Skim Milf Mama

Mutha Hubbard.

2011-10-03T03:52:00.000-07:00

Skimmilfmama is now a facebook page: Mutha Hubbard.
Please like it!

Giveaway day, and mom to mom yard sale

2011-05-19T05:07:00.000-07:00

Need stuff? Have stuff to give away? TWO upcoming events!

Please note donations for giveaway day need to be dropped off the day before, and they request no winter items. Details on flyer below.

MOM TO MOM YARD SALE
Spring Cleaning? Please donate your gently used items for our annual yard sale! We are looking for household/decor/furniture, baby/child items and clothes, books/music/videos, outdoor equipment/games/sports, etc! Please, no stuffed animals or badly stained/ripped/broken items.

Interested in helping out? We need people to help sort, price and work a shift at the sale. Then, come shop the sale! Please tell friends and family---come support M2M! (We are having it at Riverton this year due to the monsoon we went thru last year!) Happy Spring Cleaning!

Time Saturday, June 18 · 9:00am - 1:00pm

Location Riverton Community Center
1600 Forest Ave.
Portland, ME

Free Comic Book day, free legos

2011-05-07T08:19:00.000-07:00

TODAY Saturday May 7, 2011

Free Comic Book Day is a single day - the first Saturday in May each year - when participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely FREE* to anyone who comes into their stores. *Check with your local shop for their participation and rules.

Borders is having a book release party for Rick Riordan's "Throne of Fire", the second book in the Kane Chronicles. Today, 2pm at Borders. There will be free lego sets given away while supplies last.

thredUP

2011-04-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

When I was about 7 months pregnant with my son, I was invited to a single mom's swap. This became the first of many, starting at the home of the friend who invited me, and then eventually being held at various college facilities. During the first one I scored everything from a pair of tiny carhart overalls to a baby gym and recieving blankets. In retrospect, I think the pregnant lady was invited so everyone could get rid of their baby things. It worked out pretty well. In the following years I scored:

*pots and pans
*a terra cotta salsa serving dish
*clothes for me, clothes for the baby
*a really cool brass bracelet with a hindu goddess engraving
*baby movies
*cosmetics

Anyway, I'm glad to see traditional mom swaps are now going viral. I usually post my son's outgrown clothing on my fb page free to whomever wants it, but may start posting on this site as well.

thredUP - Special offer: "thredUP homepage
Welcome to the thredUP community - where moms swap kids clothes and toys.

The service is free to join and boxes of preloved clothes and toys costs just $5 plus shipping. Because we know you will love thredUP we're giving new members a special, one-time offer of your first box on us (FREE! - you pay only $10.95 shipping) if you sign up today. PICK
Pick a box of clothes or toys for your child - pay only $5 + shipping → LIST
List a box of your child's gently used clothes or toys → SEND
Send your box free of charge when it's picked by another member → Browse the thousands of boxes of gently-loved clothing and toys in the thredUP listings. When you find one you love, pick it and it's yours. You pay just $5 + shipping to receive the box. We make it easy for you to list boxes of your gently-loved items for other thredUP members. Using our thredUP 'Build-a-Box' widget and the FREE boxes we send you upon registration, we're with you every step of the way
When a member picks your box, we help you print out a label, attach it to the box, and then we schedule the US Postal Service pick-up for you right at your front door.
Terms of Use Privacy Policy"

"Lightening Thief" author Rick Riordan comes to Borders.

2011-04-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, May 4, 2011, 6:00 PM
Borders
Maine Mall Rd
South Portland Maine

Rick Riordan will be at Borders to sign copies of "The Throne of Fire", book 2 in "The Kane Chronicles" series.

In this exciting second installment of the three-book series, Carter and Sadie, offspring of the brilliant Egyptologist Dr. Julius Kane, embark on a worldwide search for the Book of Ra, but the House of Life and the gods of chaos are determined to stop them.

