Financial Difficulties

[DaWnMaRiE]

Assalamu alaikum everyone! I REALLY need some help and advice right now. I am having severe financial difficulties and I just feel at a loss. I just moved to this city a few months ago. There is a larger Muslim community here than in my old town, an Islamic school, several masjids that are always open (unlike my old town where the masjid was locked 98% of the time), and the community here is pretty active. I liked it so I found a job up here and moved myself and my two kids up here. I was supposed to start my job in August but they had to do criminal background checks and all that and it took a month. I didn't start until September. I work with the school district. How they pay my position is they take the amount of days we work per year and divide that by our yearly pay and then that's how much we get per month. (I think that's how they do it, I'm horrible at math). Since I didn't start until September, I'm basically not getting the pay that I they told me I would get. I'm actually getting a LOT LESS which means my "affordable" apartment now isn't so affordable and even my small bills are piling up because I can't catch up on them. I fear losing my apartment and not having anywhere to go. I fear coming home to no electricity or no heat and having no money to get it turned back on. I can't stop thinking about it. I feel helpless. I keep trying to remind myself that Allah does not give us more than we can handle and that this is trial is teaching me something.

I've thought about a second job but I can't do that unless it allows me to work from home. I'm single and I have two children. They are my priority and I don't want to leave them all day and all night as well. Besides that, I can't pay for night daycare. I couldn't handle being away from my babies all the time. And that's just not fair to them. I am their mother and they deserve to have ME raise them, not someone else.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Does anyone know of any at-home jobs or online jobs that pay well? I always see those "work from home" ads but fear they are a scam. Does anyone know any legitimate ones? The stress is really taking me down physically, mentally, and emotionally. I know that there are others worse off than me and I just wonder how they handle it. Alhamdulillah I have what I have.

 

[IslamIsLight]

salam aleikum sister
Its very hard situation you are in right now .I can understand you very well ,been there myslef ,and not once,but alhamdulillah ...
InshaAllah Allah will make it easy for you ...
You can ask for assistance in the Masjid ,inshaAllah they may do foundrasing for you ,may be you can talk to the Imam? and explain your situation ...I think thats the only thing I can suggest..Not sure about online jobs ,never tried one...You can also sell staff on ebay ,smth like abayas and etc..It works ..

waaleikum salam

 

[Rashadi]

Assalamu alaikum everyone! I REALLY need some help and advice right now. I am having severe financial difficulties and I just feel at a loss. I just moved to this city a few months ago. There is a larger Muslim community here than in my old town, an Islamic school, several masjids that are always open (unlike my old town where the masjid was locked 98% of the time), and the community here is pretty active. I liked it so I found a job up here and moved myself and my two kids up here. I was supposed to start my job in August but they had to do criminal background checks and all that and it took a month. I didn't start until September. I work with the school district. How they pay my position is they take the amount of days we work per year and divide that by our yearly pay and then that's how much we get per month. (I think that's how they do it, I'm horrible at math). Since I didn't start until September, I'm basically not getting the pay that I they told me I would get. I'm actually getting a LOT LESS which means my "affordable" apartment now isn't so affordable and even my small bills are piling up because I can't catch up on them. I fear losing my apartment and not having anywhere to go. I fear coming home to no electricity or no heat and having no money to get it turned back on. I can't stop thinking about it. I feel helpless. I keep trying to remind myself that Allah does not give us more than we can handle and that this is trial is teaching me something.

I've thought about a second job but I can't do that unless it allows me to work from home. I'm single and I have two children. They are my priority and I don't want to leave them all day and all night as well. Besides that, I can't pay for night daycare. I couldn't handle being away from my babies all the time. And that's just not fair to them. I am their mother and they deserve to have ME raise them, not someone else.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Does anyone know of any at-home jobs or online jobs that pay well? I always see those "work from home" ads but fear they are a scam. Does anyone know any legitimate ones? The stress is really taking me down physically, mentally, and emotionally. I know that there are others worse off than me and I just wonder how they handle it. Alhamdulillah I have what I have.

Your story really touched me and I know where you coming from and what you go through. I know is even more difficult for you since you have children. I don't know of any ligit online jobs but I would advise you to check with the masjid and talk to the imam. They can tell you what to do inshaAllah. You may want to try www.islamicfinder.com It is a very helpful site and it should be useful InshaAllah. My brother tried the work from home thing and he said it was bogus but I can't speak for all. I will keep you in my duas and InshAllah everything will work out for you. What part of Missouri are you in currently? I use to stay near KC but on the Ks side.

