This post is for my readers in and near Dundee, Mich.: Dundee Farmers Market, which is in the municipal parking lot on Tecumseh St. next to Devine Delights, in Dundee, Mich., will host a Mother’s Day Flower Sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday May 11. There will be hanging baskets, flats of flowers [...]
Sometimes I wonder when reading the headlines, “What on earth are people thinking?” Here’s the example this morning: The Monroe Evening News has posted an Associated Press report about Michigan Rep. Tim Kelly of Saginaw’s pending legislation to have the Michigan Bridge Card rolls cross-referenced with the Social Security Death Index on a monthly basis [...]
Continuing a topic that was inspired by a lot of public chatter on news sites this week regarding the Michigan food stamp program, I have found a chart on the U.S. Department of Agriculture web site that explains how much an eligible individual or family could receive on food stamps. I’m glad I found this [...]
I went into some detail a couple of weeks ago explaining the household income brackets for specific financial assistance programs in a newspaper column called How tight is your budget? Beyond the family income brackets, individual resources and programs also can invoke additional requirements. For example, Pell grants for college have a lifetime limit on [...]
Continuing a discussion I’ve been running for the past few days about assistance programs: Do you need financial aid to help pay household bills or family expenses? Do you deserve it? The answers to those two questions, by the way, are not the same. Need-based formulas are intended to determine which individuals and families are [...]
This is an encore of a post I wrote in 2010: If your family is on a tight budget, the fact that the kids are home more often for summer school vacation can rattle the finances in more direction than one. Specifically on the grocery bill: There’s been a spike in the number of students [...]
I was invited by the Monroe Housing Commission to give my coupon class at River Park Place, which is a low-income housing complex for those age 50 and older or disabled adults. I normally post my script after a presentation so that participants can review the material later, and those who were not able to [...]
I gave a grocery class for the public at Michigan Works! in February. It was so well-received that I was invited back as a meeting speaker. Because I will also be speaking to a low-income group next week, I wrote my presentation with food stamp budgets in mind. I normally post my script after a [...]
This post is for my readers in and near Monroe County, Mich.: The farmers markets are starting to open up for the season in Monroe County, Mich.. Go to my farmers market page, as I will keep the list there updated with details as we get them. We will also run the list about once [...]
In summer 2010, I started researching the question of which stores in Monroe County, Mich., take food stamps. Once I found the section on the U.S. Department of Agriculture web site that listed that information, all I had to to was spend the time typing in zip codes and doing matchups on the names and [...]
Easter is a relatively easy holiday for families on tight budgets to celebrate as any other family would. Even those who are on food stamps or WIC have some great options. While the religious and cultural celebrations of Easter are frugal in their own right, or can be made so; many of the modern traditions [...]
Did you know that you can buy garden seeds for edible plants with food stamp / Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits? Here’s the explanation at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service site: Foods for the household to eat, such as: Breads and cereals; Fruits and vegetables; Meats, fish and poultry; and Dairy [...]
Sarah’s Deals in west Michigan has started a discussion that she’s calling Making the Most. It’s aimed at helping families figure out how to stretch those public assistance dollars as far as possible. The piece she posted Thursday is Making the Most of Public Assistance: WIC and Bridge Card. It’s a good review or a [...]
This is the script I used for the Grocery Shopping on a Budget class I gave today at the Michigan Works! office in Monroe. Hello everybody! My name is Paula Wethington. I’m one of the reporters at The Monroe Evening News. My best-known project is the frugal living, personal finance blog and newspaper column called [...]
Three of the appearances I’ve been booked for in the next few weeks are either directly to low-income families, or to the caseworkers who help those families through the social service network. So as I poke through collection of links, articles and pictures to do the usual updates to my coupon class outline, I’m also [...]
The Associated Press has a report this week, picked up by many news organizations including The Monroe Evening News and MLive network, about yet even more tweaks on the Michigan food stamp eligibility guidelines. The current discussion focuses on whether a vehicle with market value of more than $15,000 should make one ineligible for food [...]
Halloween is a holiday in which working poor and food stamp families can enjoy the day like anyone else without a lot of money spent. Reason: other people GIVE away candy, no questions asked! The only expectation of trick-or-treaters is to appear in costume on the appointed date and time. Your kids can wear a [...]
This notice is for my Michigan readers and is in today’s edition of The Monroe Evening News: The Michigan Public Service Commission is reminding consumers that “Lifeline” telephone service discounts are available to low-income customers throughout the state. “According to the Federal Communications Commission, at least half of the telephone customers who are eligible for [...]
I prefer to discuss assistance program policy changes when they are a done deal, rather than in the proposal stage. Reason: too many details can shift between the initial discussions and the final version — and the clients have to sort out what really happened. But I suspect this one involving the Michigan public assistance [...]
Earlier this year, the Michigan Department of Human Services announced plans to start phasing college students off the food stamp program, typically managed via the Michigan Bridge Card. Those who would remain would have to show “true need” rather than going by a state formula that allowed many students to qualify. The Detroit News is [...]