Are You a Single Mom in Need of Help?

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     If you find yourself in the position of  trying to raise a child on your own, then you know how difficult life can be and how frustrating the simple things can be when you don't have enough money.  If you are a single mom that in itself makes it much harder.  When you see a single father you think oh this must be a great man raising his children by himself, and then a lot of us assume the mom must be unfit.  With single women we are viewed as having baggage.  The stigma is so unfair for both sexes.  Either way if you are a single mom there are resources out there they can make your life easier.  You can go to http://www.singlemotherhelp.org/ and visit their website and fill out an application for grants and assistance or you can give them call at 1-888-774-7282.  They have an online portal that will direct you to over 20,000 grants available to you.  They have resources that will direct you to financial assistance as well as government aid.  They can direct you to section 8 housing or rental assistance,transportation assistance,child care assistance,WIC/food stamps,  and debt relief.  They steer you towards educational scholarships and well as creating home business ideas.  Another good site packed with resources can be found at http://www.singlemom.com/.  They list lots of great resources from paying for childcare to getting prescriptions filled to financial advice.  They have a financial gifting program where you can read hardship stories and donate money to moms.  They also have a Donate/Swap forum where clothes can be found or swapped as well as a housing forum for sharing homes.  Some other great sites are http://www.singlemomfinancialhelp.com/ and http://www.singlemotherassistance.net/.  I hope these are helpful and if you know of some other helpful sites please a comment.

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Free Legal Aid is Available

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     If you have ever been in the unfortunate predicament of being arrested, you know that if you cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed to you.  However, if you need to pursue a legal matter and  meet the federal poverty guidelines services may be provided to you pro bono.  The phrase pro bono publico is derived from the Latin meaning "for the public good".  Pro bono services are provided by lawyers to individual with low-income and also because of their belief in a certain cause.  Pro bono programs and legal aid are also available for senior citizens, the disabled, victims of domestic violence, and the military that can fall outside these income requirements.  Legal aid can provide information as well as advice on litigation and serve as an appellate advocacy.  There are many resources for legal aid and pro bono services that can be found on the Internet.  For more information go to the American Bar Association  public resource page where you will find numerous links to educate you on these services.

     Under ethical rules, the ABA recommends that US attorneys donate 50 hours per year to pro bono services.  Larger law firms often fall short of this quota.  For about 40% of the legal cases that occur each year for the low-income only 20% are met.  In 2007, Stanford Law School students founded Building a Better Legal Profession .  This website provides information for future lawyers about various law firms and also about their pro bono participation.  This, in affect, has encouraged larger firms to increase their participation in pro bono programs. 

     Listed are some sites that can guide you to lawyers that provide pro bono services:

1.   http://www.probono.net/
2.   http://www.justicedenied.org/
3.   http://probonolawyers.org/

     For a consumers guide to legal aid for self help go to http://www.lawhelp.org/ .

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Save Money at the Grocery Store!!!

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     I know that we all have heard of couponing to save money.  It may have been that you have tried this, and it is a tedious time consuming  process.  I have tried it many times in the past and said what is the use.  I watched a story on the news last year where a woman got $276.00 in groceries and only spent a penny, and I realized that there must be an easier way.  Determined to find it, I searched the Internet and found many coupons, but that only added to many more little pieces of paper to go through.  This year, I attended the Southern Women's Show in Raleigh, NC. where I met Coupon Queeny and most certainly got an education.
     Effective couponing is an art form.  You need some organization and I am not talking about one of those little envelope sized holders either.  You need a 5 Star Mead Zippered Binder.  When you go to her website she has you tube videos that show the binder that she uses.  I purchased one from her show in Raleigh.  You can go to Staples and find the baseball card plastic folders to put your coupons in and the dividers for categorizing the products so you want have to search.  I would get this before I started to clip if I were you.  Next, you need to start purchasing the Sunday paper and get a subscription to All You magazine.  I have not done this part yet, but I religiously get the paper.  Coupon Queeny recommends that you get one for each member of your house so you can maximize saving when stockpiling.  After this you need to get the savers cards and sales papers when you visit the grocery stores.  You are just about ready to begin.
     You can get educated on the art of couponing at the Couponing 101 website.  This site not only teaches you the lingo of coupons, but also it teaches you how to maximize your savings at Walgreens and  CVS.  These are two places that I would have never shopped to save money before, but they have been the stores that I have gotten things the cheapest or free.  I am talking about name brand products.  These and many other sites also match the right coupons to the right sales ,at the right stores, and  at the right time for you.  I cut my grocery bill by $68.00 last week and I have only been at this for three weeks now.  The first week I start out with seeing what I could get for free and now I have begun stockpiling my groceries.  I am actually purchasing things that in the past was out of my price range.
     As I said before, you should get educated and give it a try.  I am addicted to this process.  It is my one small way of sticking back to the system that overcharges on most things in life.

