vista life stuff...

i really hope we all keep up with our blogs, because i want to be able to keep up with all of you! ok, now for some "vista life" type stuff i've been thinking about / looking into:

 

*** food stamps ***

according to stuff online, i don't think i am eligible for food stamps since i have too much savings (too much being more than the limit of $2,000). savings in an ira must be included toward this limit, even though according to wikipedia "a debtor in bankruptcy can exempt his or her IRA from the bankruptcy estate" and this seems like it should be a similar situation.

also, higher rent payments (after a certain amount that it is assumed you can pay) leads to being eligible for a higher amount of food stamps. this makes sense in a way -- after all, sometimes (depending on where one's job is) one can't help but get an expensive apartment. but on the other hand, sometimes one can choose between more expensive apartments that are bigger/more convenient/newer and less expensive apartments that aren't. it seems that one shouldn't get more food stamps just because one's rent is higher -- it should depend on other factors such as the average apartment rent in the area.

anyway, though it would have been nice to be able to get better/more food, i am glad i am not eligible for food stamps because i think if i were it would be hard for me to not get them. and i am not sure i think getting food stamps is the moral thing for me to do since i can live decently without them. actually, this is a question i struggle with a lot: how much unnecessary stuff must one have/buy before it is wrong? what do you guys think?

 

*** health benefits ***

does anyone else think it is strange that we won't get our health benefit cards for a while (what was it, 4-6 weeks)? i think we should at least get our member numbers and stuff like that right away.

i was looking through the guide to the health plan, and some of the stuff was kinda weird. there are a number of treatments that are not covered by the plan even if they were not preexisting, such as narcolepsy and add and aids medicines. i don't expect these omissions to be a problem for me personally, but i wonder how they decide things like that.

one of the "exclusions to covered services" is "Any services related to the treatment of allergies including allergy tests and surveys, injection, medication and treatment (except for emergency treatment including medication and hospitalization for asthma)". so recently i've been having this itching in my ears that i think is caused by allergies but for all i know it could actually be caused by some weird ear disease. if i go to the doctor and then they decide it is caused by allergies, will the health plan not cover the doctor visit even though i didn't know it was allergies at first?

 

*** cheap stuff ***

for getting things cheaply or even for free, check out the websites craigslist and freecycle.

 

you guys are great and i hope you have great first days.

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