maybe buy a fixer-upper. They’re not beautiful, but they work,

and you can add to them as you have the money.

My examples are this-

Let’s say you have $14,000 in debt aside from the house. You owe

$56,000 on the house still (these are JUST examples). You have

monthly house payment of $850. Your utility bills come to $600 a

month. Your car payments are $500 a month. Your credit card bills

are $200 a month.

Now, let’s say your income is $850 a month. Hubby’s income is down

because of being laid off. So, if he gets $750 a month from

unemployment, that means the two of you are making $1600 per month.

Your bills are $1450 for nessecary things- utilities & house

payment. That means before paying credit cards or car payments, you

are left with only $150 per month to get groceries & pay the rest of

the bills.

Now, that might be an extreme example. But, if this is the case, if

you have only a little left each month, then you are losing the

game. You can’t set money aside to save, you are not able to make

all the bills, and food is being cut back to cover bills.

It might sound harsh, but you need to stop looking for a quick fix,

and sell what you can to cover the debts you can, and get out of the

situation.

Most people don’t have the asset of a house when they get into a

rough situation. You have 1 major thing that can literally fix your

problems. Selling it automatically eliminates the house debt.

Depending on how much you have into the house, you could eliminate

credit card debt, and car payments, leaving you with 1 less asset,

but lots less debt.

It gives you a starting ground for a much easier life a year down

the road.

Say you sell the house, and had $15,000 into the house above what

you owe. Let’s say you owe $9,000 in credit card debt, and $5,000 in

car payments. You’ve just paid off the cars and eliminated credit

card debt 100%, leaving you with $1,000.

Now, let’s say you move to an apartment that only costs $550 a

month. If the apartment covers heat, water, & trash, your bills just

got cut in half each month to $300. You no longer owe a credit card

bill or car payment bill, so your monthly income of $1600 is double

what you need, meaning you can set aside $400 a month into a savings

account.

Suddenly, at the end of a year, you have $5800 saved up, counting

the $1,000 left from the sale of the house. A nice cushion.

Let’s also say that 9 months from now, your husband is back to full

time work, upping his monthly payments from $750 to $1200 a month.

Now you’re making $2050 per month, with bills of $800 per month. So

for 3 months, you can set aside $1000 a month, making your savings

$8,800 over the course of a year.

Do that for 2 years, and suddenly, you’re looking at a cushion of

$20,800 to put into a new home.

Granted, the numbers may be off, but the general premise is not.

You like the school system- I’m sure there are apartments in the

same school system. You like the house- that’s great, but if you

can’t pay the bills, it’s an asset you can’t afford. You want help

with foodstamps, wic, etc, but don’t qualify- you have a way to

alleviate this by selling the home and living much cheaper.

I know not everyone here will agree with me, but you have the way to

alleviate it all yourself, without relying on government assistance.