Being a stay at home mom has been amazing. Granted, my baby is only 7 weeks old, so technically I have only had this position for just under 2 months, but it is easily the best job I've ever had. With Tony working full time, I am blessed to be able to do this. But because there is only one of us working and there are bills to pay and 3 of us to take care of, things can get tight sometimes. Luckily, Tony makes enough for me to be able to stay home (for which I am extremely thankful for) but it provides just enough for all of our bills and our necessities. It can get tight. So I looked into food benefits. If we could get an allowance for extra food each month, why not?? We indeed did qualify (I think having Anistynn helps a bit) so now we have $200 a month to shop for groceries. That's awesome! I'm always grateful for anything extra. After we got the food benefits, I looked into WIC. WIC basically provides healthy food for moms and their babies. I ended up qualifying so now that will really help a lot! Because Anistynn is only on formula now (as of about a week ago, I stopped breastfeeding because I wasnt getting enough out - when I was pumping, I was only getting about a half an ounce a day. Plus, with Tony at work all day and with me trying to take care of her, there was hardly any time to sit down and pump. It was difficult, but I think it was the best decision. She is thriving just fine and that's most important!) - so WIC is giving us 9 tubs of Similac formula a month! Once Anistynn gets older, she'll get baby food, rice cereal, and anything else she needs as she progresses. As for me, based on what I qualified for, I will get 3 gallons of milk, 1 quart of milk, 1 pound of cheese, a dozen eggs, 36 ounces of cold or hot cereal, 1 jug of juice, $10 worth of fresh fruits and / or veggies, 3 packages of frozen veggies, and 18 ounces of peanut butter each month. So this food combined with the $200 we have to spend on any kind of food we want will definitely help!
Having this extra food and saving money on formula will certainly allow us to put more in savings (which we do each month, although the amount varies) so that we can eventually get a house! I absolutely hate paying rent. But that's life and I'm just glad we have a place to live! Tony, Anistynn, and I are very blessed and we always appreciate that and never take it for granted.
If you are a mommy or have a family and you'd like some extra help, I would suggest looking in to getting FOOD BENEFITS or WIC. Anything helps and it's not a bad thing to be on it - dont be ashamed; it does not mean you are poor! It just means you are being logical and taking care of your family :) Like I said, Tony makes a fair amount, but after rent and all of our other bills (phones, internet / tv / home phone package, car, car insurance, renter's insurance, storage unit, student loan, credit card, electricity, water / garbage, etc.... plus anything else like gas, diapers, and food), things can add up quickly and it's nice to not have to worry so much about food for our family.
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