Also, happening at Borders:

Tween Time April 22, 8pm
Story Time April 24 (easter Sunday) 11am
Monday Night Knitting Circle Apr 25, 6:00 PM
Game Night May 2, 7:00 PM

Free Easter Egg hunt, open to the public

2011-04-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

Nothing says spring like the Egg-stravagant Egg Hunt at the Falmouth Congregational Church! Everyone is invited FREE of charge to participate in this fun community event. This year , our event will include a new egg hunt for ages 0-2, as well as 3-4, 5-8, and 9-12 year olds. We will also have snacks, bouncy houses, face painting, bunnies and a visit from "Crusher" of the Portland Red Claws!

The third annual Egg Hunt is 11:00 AM- 1 PM. Come a little early to register (free) at 267 Falmouth Rd., next to the Town Hall. Last year we had over 300 children participate.

Free Dance classes for ages 8-14.

2011-03-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

Join Portland Youth Dance Company
for our
Outreach Program!
 For dancers aged 8 to 14
 Six week session on Saturdays from 3:30—4:30, from October 16, 2010 to November 20, 2010.
 Hip hop class, ending with a studio show on November 20th!
 Casco Bay Movers Dance Studio
517 Forest Ave, Ste 6, Portland, ME 04101
 Dancers will need comfortable clothing and sneakers to dance in, and a ride to and from the studio.
 Availability is limited, based on financial need.
Sign up now to reserve your spot!
susan@portlandyouthdance.com, 450 –1735 viki@portlandyouthdance.com, 712-4308

learn a skill/teach a skill at hourfest.

2011-03-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

Home
Hourfest 2011 is a day-long skill-share festival in which everyone is invited to share and learn new skills in a variety of workshops.

Admission for the day will be a $15 donation OR Hour Exchange members may pay 3 hours. All volunteers who work at least 3 hours will be given free admission for the rest of the day. Admission includes 4 workshops, a potluck lunch, and live music.

Advance registration is available online, and at the Hour Exchange Portland main office, 516 Congress Street.

Potluck and live music part of the deal.
I wanted to teach beaded jewelry/wrapped sea glass but have a conflict as I have scheduled my son's birthday party for that afternoon.

https://sites.google.com/site/hourfest/home

This event is scheduled to take place Saturday April 9th from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm at Lucid Stage and University of Southern Maine.

Please volunteer to help make this event a success! Members can earn hours for use in the Hour Exchange.

HourFest is Co-Sponsored by Hour Exchange Portland and Portland Maine Permaculture/The Resilience Hub.

10 lowest gas prices in Maine

2011-03-09T05:35:00.000-08:00

Click on the red link below for a listing of the gas stations with the 10 lowest prices in Maine:

WCSH6.com | Portland, ME | Gasoline Prices

Assistance for oil heat now accepting applications

2011-02-15T13:02:00.000-08:00

The Citizens Energy Oil Heat Program is now accepting applications for the 2011 oil heat season. They provide a one-time delivery of 100 gallons of home heating oil to eligible households.

CALL 1-877-JOE-4-OIL to apply.

You may have to call back many times to get through since so many people need help.

PLEASE NOTE: They are not accepting application online.

The Citizens Energy Oil Heat Program has delivered millions of gallons of discount home heating oil to poor and elderly households in Maine and other cold weather states since 1979. This unique program helps protect needy families from volatile heating oil prices, which often leave households having to choose between heating the home and paying for other life essentials, such as food, health care, or clothing.

What is the Oil Heat Program?

In partnership with CITGO, Citizens Energy works with thousands of oil heat dealers and local fuel assistance agencies in 23 states to provide deliveries of home heating oil to those in need. This year the Oil Heat Program provided eligible families a one-time delivery of 100 gallons of home heating oil.

http://www.citizensenergy.com/english/pages/OilHeatProgram

"free" sure is cheaper then going to H & R block.

2011-02-15T12:55:00.000-08:00

This is a reputable and reliable service that is utlaized by many people every tax season. It's open to everyone, all ages. I have known of them to have sites at the main branch of the Portland Public Library as well as at the expo. Calling 211 can also give you info on where to find them.

