I am a 23 year old female and I am engaged to a 27 year old male. The only reason we are not married right now is because I don't think it makes sense for us financially. I am currently pregnant with my first child.
Growing up, my family had nothing. My grandmother owned a house and my mother, my uncle, and me and my 2 siblings lived with her. My mom was not an uneducated woman. In fact, when I was a teenager she completed her bachelors degree in Psychology, and went onto her Masters (but never completed it). My mom worked as a teacher's aide in a public school but never went on to do better for herself in fear of her benefits (Medicaid, food stamps, and ability to defer her student loans) would be cut. My uncle was also not your typical poor uneducated guy. He is a carpenter who makes about $100k a year, but he is also a drug addict who is addicted to gambling. His addictions have lead him to poverty. When my Grandmother passed away, her home got foreclosed on because neither my mom nor my uncle had good enough credit to put the mortgage in their name. My mom and uncle moved out together and started to rent a small house. At this point, my two sisters were old enough to move out, so they left. As soon as I was old enough to move out, I moved in with my boyfriend (now fiancé) and his mom. (My uncle was abusive when he was on his drug binges and I felt like I needed to leave that house as soon as I possibly could). I graduated highschool with honors and went on to get my bachelors in Human Services. My fiancé has his associates in applied science along with a couple tech related certifications. We lived with my fiancés mom for two years while we were in college. She is also living in poverty. After 2 years, we moved into a rental house with my two sisters (we figured it might make sense for us to split bills 4 ways instead of each getting our own separate houses). We did that for a year, then moved back in with my Fiance's mom for a year, then we decided we would move out on our own and we bought a small mobile home. We have been living in our mobile home for 2 years. Our lot rent is only $255 a month (which is awesome!) and our total monthly bills are about $900 a month. My fiancé works for a small internet provider for $14/hour full-time and I work as a substitute teacher for $100/day (when days are available). I have $25,000 in student loan debt and about $1,000 in credit card debt. My fiancé has about $6,000 in student loan debt and $10,000 in car loan debt. Together we have about $10,000 in savings. Though we are not currently "struggling" we're also not moving forward. My fiancé and I want to get married one day and buy a house together. We already have more than either of our parents have ever had, but we are just so tired of being poor. I am currently on Medicaid and receive WIC. My student loans are in a repayment plan where the payments are $0 a month. I'm afraid that once we get married, and my husband's income is factored in, all of my benefits are going to get cut and we're going to be fucked. I have a pre-existing condition (Endometriosis) which requires me to make monthly doctor visits. I don't think I'd be able to afford my own healthcare if it weren't for Medicaid. (Sorry for the insanely long life story) but does anyone have any advice?
Submitted September 04, 2017 at 12:59PM by sastoffel1 http://ift.tt/2gzmztH
