School lunch income brackets 2010-11

The Michigan Department of Education sent a press release this week to The Monroe Evening News with the income eligibility brackets for the 2010-11 school year on the National School Lunch Program. This income chart is also used for the School Breakfast Program, Special Milk Program and the Child and Adult Care Food Program. Basically, [...]

Continue reading School lunch income brackets 2010-11 …

From Monroe on a Budget.

Monroe’s Bridges Out of Poverty Program

It’s hard enough for the middle-class families to deal with a tough economy. The families who have always been on the lower income brackets have even more challenges.

But community resources may be able to help those who are motivated. In fact, resources for the lower-income families have been around a lot longer than resources for the median-income families.

This article about one such program was in the Sunday edition of The Monroe Evening News – Tools for Success.

A snippet:

Bridges Out of Poverty is a nationally recognized curriculum to help clients climb out of poverty. Thanks to $64,000 in stimulus funds received through its Community Services Block Grant, Monroe County Opportunity Program will offer the program for at least a year, hosting six classes.

The classes give low-income individuals ways to eliminate barriers in order to become self-sufficient. The program also includes a training module for community professionals to improve the outcomes in transitioning clients from poverty to prosperity.

If you live in Monroe County, Mich., and want more information about this program, call (734) 241-2775, ext. 204, or e-mail kruiz@monroecountyop.org.

Continue reading Monroe’s Bridges Out of Poverty Program …

From Monroe on a Budget.

Who’s spending money on what? Find out at Bundle

Bundle.com is a free spending comparison database that has statistics from across the United States.

You can find out how your personal spending habits compare to families in your demographic, geographic area, income level or a combination of those factors. You can also take a spending quiz to find out your financial personality.

I got the heads up on the Bundle site from PFFirewall. So I decided to look up the spending statistics for Monroe County, Mich., and found some interesting details about my local readers:

• Eating out: $197 a month is the average of what families in Monroe County, Mich., are spending on eating out. Those in the $40,000 to $50,000 income bracket are spending $97 a month at places such as McDonald’s, Applebees and Dolce Vita; while those in the $50,000 to $75,000 income bracket are spending $114 a month. Wow, this is insanely high! If you are in those median income brackets, you really should consider dropping the eating out spending by a third to a half.
• Gas: $147 a month is the average for all of Monroe County, Mich.; $98 a month for those in the $40,000 to $50,000 income bracket; $149 a month for those in the $50,000 to $75,000 income bracket. This is one of those expenses where it is hard to find a work-around. Monroe residents commute for work or shopping in three directions – Toledo, Detroit or Ann Arbor – and there is no public transit between those cities. My suggestion is to bunch up out-of-town errands when you can, but expect your household savings to be found elsewhere.
• Utilities: $201 a month for all Monroe County, Mich., households; $233 a month for those in the $40,000 to $50,000 income bracket; $222 a month for those in the $50,000 to $75,000 income bracket. Why is there a bump up for the median incomes? My guess involves logistical hurdles for those who can only afford to rent instead of own a home. You can’t, for example, replace an outdated furnace when you are the tenant. And a lot of rental units in Monroe don’t have laundry hookups, so those families have to cart their dirty clothes to the expensive paid laundry centers.
• Charity: $48 a month for all Monroe County, Mich., households; $47 a month for those in the $40,000 to $50,000 income bracket; $72 a month for those in the $50,000 to $75,000 income bracket. This is an interesting snapshot, especially when one considers that volunteer service and in-kind donations are very much part of the community culture in Monroe.
• Hobbies: $71 a month for all Monroe County, Mich., households; $47 a month for those in the $40,000 to $50,000 income bracket; $71 a month for those in the $50,000 to $75,000 income bracket. I expected the overall average to be a bit higher, given the fact that  many popular hobbies in southeast Michigan can be expensive (hunting, casino gambling and vintage cars, for example).

Continue reading Who’s spending money on what? Find out at Bundle …

From Monroe on a Budget.

Private high school tuition assistance

If you would like to send your student to a private high school, but are wondering how to afford it, keep in mind that financial assistance may be available.

Each high school or its financial aid committee sets its own policies as to what income brackets and family circumstances qualify for assistance. The details depend greatly on how much money has been made available by alumni, sponsors and fundraisers for the students on that campus.

Based on what I’m seeing in the southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio area, families who meet the need-based guidelines often can get part of their tuition covered, but the families will be expected to pay the remainder of the education cost.

There are three major differences between private K-12 school aid and college aid:

• There is no national application for K-12 aid like one sees at the college level, although schools sometimes contract with an outside service to handle applications.
• Most private school awards in southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio are need-based rather than academic-based.
• There is much less third-party funding from education foundations and civic clubs at the K-12 level such as that provided at the college level.

There usually is an application process to go through and deadlines may be as early as mid-February. That means if you would like to request assistance with the tuition bills for the 2010-11 school year, now is the time to contact the high school office and ask about financial aid procedures.

For specific details, here are links to the financial aid pages at some of the private schools in the southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio region:

• St. Mary Catholic Central High School in Monroe, Mich.
• Lutheran High School South in Newport, Mich.
• Notre Dame Academy in Toledo, Ohio.
• St. John Jesuit High School in Toledo, Ohio.
• Divine Child High School in Dearborn, Mich.
• Fr. Gabriel Richard High School in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Continue reading Private high school tuition assistance …

From Monroe on a Budget.