*Also, don't forget, if your child attended an after school recreation program or any day camps during the summer while you were working, call them for their tax ID number (unless they already gave you that info) and the amount that you paid in. As long as having your kids there allowed you to work during those hours, it counts as child care and you will get that money refunded to you.

Tax season has begun, and whether you use an accountant or a computer program, or try to file your returns on your own, it can be an expensive and complicated process. But thanks to the AARP Foundation, people in Maine with low-to-moderate incomes do not have to go it alone, and help is available for free.

Joan Jagolinzer is the state volunteer coordinator for the AARP Tax Aide program. She says there are several sites around the state staffed with volunteer counselors to help people file returns.

"We take care of people of all ages. We can handle people with a very simple return to a fairly complex return. "

Jagolinzer says many of the tax-help sites have evening and weekend hours to accommodate different schedules. Drop-ins and appointments are welcome; just be sure to bring as much of your information as possible.

"The first thing that they would want to bring with them, if they can find it, is a copy of last year's tax return, and then social security cards of everybody that they are going to claim on their tax return, and then all of the 1099s and W-2s."

Jagolinzer says all the volunteer Tax Aide counselors must pass IRS certification exams, and are kept up to date with changing tax laws every year.

Most returns are filed electronically and many taxpayers will receive their refunds within a week or two.

To find a Tax Aide site near you,

call 1-888-AARPNOW, or go to www.aarp.org

* Click here to view this story on the Public News Service RSS site and access an audio version of this and other stories: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/18280-1

Regular swap in Scarborough

2011-01-10T14:49:00.000-08:00

From the Portland, Maine Community Board:

St. Nicholas Episcopalian Church in Scarbough apparently hosts a swap meet regularly, 2nd Sat of every month from 10-noon. (after 11 you don't need to bring anything in to swap - you can take whatever you want for free!) More info at the closestcloset.com, or on Closest Closet at Facebook.

As posted on the community board: I didnt know if everyone knew this but apparently there has been and will continue to be a swap meet at the st nicks church in scarborough. we happened to see an ad in the craigslist. we went to this and if you bring like 5 things u dont need anymore in usable order u can go through other things that others brought in.

honor roll/good grades rewards

2010-12-12T14:40:00.000-08:00

As always, call your local store to see if they are participating:

-LimitedToo: Free $5 giftcard (I was told boys could do this too)

-Krispy Kreme: Free doughnut with each A

CHUCK E. CHEESE

Tokens for Grades®
Have your child bring in their most recent report card and they will receive FREE tokens for good grades.

Saddleback Mountain:
Last year, the Peak Passes were $49, and were available to all students in Maine from kindergarten to 12th grade, who made the honor roll. Over 2,400 Maine students took advantage of the pass program. This year, they’re stepping it up even further, offering $59 passes to any student living in New England, K-12, who does the same.

BLOCKBUSTER:
If your student has at least a B average on their report card, they can get a free movie rental from Blockbuster!

It’s called the Blockbuster Good Grades Program.

Q: Why is Blockbuster offering the Good Grades Free Rental program?
A: Blockbuster values the role that a good education plays in the development of successful youth and strong families. With this in mind, we wanted to offer a reward to students for good performance in school.

Q: How does a student redeem the reward?
A: Students with a B average or better can bring in their original report card, signed by a parent or legal guardian, to a participating BLOCKBUSTER® store and receive one free BLOCKBUSTER Favorites® movie rental. Membership is required for rental.

Q: Can multiple students from the same household participate?
A: Yes. EACH student with a B average report card is eligible for one free rental.

Q: How often can a student participate?
A: Students are eligible to participate each new grading period.

PIZZA HUT:

The latest variation of the Pizza Hut Coupons have come in the way of education, when your kids make the honor roll they receive a coupon for a personal pizza of their choice.

Susan's Fish and Chip's
* They give kids a free ice cream for a good report card. I called and asked the young sounding clerk if it had to be honor roll and was told "doesn't have to be." I then asked "C's or better?" I could almost hear the abivalence of a teenage shrug as I was told "That's fine."

1135 Forest Ave., Portland, ME 04103-3323
207-878-3240

WinterKids. Free & discounted winter activities.

