I want to hear from people who support themselves entirely

with SSDI, SSI or part-time work and nothing else. Is it possible? Tips, stories? Did you have to roommate? I am about to start the process and I do not have anyone to lean on... I am very scared that I would end up in a homeless shelter which in turn will cause a major incident (I am relatively stable now)

I hear about rent subsidies. Where and how does one get on the waitlist for those? Can I get on the waitlist while applying or must you be approved for SSDI already?

Eager to hear positive accounts...

No answers. I take it, it is impossible?

Naturally, rent subsidies are covered by a different Federal agency :-)

http://www.hud.gov/local/index.cfm?s...&topic=renting

Hamster, see if you can find/get this brochure?

http://www.mhanca.org/publications/p...rce-guide.aspx

check out 211.org It is a great resource for low income and sometimes mentally ill people

I do not live by myself. I live with my mom. I do know of a person who lives by herself on SSI. Its hard but doable. She is in a low income apartment (not in a bad part of town). She gets help with her medical. She does ok. She also goes to food banks to help lower her food bill.

To get help you need to go to your local social services office and fill out a few forms and you might get help with food stamps, cash aid, or medical. At the social services office you can also find out where the food banks are. In my town there are non-profits that help low-income people pay their heat bills in the winter (ask at social services if they know of any). You can also fill out a form to get help from PG&E to lower your monthly bill.

Its not easy but you can live alone on SSI. Good luck!

I live by myself and support my 2 daughters. Im currently awaiting a decision on my disability, but from what im told it should be close to my unemployment (which I live off now) I do get some money (not nearly enough in child support)

I live in a BMR condo. (below market rate)
I was on the wait list for a few months, but what I did was get on EVERY waitlist you can that you actually want to live at because sometimes you have to pay an application fee and that can add up.

Some communities are all subsidized and some a partial. Ive always preferred the partial. Lots...tons of Big rental communities offer usually 10% of their property at BMR, and they get a huge tax break.

To get in is kinda tricky. For example my BMR Condo is $1100 month. The cap I couldnt go over is 55k yr for a family of 3. So based on my income, they figure 30%, 50%, and 70% of the poverty level and your rent is based on that. Im at the 50% poverty level. BUT also the catch 22 sometime is they want you to make 2x the monthy rent to qualify.

The houing places that you would like to live at usually have packets explaining their financial guidlines that you can go over befor you apply and sometimes their online too. Its kinda a pain to get in, but once you do, its all worth it. Hoped this helped

Back when I was into extreme couponing, I was SHOCKED at how much you can save by combining sales with coupons, and points programs. You can cut your grocery/toiletries bill in half at least, easily.

Thank you for all the responses. How much does Medicare cost when you are on SSDI?

I can see it work for me in toiletries. But with groceries - should I bother? I mostly buy fresh produce, stuff from ethnic stores, too - maybe I am missing an opportunity still?

If you can get into a federally subsidized place it will be 30% of your income. I work with people with developmental disabilities and there are a lot of them, and elderly that make it if they are in subsidized housing. You can make it, not much left over, but it is definitely doable. You can get help with food stamps.
If you have Medicare you will have a co-pay when you use it.

I'm a single mom and I live off just ssdi. I get housing assistance also where I pay half the rent. The rent keeps going up though, not sure how much longer I can afford it, takes up most of my ssdi, plus since I live in in a house not an apt, my bills are so much higher, plus paying water bills. It is worth it to have a garden though because I need that as part of my healing.

i live off my disability pension & what i can scramble around making dog sitting & off m y books. it is tight. very tight. like after i pay rent i have about $700 to use for all my bills (not including dog sitting because that is extra). i do have health insurance already taken out of my check but i pay for my meds.

you learn to live cheap. i have free tv..no cable. i do many things that are free...eating out doesn't happen often. neither do expensive vacations. nor new clothes. you learn to prioritize. i rent a condo which is crap. i would love to move but in nj there isn't much & i can't get ahead enough to even move...

but for now i have a roof over my head & i am safe. it may not be the home of my dreams but it is a home.

there are many programs & plans you can tie into to help...

it can be done..i have been retired since 98...so while it's not easy it can be managed.

stumpy, do you have to report your dog sitting and the money you make on your books?

technically yes.

oh my gosh, silly me! when I read this line from Anonymous: "it can be done..i have been retired since 98...so while it's not easy it can be managed." I was all "whoa! how old is this guy?!"

I see now, 1998. I was going to say you have some awesome computer skills for 100+ years old.