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Remodel on a Shoestring Budget

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     Do you need to make repairs on your home that you simply cannot afford?  I remember as a single mother so many things that I left in disrepair due to the fact that I simply could not afford to fix them.  There are two great places you can turn to right now to get you on your way to inexpensively remodeling, repairing, and redecorating your abode.  The first place I would venture to is http://www.craigslist.com/.  If you have not been to this site you have truly missed out.  Not only can you get items that you want and need deeply discounted, you can also find amazing things for free.  Just last week I was showing a young man this site, and low and behold someone was giving away a entire double-wide for free.  The kitchen had fire damage, but other than that this was a pretty decent looking home.  The recipient had to remove it from the site within seven days.  This was well worth it for someone who needed a home.  That is not the first time that I have seen a home on there for free.  You will find junk on there too, but alot of people want to keep things out of the landfill and will post items for that purpose.  I have found another place in the last 2 weeks that I have fell in love with, the Habitat Restore.  Habitat ReStores accepts donated building materials, appliances, and furniture and resales them for a fraction of the cost.  Some Metro ReStores offer coupons and some have pickup services for donated goods.  You can go to www.habitat.org/env/restores.aspx to find a location near you.  There are approximately 600 stores located throughout the US and Canada.  Go check one out today and check back often to find what you are looking for.  All proceeds benefit Habitat for Humanity.

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Is Your Birthday Approaching?

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     A friend of mines husbands birthday is this Sunday, and I was telling her about all the places that he could get a free treat on his special day.  I decided to send out a little post about it for those who are not aware that there are free perks out there for your birthday.  The best site that I have found for this is at www.heyitsfree.net/birthday/.  There you will find a updated large list of freebies for your birthday including everything from a free meal to circus tickets.  There are a lot of wonderful sites out there covering this subject and you should explore them as well.  This is just updated so well that I had to mention it.  Any time you go to this sites always read the comments.  Readers always suggest  more sites that offer free things and they will also share information on those that are listed.

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Are You Facing Foreclosure

     If you are facing foreclosure and you know that it is only a matter of time then here is an idea for you. You can buy land in a gated community and get a camper. You can find used campers online, some as little as a 1,000.00 and land as little as 3,000. If you got that kind of money laying around then you would probably just pay your mortgage, but if you don't and you are about to clean out your 401k for a no win situation, this is an alternative. I am in the process of selling my home and moving to such a community. We got our land in trade for working on someone’s house. We have bought 2 campers for 3,500.00 and they are paid for and our living expenses have dropped from 3,000.00 a month to just the utilities which come up to $200.00 a month. We are going to work for the next 3 years to pay cash for our next house. This community has campers, cottages, and million dollar homes. It has it's on police department, grocery store and even a golf course and swimming pools. Everyone is friendly no matter which side of the site you are on. There are plenty of financial and Blog websites that recommends this alternative as a wise solution to simplify ones lifestyle and finances, but this is one article that I am not going to just Blog about, but I am going to do first hand research. My fiancé has been working on our place for the last 3 years and I am in the process of selling my home and relocating there, but I can promise you that every time I go for a visit my stress level goes to zero and I find my self glued to the outdoors, I can't even imagine making what I make with no bills attached, I am so excited, I can't hardly wait. If you have tried this, leave me a comment with any advice you can give. It would be appreciated.  For more information on secrets that you can use to defend your home against foreclosure check out this site.

Could You Use Some Free Surgery or Meds?

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     I once met a lady at the hospital that told me because of her medical conditions that she could not get insurance.  She said that she had even been on the Montel show about it.  I having lots of coverage pondered about how that would feel, being in the ER with no coverage.  This is an issue that alot of people face and it terrified me.  Here is a suggestion for you if you have no way to get coverage.  You can go to http://www.centerwatch.com/ and look up clinical trials for your medical conditions.   If you get accepted into one in your area you could get free medical care for the duration of the trial.  Not only could you receive excellent care, but you could  possibly be getting a jump start on new up and coming therapies, but you could also be a part of valuable research that can change the outcome for millions of patients.  If you get into Phase IV of a trial, you could receive care for years.  While you are on their website, look under patient notification and you can put your email address down and check up to 24 medical conditions that  affect you.  When a trial becomes available in your area, they will notify you via e-mail.  You can also go to http://www.clinicaltrails.gov/ to see their listings.  There are inclusion/exclusion criteria that you have to meet to be accepted.  You will also need the approval of your family doctor.  Go to http://clinicalstudies.info.nih.gov/ and type in the keywords: healthy and normal.  This site studies mental health issues and uses healthy individuals for their research.  They also compensate you for your time.  If you volunteer for clinical studies for money then you should make sure that they are governed by the FDA.  They set strict guideline for these studies.  Whether it be for money or medication you are helping advance medical treatment and considering there are risk involved this is a very honorable quest.  Good luck on your journey.

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