2010-12-06T15:49:00.000-08:00

WinterKids

Student loan debt? Elusive secrets to forgiveness & cancellations.

2010-11-16T17:24:00.000-08:00

My awesome friend Kristen shared this info with me.

I have student loan issues. Not as many as I used to. Years ago I had some sort of gawdaful high interest Perkins loan. It was a small loan, but just aggressive enough to be a huge pain in the ass. Actually, it was 2 loans at $1,000 or so each. Anyway, I was paying some minimal amount like $20 a month on each, which could be a huge amount when you are a single mom on ONE income, at approx $10 an hour or whatever. I paid off a few hundred at some point but had struggled with it at other times.

Anyway, at some point I was hired as a Case Manager at Catholic Charities Support & Recovery Services. My clients were adults with mental health issues, and this was public mental health as we billed Mainecare for our services.

Every spring I had to deal with my student loans. All of them. Not just the small aggressive Perkins loans, the big slow sluggish jabba the hut student loans, too. Stafford, I believe the beast calls itself. I would keep tossing them into deferments and whatnot because if I didn't, I would fall behind and they could seize my ever lovin' spring tax return. (nooooo......!!!!!!).

At some point I was on the phone with ACS, probably crying my eyes out and carefully guarding my firstborn and the lady on the phone asked if I thought I might qualify to have my Perkins loans forgiven. I didn't think I would qualify, because my clients were adults and what she was referring to applied to people who worked with children in the public health setting. Turns out, I DID qualify. See, even though I worked in adult mental health I had a specialized client base: families with young children in the home. Even though my actual client WAS an adult, I often did things like refer their children for services or daycare, help with financial solutions for the family, find them subsidized housing, help them with their child protective or family court issues, etc. I was told that as long as more then 1/2 my caseload served a family with children in the home, it counted.

I had to write a letter, have my supervisor sign it, have HR do something with a company seal and submit this to ACS. I did this every year for five years. At the end of 5 years of employment with SRS, my 2k super aggressive fast moving cancer of a Perkins loan was GONE! Totally forgiven. It cancelled a certain percentage every year leading up the 5 years and kept the loans deffered in the meantime. There are similiar cancellations for Perkins for any public health profession and if you are a public school teacher in an area with specific percentage of low income families. There are also several more options for cancellation and deferment. Another added benefit was that, for a while anyway, every time I saw our prgram director I would be free of my usual suspicion of people in a role of authority and instead think "There is Sally. Sally saved me two grand, and the huge interest rate and sometimes late fees that was on my back every month." A warm fuzzy feeling would follow. This is not the moment I usually have when staring at authority.

Anyway, moral of the story: research the type of loans you have and see if you qualify for forgiveness. Call and ask them if there is any chance at all.

& click on the link below to learn about student loan debt forgiveness secrets. They are out there. It's a little like the financial equivelent of cryptozoology, but keep searching.....

IBRinfo :: Help is here!

all the books you ever want to swap...

2010-10-07T06:56:00.000-07:00

A while ago my friend Kimmy recommended this site but I let it go in one ear and out the other as I had plenty of library books accumulating as it was. Then today I was looking at all my books, which I recently purged before moving across town (kid lost his out of district voucher....so we went right ahead and moved in district when I asked him "so, do you want to change schools or do you want to change apartments"....guess what he chose?), and wondering why in the hell I can't get rid of such things like my old copy of Wonderland Avenue,that the fellow who is now my kids Godfather gave me way back when I was 16 and we were a year away from even dating and kicking off a lifelong commitment of love/hate and stinging barbs that punctuate random favors, holiday gifts and coffee deliveries. I will probably always keep my copy of Baby Driver by Jan Kerouac (yep. Jack's kid, now deceased), that I read at the tender age of 14 after finding it on a red letter day during an otherwise depressing time of my life living yet again in Beaufort, SC while stopping in a book warehouse in Hilton Head full of out of print books (it is now back in print, & other books I scored that day were Neon Angel by Cherie Currie of the Runaways and The Works by Rolling Stone Ron Wood, which was an entertaining tour of his art work and amusing stories from the road). But I can find absolutly no reason why I am hording such beat up dark adolescent gems such as No One Here Gets Out Alive, Helter Skelter and VC Andrew's Heaven (the latter being the original copy I read when I was 11 years old and responsable for a for kicking off a fixation of all the original books by that author, who as a result deserves a huge honorable mention in my education of sex thanks to her rampant incest and other taboo themes, which were written about pretty graphically and at that time were The Most Fascinating Things I Have Ever Read About).

