I have no idea how I'm going to manage this.
I am disabled. I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2014, and it has slowly been getting worse. Some days I can barely stand or walk. So clearly, I am disabled, right?
And yet, I seem to be stuck in this death trap.
I applied for disability in 2021, only to have the state basically tell me, "Sure you're disabled, but you're not disabled ENOUGH." Since that time, my condition has - predictably - continued to deteriorate.
In December of 2025, I decided to reapply, this time seeking the services of a disability lawyer. Over the following few months, I jumped through a variety of hoops to get my application finished, turn in all the relevant paperwork, and do everything I possibly could on my end.
By mid-March of 2026, I had turned in absolutely everything they could possibly need, and I was assured that the next step was to wait for them to process my application.
This will take about one full year.
I was also informed that if I made more than $1690 a month BEFORE tax, I would be disqualified on the grounds that I was gainfully employed. Simple math tells you that's about $1440 a month take-home, give or take.
Anyone can tell you that's not enough to support yourself. That would cover rent and...some bills...and really nothing else. So here I am, needing about ten more months before the next step in the process can even begin. I've already burned through my savings - there isn't currently enough in my bank account to pay June's rent - and even though I now have two part-time jobs in order to try to rebuild, it's been made very clear to me that I can do this for maybe another two months before I will basically forfeit my case.
I'm basically a shoo-in to win my case, but how do I survive that long?