When I first came down sick, I thought it wouldn't last long so I tried to hang on to my house, my car, my job, etc.

Well, it will have been 3 years in October and I am still battling this and not seeing mprovement enough to return to even a part time job at this point.

I would not have made it this far if it had not been for the help of others.

I am fading fast right now so I will write more later regarding ways I have found to cut costs and....still looking for ways to increase income.

The first thing I would suggest is that you need to see where your money is going. Start to write everything down.

For example:

I have been having the in home health care person make a green juice drink that I really like and that I feel is helping.

She would buy the ingredients along with the groceries each week.

Well, this week, I sent her to just get the ingredients for the green drink.

I found out it was costing me $13.00 to make a pitcher of the green drink which I drank in one day.

That's out. No more green drink.

I was going through 2 pitchers a week. $26.00 times 4 ....wow....too rich for my budget at this time.

Who would have thought romain lettuce, parsley, cucumbers, spinach, lemons, etc. would have been so costly.

Excellent suggestion; I am very pragmatic with budgeting as well and your suggestion for evaluation is very simple, but surprisingly, I have found that many people, when they are in dire financial circumstances, do not think that it will help. In fact, they can't even think about it.

It seems that the emotional stress of not having what you need is a barrier to objectively evaluating how it's spent. In other words, unlike you (or me), when many people are really stressed out financially, the last thing they want to do is pay any more attention to it. It causes so much stress, that it's almost too much for them to bear.

I am like you, in that I'd rather rip the band-aid off now and quickly, but many people I know just can't think about it when it gets that financially stressful. I even know people who will go out and shop just to feel better.

I understand that somehow this helps them at the time, but I could not do that. For me, the innevitable would be lurking to far over my head.

Like you, I belived I could always work no matter what. I started working when I was 9 years old, and never stopped.

It took me 2 full years to begin to realize that I could not get enough back to even work part time, so I lost everything due to my intrisic belief. Of course, with lyme, you get lots of help in this delusion; a couple of "fameous" East Coast experts kept saying I couldn't have Lyme disease anymore, and that I would probably keep getting better.

About your green drink; it seems a shame that you can't have it once and awhile. I found certain neighborhoods have grocery and vegetable stores where the cost is a fraction of what we normally pay where we live. Perhaps your home health aid knows of a store like this, and can go there once or twice a month on their way to you.

I was stunned at how much different the cost of things can be; even stores that are supposed to be reasonable can sell fruit and vegetables for a great deal more than other stores.

I hope there is such a place not too far from you (or from your home health aid). One has to give up so much when one is very ill with Lyme disease; it would be nice if you could find some way to have some of these little pleasures without hurting financially....

I was not aware of these resources until different people started casually mentioning in converstation telling me about these things.

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In regards to financial difficulties, I couldn't help but notice that no one posted a suggestion that there are federal programs administered in every state to cover medical costs for disabled adults and children.

Also if you have low income, you can apply for SSI or SSDI as well as Food Stamps.

These programs can help those who have long term disability become self dependent.

There are also housing programs for low income and disabled persons that are sponsored by local housing authorities in each state and federal programs which are administered by USDA RHA, and HUD.

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I'd like to add that if you live in California, you can not apply for food stamps, but they do add a dollar amount to your SSI check.

And if you are trying to get into low income housing, there is a wait. I think the shortest I have found is two years.

You also need to make sure they haven't dropped you from the list. So, check in with whoever you have applied with.

I found I was mistakenly dropped from a few lists.

I also found out that most counties in California no longer have Section 8 housing and that you need to find a county that does and apply with it and then after a year move to where ever you wish to move.

That is if the section 8 is not cancelled with the next years signing of the budget.

I applied for housing in Arizona. I was told that they would take people who were currently living in Arizona first.

This makes sense. But, it also makes it almost impossible to ever relocate to another state...at least that state.

I also have found that section 8 housing...especially apartments can have some pretty seedy people living in them.

You need to be security conscious.

I also learned that SSDI only goes by the last 10 years of your employment and that your employer needs to take money out for this.

I found out as a state employee that they didn't take money out for this. But, I was approved for something called NDI for 6 months. They took the insurance premium out of this and union dues.

I would end up with very little. The main reason for it was to keep your medical insurance going for a short time at least.

I also learned that I should have signed up for insurance to cover my paycheck if I became sick.

I had the paper work on my desk while I was healthy, but didn't get around to doing it until it was too late.

I just never thought I would become this debilitated nor did I know that I was up a creek without a paddle if I did.

I had always heard what great benefits working for the state of CA had. I have yet to see them and am still trying to figure out what they are.

PG&E has a program regarding heating and cooling our house.

If it is medically related, you will be allowed more....sorry can't think of the term I want here and I use to work for PG&E. HA!

Therms?

More therms for the buck. You feel out a form and your doctor signs it.

Some telephone companies also have a lower rate for low income households. Again, you fill out a form to apply.

I don't like all of this. But, I am doing what I can to get my health back.

The local pharmacies said that they couldn't get them.

They gave me the name of a pharmacy an hour away.

That pharmacy said they could get the supplies but the insurance would not pay for it and it would cost me $100.

I went to another pharmacy in another town and they supplied the needles and syringes and charged it to my insurance company.

Go figure??

One thing to may do is call the grocery store and ask them if they could give you the out dated produce.

My uncle in MO was a butcher and got hurt and hurt and had to quit work. One day when I was in the store talking to one of his x-coworkers, I told him I couldn't believe the price of produce.

He told me to wait and about 10 mins later came out with a big box of out of date produce. It was all pretty good. They had apples, oranges, grapes, cantelopes most were good, some had bruises.

He also loaded me down with the lettuce in the bag. He told me that they have to get rid of the bags due to the expiration date but other then the date it was good stuff.

We picked through and got the really good stuff out and fed the rest to the deers. My uncle has been gone every other week since to get the care packages and that is over a year now.

Hope this helps you, hate to think of you liking your drink and feeling better on it and not being able to get it.