So today I was toying with the idea of posting some of my less seedy and more collector's edition-type hardcovers on ebay, which I do not have an account for but was thinking about setting up. Of course I posted about it on facebook. My friend Helen commented and recommended the exact same site Kimmy had mentioned. So I checked it out and the next thing I knew I was listing 10 books I cared very little about for 2 credits. That's 2 new-to-me books I can bring in the house to add to our piles of books and other assorted collections of crap! wow! I will say Helen mentioned she actually gives hers away on the site and acquires credits to use whenever, which will be awesome if I have that kind of self control instead of going nuts and just impulsiveley clicking on anything that grabs me int he moment.

One thing I really like about this site is that I have noticed that, unlike most everything else today....IT DOES NOT ASK FOR A CREDIT CARD! I refuse to play the plastic game, and if you're really lucky that rant will come another day in another post on this blog. The only payment involved is the shipping cost that you pay when sending a free book to someone who has requested a title you have listed, which in turn you get a credit (one book) back for. & like I mentioned above you get 2 credits to start without even waiting for someone to request your titles.

www.paperbackswap.com

down to the last few groceries and don't know what to make?

2010-10-04T11:11:00.001-07:00

I run into that kinda thing a lot. Also, when I was working in case management I would often bring people to the local food pantries and would occasionally hear complains like "they gave me a bag that had tomato sauce, green beens, cheerios, hawaiian punch, a can of black eyed peas and a loaf of bread." well, maybe more then that but so many odds and ends! You get the idea.

One of my beloved rebel mamas shared this link recently :http://www.supercook.com/

you list the ingredients you have on hand and they will come up with a recipe for you.

On a side note, the two best food pantries in Portland Maine, IMO are:

The Salvation Army Food Pantry on Cumberland Ave. They give you one or two bags of food. Call first.

Project Feed in the back of Woodford's Congregational Church. Corner of Woodford & Beacon. They give you seven days worth of food. You DO need a referral slip, which you can get from just about any local social service aganecy, including support & recovery, or DHHS. Project Feed is only open from 1-3pm.

restaurant gift certificates $50 for $25 ect

2010-10-02T07:14:00.000-07:00

This is legit. My beloved community of mamas recommend it and have used it. You can search deals by state, and on occasion they will have $25 gc for $1 just for one day only.

My mother loves gift certificates (of course she does). I will definatly be checking this for Xmas ideas for her since she is always asking for this kind of thing for birthdays and Christmas, ect.

click on:

Best Deals and Discounts on the Best Local Restaurants – Save Money on Food with Restaurant.com

Free Museum Day

2010-09-19T15:40:00.000-07:00

This is National and good almost EVERYWHERE! I am using it to go to the Museum of Science in Boston, which usually runs me about $50 or so just for admission halls.

PLEASE CLICK THE LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST FOR THE REQUIRED DOWNLOAD.
You can also check museum options by state.

Smithsonians are free everyday, so pick something else that you wouldn't usually be able to go to.

Note that it says one coupon for household. I recomend photocopying and splitting up your party among children and adults in line if needed.

http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/index.html

My wicked cheap day in New York City.

