What's it like to live low income in a high income place? Pt. 1

I have a lot of thoughts having gone through financial hardship these past couple of years that I wanted to make sure I wrote it down. First, so that I can always remember and second, to shed a little light on the unknown world of what "lower class" people deal with on a day-to-day basis.

I grew up in hard financial conditions; 6 children living on a music teachers salary is tough. I remember my parents had to cut corners everywhere they could when we were little. We couldn't buy real milk, so we had powdered milk. We couldn't afford name brand anything, so we had Toasty O's instead of Cheerios, homemade Pound puppies instead of the store bought ones,  and we got essentials for Easter like socks instead of fluffy bunnies. I'm sure a lot of people out there can relate to this, right?

As most of you know, my husband and I are going through the toughest financial years we have ever had since we got married. Jake became independent last year. We were hoping that the increase time out on the golf range would bring in more lessons and income. Unfortunately, it has only done the opposite.

Our first taste of "low income" life was having to enroll in WIC. I was new to the world of WIC, so for others who are new, it stands for WOMEN, INFANT, CHILDREN.  It's a low income program that provides checks for certain foods like milk, cereal, peanut butter, eggs, cheese, baby food and veggies. Sounds great, right?

Here's my take on WIC. WIC is great and awful at the same time. It's great that you get free food, that saves on so much money. Plus, who can turn down free food? However, it's an awful process that is so frustrating and embarrassing that it's almost not worth it. For one thing, the money they give you to pay for food is in check form. Not just one check, however, like 25 checks to last you the month. Each check has only certain foods you can buy with it. So, one check will say you can buy "2 gal milk, 1 doz eggs and 6 oz. peanut butter" Then another check will say "16 oz. cereal, 6 oz. cheese" and so on. You may only buy certain brands of their pre-approved food, and you can't buy anything organic or free range (Boooo!). So, for one trip to the grocery store you can have 3 or 4 checks. It takes up a lot of time in line, everyone behind you gets impatient waiting for this long tedious process to end (I would try to be nice and tell them to get in another line because "mine will take a while").  If you got an item that doesn't qualify in their system, then they have to send someone to go get you something else. The cashiers get frustrated because it's extremely complicated for them as well. And if you have all your kids with you, it's even more frustrating. I would send Jake at night because it was much easier to go alone and late at night when there was not a huge crowd. They also require WIC members to attend wellness classes that they put on at their facility. I attended one of the health classes on what foods are healthy to eat.  It was like a Kindergarten class for grown women. I felt like a person from a third world country the way it was put on. Completely humiliating and demeaning.

I've since given up on the program since we stopped eating dairy and they don't let us buy organic unless it's with the $6 check for veggies and fruit. In which case I could get one bunch of organic grapes from Vons (no joke, they were that expensive). So not worth the headache.

However, the real stress was seeing our money disappear and not knowing how we'd pay for things. We racked up late fees on bills we couldn't pay and overdraft fees from the zero balance in our account. Also, we've had to use up all the money we had saved for emergencies and for our taxes, all completely gone on everyday expenses. I try to be diligent and follow the Dave Ramsey recommendations for an emergency fund and saving for the future, but we were way below saving anything. 

The ultimate taste of humble pie was asking for money from our parents, gulp. And not just once, but numerous times. As adults in our 30's, I always thought we'd be on the road of success, becoming financially stable by this time. No one tells you that when you drop down to a one-income family in a highly expensive city that you might have to go on WIC. Or if you follow your dream job that it could end up drowning your whole family.  No, our society tells us that if you keep climbing that corporate ladder you will be successful financially. Lies, lies, lies, I tell you.

To be continued..... part 2 OF LIVING LOW INCOME