Life on SSI

Post Reply New Topic

After a lifetime of (not quite) scraping by, I was lucky enough to be granted both SSI and Section 8 housing. I could not focus well enough to hold down a job, and I seem to say lots of inappropriate things at the wrong time to the wrong people...

Anyways, I was wondering about how people who have been in the program for a long time have been affected by it. The tiny income sort of limits you, but the huge amount of time you suddenly find yourself with is a compensation...so far.

So I'm asking, are there any tips or insights from you Veterans? Has being on SSI changed you? Are there traps to be avoided, strategies to pursue?

I want to make the most of this strange opportunity

Has anyone gone through the review to see if they are still qualified? That scares me, for some reason.

I know one thing, you can't get married or else you lose your benefits. So make sure to find someone with a lot of money so you don't have to suffer but so much

As in regards to the review (and I found this out quite by accident), if you enroll in the Ticket to work program, SSA normally will not bother with the review, even if you never used the program.

Of course, it also depends on how incompetent your state’s Office of Vocational Rehabilitation can be. PA OVR, IMNSHO, is worse than useless, since they are chronically understaffed and woefully undertrained, ESPECIALLY when it comes to developmental disabilities, let alone mental impairment.

They get lonely, depressed, messy apartment, sit on the computer.. go for walks around the city.. or spend their parents' money on eating out, buying things on Amazon, sports betting, online poker.. some go to an AS support group for companionship..

It seems pretty easy to succumb to your vices on SSI. Your inexpensive vices, anyway. I want to create book lists, exercise regularly, stuff like that. I've already tried to volunteer, but my stress went way up and I think the place was exploiting the unpaid help.


It pisses me off my tax dollars support this type of behavior.

Understandable. I feel lucky, but also guilty, to be on this program. I hope I can "give back" to the society that is now subsidizing me, in some fashion, and not just sleep in and watch You Tube. Although I am feeling a bit drowsy...

Definitely the best thing so far is not having to do stuff when my tank is empty. No more pushing through endless exhausting NT activity packed days.

I've been through a SSDI review and was fine,they can't take it away without reason.Once your adjudicated disabled the burden of proof is on them to disprove your still disabled.

I wouldn't worry about it.

Thank you guys for all of the helpful advice. It's really good to hear from others who have experience with this program, because nobody tells you nothing during the terrifying and extended application process. I hope y'all are thriving!

If you have a job and you have one of those reviews, they'll declare that you're not disabled because you're working and drop you.

I have been on it for many years for several reasons. Keep a positive schedule up. Do exercise regularly, this is a hard one for me, work on positive skills mentally as well as physically. Like wood working, baking, quilting, leather work, whatever works for you. Some people I've met supplement the little they get with handmade goods. Not a lot by any means. I was able to buy my home on only 1.5 acres with my small 700 sq. feet home, in a few more years I will have it paid off. After I pay my small mortgage & the electric bill not much it left. A budget is important. I have to go to a food pantry for many of my groceries.
Depression is common among the people I know. Don't just stay home, socialize in ways your comfortable with.
Well my brains fogging up but hope some helped.

Thank you for your thoughtful answer! Yeah, exercise is important. I don't have a car so that means a certain baseline amount of walking, but COVID isn't helping. Socially I am incredibly isolated now (thank the Goddess for WP!). I'm naturally frugal, spending little on clothes, and rarely eat out (an occasional $5 splurge at Taco Bell). Still, money is tight. And as Jim Morrison put it, "the Future's Uncertain and the End is Always Near". Hope the program stays solvent.

Get a volunteering job for free to make friends with coworkers