2010-09-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

I took my kid down to Brooklyn at the end of the summer and stayed with a friend. I will say that while I found some freebies I dropped a ton of $$ on frivious unnecessary crap, mostly for my kid. Please note my financial mistakes. Although I have no regrets the places I dropped the most unnecessary money were:

Museum of natural history, where there is a suggested donation, and I gave them the full $25 for my son and I to enter. I know someone else who went in for $1. Also bought the picture packs where you pose against a dinosaur background and whatnot, which ran $20-$25 each. Could have done without those. Justified a $30 sweatshirt as a 'back to school' clothing purchase. Bought 2 books from 2 different gift shops. Worst of all, we ate in the musuem cafe. This is always a mistake. My father used to make us carry a fanny pack (back in the '80's) which contained a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a capri sun, and a granola bar. I don't KNOW that i would cheap out that much with my kid. However, I do think it's worthwhile to eat before going, maybe have a small snack (cookie and soda probably is reasonable), and stop a diner afterwards. We also paid the suggested donation at the Brooklyn Museum and ate in the cafe there as well.

The worst $$ offense that we just HAD to commit (although the place was great fun) was the Jeckyll and Hyde resteraunt, where I dropped $50 on a lunchtime meal of: one cheeseburger, one plate of plain pasta, one sprite, and one coke (I had 1 refill). They charge a small fee for addmission to the resteraunt as it is interactive entertainment. The food was mediocre, about the quality of Friendly's. We were there about 1 hour. I'm glad we went but we certainly don't need to do it again.

Anyway, one inexpensive afternoon went like this:

We hopped on the subway to go to the Museum of the American Indian down at the Bowling Green stop. This Musuem is 100% free as it part of the Smithsonian Institution, which is always free. When we left the subway I saw a sign for Staten Island and thought we'd look around a bit. We saw the statue of liberty (not up close). There were fountains that sprayed out of the ground so kids could get completely soaked. It was a very hot day and mine happened to have his trunks on. This kept us busy for a good 45 minutes or so, it could have been longer but it was already 3pm and I wasn't sure how long it would take to get through the museum. We also walked around the memorials to fallen soldiers and around the area where the Ellis Island tours start. I bought my son a $3 ice cream. There were also options to have a portrait sketched for approx $5, which would have made a great souvenier (which we did not opt to do). I looked at the cost of the tours to see the statue of liberty and they were $20 for an adult and $12 for children 12 and under. I have heard you need to book this a day in advance and you wait in line and hour, so we opted not to. So, our total cost was $3 plus subway fairs. I will say the museum was sparse compared to the other location in DC, although there are other things to do in the area.

another totally worthwhile activity was the Ferris Wheel in the Times Square Toys R Us. $4 each. We spent an hour and 48 minutes in the store, and there was no line for the ride. I gave Dominic a budget of what I was willing to spend and let him pick out a toy for himself. We also did this when he was 4 years old and he had picked out just a small $7 stuffed T rex.

The Central Park Zoo cost us $19 total to enter. We stayed for hours, and that was JUST going to the zoo, never mind all the other things to do in central park.

anyway, should you find yourself in the area of New York City, it doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg, although it can.

I have slacked. Big Time.

2010-09-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

So I didn't update all summer.

I had every intention of posting about the free DAILY lunches for all children in Portland. They just had to show up at Deering or Lincoln or something. I had every intention of posting all the free concert series in the area, like the several that went on in South Portland, at the LL Bean park in Freeport, and in various parks in Portland. I had every intention of posting about about kids eating free during the entire month of....August (I think) at IHOP. Not to mention reminders about the boys club and various free swimming holes. I kinda suck. You have my sincere apologies. I hope you all had as awesome a summer as my kid and I, and I hope it was painless and inexpensive.I have no explanation, only love....which is free.

Whole foods has a beautiful cafe and tons of family friendly events.

2010-06-02T08:05:00.000-07:00

I was at whole foods the other day and noticed their calender is QUITE full with free events. Practice sign language looks particulalry exciting, and note that kids eat free in the cafe 11-7pm Thursday. Also, note that Whole foods, like any other grocery store, does accept food stamps. So being low income doesn't exclude you from eating there (although like other any other places, this does not apply to hot, prepared foods. You can, however, purchase something from the deli or even the prepackaged sushi and sit in the cafe area).

http://wholefoodsmarket.com/storesbeta/portland-me/store-calendar/

the secret to a free car seat.

