The Board Payment breakdown:
BoardPayment $432
MINUS
Daycare $440
Oops we're already in the hole!
Sure, a CPS partner was supposed to pay half of the daycare amount, but never did. I put BabyBoy in daycare back in August of 2009 because I went to work, yes briefly, but then when I went back to staying at home full time I took him out. His SW said they would still pay for him to go halftime while I volunteered, so I took him back only two days per week. Every week I would pay my half of the fee and at the end of every month when CPS's partner hadn't paid their half, I would cover that too. So I paid $110 per week for BabyBoy to go only two days per week. And I wasn't bringing in any income to offset the costs. Every month I would ask the SW and she replied "I'll take care of it". Yet the next month would come and it wasn't taken care of. I emailed up the CPS food chain, then I called the CPS partner and finally they sent me a letter stating we were approved to have half his daycare cost covered during the month of December 2009 only. The SW said somehow they had the wrong SSN down and there was a mixup and yadda yadda she'll take care of it. Then we signed BabyBoy's adoption placement papers and the Board Payment stopped. During this same week, BB's sibling was born and we became her legal guardians. Suddenly we had to make some decisions.
BabyBoy has been on WIC so his formula has been covered for 22 months, but now we have to pay out of pocket. He is lactose intolerant so we're going to try the lactosefree milk instead of powdered formula since it is cheaper. BabyGirl though requires about $150 per month in formula. We had to buy her all new bottles separate from BabyBoys. They are both in diapers and both use wipes and butt cream. BabyGirl weighed only 4 pounds so we had to buy her preemie clothes. BabyBoy decided to turn into a chunk of lead overnight and required new pants and long sleeve shirts. His foot went from a size 6 to a size 8 in the month of December, so we bought new shoes. And of course we bought Christmas presents for 4 kids plus family and friends.
And then it wouldn't stop raining and our driveway washed out. The dishwasher door and microwave door stuck. The camera completely quit working. The computer got a virus. The van need parts not covered under warranty. The utility rates went up. It got cold so we had to buy gas to heat the house. The BirthParents needed a couple hundred dollars, some food, a heater, some kerosene, and transportation. Everyone got sick so we had copays, medication, and a good bit of medical cost due to a high deductible. And the lawyer fees started to roll in.
The Husband's income has been paying our bills just fine. Our house and van pays off completely in less than 4 years. There are no other big bills, just monthly costs like utilities and such. We've taken week long vacations to Disney, the beach, camping, and smaller trips to various parts of the US. The kids have expensive extracurricular activities, name brand clothing, and basically don't want for anything. But, I need to go to work. BabyGirl is only a couple of weeks old though and I wanted to be home with her to bond. Daycare for BabyGirl and BabyBoy would be $800 a month (slight discount given for multiple kids) which is just outrageous. We already budget closely, turn off lights and water when not in use, use coupons, check out movies from the library rather than go to the theater, buy second hand items or shop clearance racks, etc. but as our family grows, the economy worsens, and our savings dwindle (not retirement though the economy tanks that too, but referring to savings account funds) it seems I'll be a SAHM no more.
And before any trolls ask, Shadow's board payment goes into her savings account to buy her a car when she graduates so she can get in it and drive far FAR away from me.
Yep, us foster parents just rake in the money. /sarcasm
7 comments:
That is about how I imagined it. Maybe you could look into doing something from home so you can stay home with the kids. We are in the same boat and I am looking to do something, anything really. I love being home and it would be nice to not worry so much about money. Good luck to you!
Shadow gets to decide where her board payment goes? Or is that you being very generous? Because I would definitely ask for part of that for my expenses for her, if it were me... but then, I am also a foster parent who's just in it for the money. HAHA what money..
(that said, our board payment? totally more than yours. move to canada, seriously - the snow is totally worth it..!?!)
You are a much better person than I - I would have cut the birth parents off a long time ago - money-wise, anyway, and I'd have sent Shadow on to another placement. The birth parents need to learn to take care of themselves, and Shadow just sounds dangerous. I really don't know how you handle everything you have going on, honestly. You are a saint.
Also - I agree with another comment - have you tried working from home? Daycare is horrendous, and you could be home with the little ones while making an income. Good luck!
You should see the mansion & Escolade I paid CASH for!
I'd settle for being reimbursed for diapers again. They're talking about cutting our per diem in half.
Half of not much, is pretty much nothing.
D, we've never got reimbursed for diapers and such. All that stuff is supposed to be bought with the board payment. But, we used to get reimbursed for mileage to doctors appointments, ISPs, court, and family visits, but now that has been cut out UNLESS you drive out of the county, then you get mileage at a much lower rate than we used to get. They said we were supposed to pay for gas to these things out of the board payment as well. It's crazy isn't it.
Momof2 and Amy, working from home would be great but most options are scams. I can't sell avon or tuppoerware or anythign because I'm just not good at selling things. I'll post later on all of this stuff.
Roz,
Shadow doesn't get to decide. Normally we match the teen's funds from their job but in her case, she is saving ever cent of her allowance and we are more than matching it because otherwise she'll be here forever ... or be homeless and vehicle and jobless forever. And the money is in an account we have for her, not her personal account that she saves her allowance in. Sorry if that was misleading.
The cold Brrr
We are fosterparents in Louisiana and I have never had to pay a penny in mileage. they have always reimbursed us for it even for transporting to visit family in other cities. Board payment are a little over 500.00 but about 100.00+ of that goes to the kids for clothing, personal needs and wants and just spending. No I dont put the rest in savings for them but by the time we pay utilities and Food there is not a lot left. Not getting rich here either
ok, I know I'm late to the game here, but I thought every state in the country offered adoption assistance. Even in cases where there were adoptive parents willing to take infants w/o assistance, the court still awarded finalization to the foster parents who had had them since birth for the best interest of the child including adoption assistance. Why did your payments stop? god knows it was little enough as it was.
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