Boything and I are so broke and could really benefit from assistance of some sort. But the government sucks. I work part-time and am not eligible for assistance and, even though Boything is disabled and unemployed, he can't get any form of assistance himself--not least because, I swear, he earned too much money while he was employed to qualify for unemployment. I earn just barely enough to keep us above water but at the end of the month, we have nothing left to save, which is a problem when things happen like my car breaks down or I get the flu and need medicine. We could really, really use food stamps so we don't have to go hungry. For a while I'd taken to not eating for days at a time so he could eat because we just couldn't afford regular groceries--and when we can afford stuff, it's very cheap and unhealthy. Even partial assistance, like food stamps to cover a week or two of groceries out of the month, would be such a weight off our shoulders.
But we can't get it, even though by ourselves we definitely qualify.
Why?
Because food stamp eligibility goes by household income, not personal income. My housemate himself still doesn't earn enough that we'd be ineligible for food stamps, but his wife makes so much that we can't HOPE for assistance. The theory on the state's part, I think, is that if one person in the house makes a lot of money they can buy food for everyone else, but that doesn't work unless everyone is great friends. And housemate's wife is a terrible person who can't manage money worth shit. She and her husband got into a massive screaming match last night because she can't track her spending and $250 went missing. She spent it on some crap and we can't eat, 'I don't remember what I spent it on'. She doesn't buy anything except for fast food for herself or convenience food (for herself!) and buying groceries basically just falls to me and what I can scrape together a month.
And there's no way I can get any sort of help.
I hate this. And I sincerely hate the worthless dumb whore I live with.