2010-04-14T14:02:00.000-07:00

I spent like, 100 years working in case management (or so it felt like by the end of it), and every so often there would be a pregnant or parenting client in need of a car seat. The RUMOR was always that they were available through WIC (I had no luck with this), or through the city (I do not know if that is still accurate but at one time I had that number). Anyway, in my travels about Portland within the past couple of weeks, I found a form with this info:

PROGRAM FOR FREE CAR SEAT

Maine Medical Center is a distributor of free car seats to families that qualify in regards to financial income. If a family receives WIC, they automaticly qualify for a free car seat. If they do not receieve WIC, they would need to meet certain income guidelines.

The resource is located at:
887 Congress st
Portland, ME 04101

The contact name and number:

Bonnie Butt
774-2381 extension 301

the parent needs to bring the child when they pick up the car seat, because they have to adjust it to the specific child.

(form was marked as being updated 3/9/2010)

Tips for help with the heating bill. April 15th is the day your utilities can legally be shut off.

2010-03-26T15:19:00.000-07:00

Here's some things to know if you are applying for help with the enormous heating bills that we all aquire in Maine:

*If you go to apply for emergency assistance at DHHS (you can do this 1x a year for up to $250, I think? ONLY if you have children in the home and you MUST bring a disconnect notice. Or it can be used for rent with an eviction notice), they will ONLY grant this if your disconnect notice is the result of a broken payment plan. If you made a payment plan last year and it was satisifed in say, December and you are just late and accruing a huge amount owed now, they wont grant it. Call Unitil or CMP or whomever, make the payment plan and when the time comes that you can not make that payment and get a disconnect notice, THAT is when you bring it in and apply.

* PROP will not offer assistance if you already have a payment plan.

* General assistance is also an option, but they have pretty strict guidelines. They will refer you to PROP if they reject you. (see above).

so, apply for aid first. Odds are, PROP or DHHS is going to call whomever your bill is from and negotiate a payment plan while they are issuing you aid. Just so you know. This works in your favor way better then doing it before you go on.

oh, and all of these places will want scads of documentation.

Here's how I would do it if it were me (and it very well could be):

1)go to GA (General Assistance). Be prepared to spend a good chunk of your day there, it takes a while. I will also say, bring a thick skin. Or a case manager if you have one or someone for support. They can be kinda brutal down there, depending on who you get. Cases are assigned to CMs by alphabet. I think the nicest case worker down there is John W. You are lucky if you get him. He's cool: large guy, bald head. Anyway, you are only allowed to schedule an appointment if a case manager does it for you (and it's like a covetted piece of info for CMs to know how to do this, not all the phone numbers and extensions work and the ones that do certainly are not public knowledge). They close from 12-1, and keep funky hours in general at times (there is a "surprise! we are closed!" chunk of time at the end of the day on Fridays, for instance. Eventually they will 'fess up that they will see certain cases , like homeless/housing issues, etc). see below for address and alledged hours and contact info.

2) allow GA to refer you to PROP. Or just go anyway. The phone number to schedule for HEAP is almost impossable to get through. Just show up at the office on the corner of Cumberland and Mellen and ask if anyone is available, If not, tell them you would like to schedule and you have a disconnect notice. They might also want to see a rejection letter from Geneal assistance.

got your payment plan set up now? Hope so. Even if you wern't able to get help, you should set this up. They will want a payment from you if it is not already coming from another place.

3)when your payment plan is broken and you receive a disconnect notice, take that to DHHS and apply for emergency assistance. If, by some miracle you don't need the full $250 or whatever, you have up to 30 days to apply the rest of the assistance towards another bill with a disconnect or eviction notice.

Yes, your credit will be f*****. I'm guessing that a lot of people are struggling and have F***** credit at this time. Welcome to the social service system. Your credit will suffer, but hopefully you still have hot water and your kids will never know anything was up.

& Welcome to Maine, where heating issues will plague you all year 'round!

