DIPPING BELOW THE POVERTY LINE

March 26, 2012

This past fall my long term house helper moved out of the garage studio. This was followed by over $1,000 worth of maintenance and unexpected repairs. Now instead of occasionally rolling over some end of the month bills into the first of the next month, I was doing it every month. Christmas came and went and still no one had moved into the studio. I was getting more mixed up trying to juggle my bills around so I couldn't remember what was due when.

The next sign I had that I was slipping below the "poverty line" was I didn't have enough money to buy food the last week of the month. Going to the market was making me sick to my stomach and I could no breathe. The third sign was the high cost of home heating oil. I have always been able to get my tank filled up in the fall. I used between 21/2 to 3 tanks of oil a year depending upon the weather. Most of the time, I had it paid off by the 1^st of July.

In addition I use 2-3 cords of wood a winter for a wood stove. However, I have always considered my primary source of heat as oil.

I thought I would be cautious and order only a minimum delivery of oil because of the high cost of heating oil. That bill was almost $500. Now why my monthly payment plan was set at $70 per month is an unanswered question. By the end of January I had gotten two more minimum deliveries. This lead to my heating crisis in February. See my blog, "Disabled Senior Denied Heating Assistance"

Now I cannot order any oil until the bill is paid off. The warm winter and early spring has been an unexpected blessing. I had applied for energy assistance. But my working 3 ½ days in January made me over income by $160. The income guidelines for most of these benefits for poor people vary from state to state based on the poverty guidelines. I would have been eligible in a bordering state based on "Poverty Guidelines" for that state. The cost of oil does not change. These income guidelines are based on percentages of the poverty threshold from 125% to 200%. There is a $500 difference in the poverty guidelines between my state and the one six miles down the road.