That GA info I mentioned:

196 Lancaster Street
Portland, Maine 04101
Phone 207-775-7911
Fax 207-775-7917

Hours
Monday - Wednesday, Friday
8:00 am - 11:30 am &
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Thursday
8:00 am - 11:30 am

Go get those taxes filed! For free!

2010-03-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

I need help filing my taxes. It shouldn't be that hard, but it is. If you are one of those people who can file your own online, more power to you. I majored in a social science program for a reason. I am great with planning and using resources to suppliment income, but I have been brought to tears by math (algebra homework in college, actually).

Tax returns are awesome to get! yay! My dad has spoiled my fun with it a bit by telling me that you actully lose money even if you get it all back, because the dollar is generally worth less over the course of a year. "Think of it as loaning some of your wages to the government and getting it back when it's worth less then it was when you paid it in." Okay. I don't lose a lot of sleep about this though, as every socialism-loving bone in my body is happy to pay in and have the wealth redistributed based on need, etc. I just wished governing body I am loaning my money to was budgetting as carefully as I would and using it wisely. I would feel this way even if I wasn't getting it back, by the way, as long as it going somewhere need-based.

Anyway, the first few years when my son was born I had a student job on campus. I worked in a work-study position in The Women's Center, and because it was part of my student loan grant and I didn't have taxes taken out of it there really wasn't any earned income credit. However, there was a child care credit of a few hundred dollars which was awesome to get back. I immediatly got into the habit of using this to give my son a nice birthday party as his birthday falls in late April. The first couple years a friend helped me out by filing my taxes online.

I graduated with a BA in sociology when my son was 3 years old and started working in social services in July of 2001. When tax season rolled around I was thrilled with my tax return....woo hoo! I had started using H & R block to file as I knew it would be done correctly and it was initially economical, although the fees grew over a few years. It was then that I started signing up to have them done for free through the Ca$H program (info below). It's staffed by knowledgable volunteers and they have several locations and dates where they do this. The first couple years I ended up signing up at the Portland Public Library, and last year year I had it done at the expo when they were set up there. Don't forget to bring receipts from your children's aftercare programs and summer camps (they only consider daycamps) as these are tax deductible as they allow you to work.

Things I have used my tax return on, in addition to setting aside a little for birthday parties every year:

*2002 planned a trip to Disney with my mom and a freind of hers. 4 of us in one hotel room, with my mom paying 1/2 my son's airfare and Disney ticket.
* 2003 put most down on my car loan.
*2004 paid off remaining amount of car loan, no more car payment! One less bill every month, yay!
*2005 put in 3 month CDs so I wouldn't touch it as I was hoping to move and would need a security deposit. Moved in Dec 2005 and used this then.
*2006 paid off enormous heat bill, purchased washer/dyer (with help from then-supervisor, who's husband had a work related account that allowed me to buy this wholesale under his name. score!)
*2007 not sure exactly. although I did buy fun town/splash town season passes for kid and I, and also gifted boyfriend and his daughter with these as well as a thank you for coming into our life.
*2008 joined forces with cheapskate mother and brought kid to DC over his birthday. (all museums and zoos are free there as they are paid for by taxes).
*2009 Paid off car. Without car payment again! yippee!

I will probably write more about this when I get off my slacker ass and get mine filed.

info on having taxes done for free below:

If you made less than $50,000 in 2009, you might be leaving money on the table. Find out by having your federal and state income taxes prepared for free by IRS-certified volunteer tax preparers. You may qualify for up to $5,657 from the federal Earned Income Tax Credit. Free tax preparation sites can also connect you to free programs and services in the community that help you make the most of your money.

How to participate:

1. Collect tax statements from ALL income received in 2009 (W-2, 1099, 1098, SSA and unemployment).

2. Gather Social Security cards for each person you will claim on your tax return.

3. Dial 2-1-1 (it’s free!) to find a tax site near you.

4. Call the tax site to schedule an appointment: other qualifications may apply (interpreters available upon request).

Thank you to our generous tax season sponsors: Annie E. Casey Foundation, Bank of America, Casey Family Services, Gorham Savings Bank, KeyBank and United Way of Greater Portland.