 

[wantobeMumin]

:salam2: one of the fundamental values of islam is giving charity to the needy. I believe u r in need and we need to help u. plz dont take me wrong. i wud like to fullfil my duty and like to help u financially. i had money saved up to buy Iphone but its not important to me any more. plz let me know if i can help u. plz dont hesitate we r muslims and charity is as much important as salat or fasting.
plz correct me if i am wrong.

 

[slaveofAllah88]

:salam2: one of the fundamental values of islam is giving charity to the needy. I believe u r in need and we need to help u. plz dont take me wrong. i wud like to fullfil my duty and like to help u financially. i had money saved up to buy Iphone but its not important to me any more. plz let me know if i can help u. plz dont hesitate we r muslims and charity is as much important as salat or fasting.
plz correct me if i am wrong.

:salam2:
i agree with the bro/sis I got some money too if let me know dont hesitate and i will try to help you to the best of my abilities
pm me and it will be secret and just between us and i dont hesitate we r here to help you sis im ur muslim brother

 

[Hard Rock Moslem]

Sister, I do not know how zakat money are being collected and distributed at your place. Not sure whether this is being done or not in the first place. If there is such thing, you are entitle to receive zakat. If you are in my country I can help you but in US I really do not have any idea at all. InshAllah will dua for you so Allah make it easy for you.

 

[Aapa]

Salaam,

Sweet sister you made the big move. You are doing a great job. You are working and you are striving.
Sister I pray you find comfort in my story: 18 months ago my husband left me with two boys. Allah subhana talla blessed me with two humble sons. We were broke for two months. I was between jobs. We ate a lot of rice and soy sauce. I sprained my ankle and the list goes on and on and on..
but, somehow we survived. And you know when it rains it pours..it got to the point that I had to start laughing. but somehow we began to experience joy...we worked harder to accomplish things..we painted, we learned how to fix plumbing..we improved our lot and somehow had a furnace put in.and no matter what we were doing we went to the masjid. Today, we count our blessings. Allah has given me so much..I am financially independent. I can, Alhumdulila, afford to start giving back.

So you go to the department of social services and you apply for temporary help. You apply for food stamps, you fill out a financial form so you children can eat a reduced or free lunch, your children will have insurance..it is free;
you apply for help with the LEAP program. You ask for temporary rent assistance. You are simply asking for a hand up and not hand out.
Step two is to speak to the imam of your closest masjid. And just tell the simple truth.
Should you need help..feel free to PM those of us who are in a position to share our blessings with you.
Sister..please PM me. Insha'Allah our dua is with you. Stay strong sister..you are not alone.

 

[PARVEZ SHAHIDI]

:salam2: SISTER

SEEK HELP OF ALLAH(SWT) THROUGH SALAH AND PATIENCE . INSHA-ALLAH EVERY THING WILL BE OK.

PLEASE "PM" ME, AND INSHA-ALLAH I SHALL TRY TO HELP YOU. THAT I MUST DO AS YOUR MUSLIM BROTHER.

SISTER THERE IS A BEAUTIFUL DUA, "حسبنا الله و نعم الوكيل, HASBUNA ALLAH WA NEMA ALWAKIL" MEANING "ALLAH IS SUFFICIENT FOR US, HE IS THE BEST HELPER". RECITE THIS SISTER AS MANY TIMES AS YOU CAN. BELIEVE ME SISTER ALLAH'S HELP COMES VERY VERY QUICKLY.

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I HAVE WRITTEN SOME THING WRONG. INSHA-ALLAH YOU WILL BE REWARDED BY ALLAH(SWT).

SISTER I WROTE THE FOLLOWING BEFORE


Brothes and sisters, before I start prayer, I pick up one problem which I am facing, naturally I pickup most pressing problem I am facing at that time, be it exam, money or any other problem and decide to seek help from Allah SWT after prayer, then I start my pray and try to be as humble as possible, and concentrate in my prayer as much as possible, because I know that I am going to ask for help from The All Powerful to solve my problem after the prayer. And I get results very quickly.

At one point I realized that I do not have any pressing problem. The day I realized that, I was very thankful to The Almighty, Alhamdulliah.

Once a brother told me that during prayer his mind is so distracted with problems that sometimes he cannot remember how many RAKA he prayed. I told him the way I pray. Now that brother advices other brothers to do that. So I assume that he got results. It is amazing how quickly Allah SWT solves our problems. Try it brothers and sisters and you will get result, INSHA-ALLAH.

 

[Faxima08]

salamu aleykum sister
I will make du'a for you inshallah.

 

[Hard Rock Moslem]

Salaam,

Sweet sister you made the big move. You are doing a great job. You are working and you are striving.
Sister I pray you find comfort in my story: 18 months ago my husband left me with two boys. Allah subhana talla blessed me with two humble sons. We were broke for two months. I was between jobs. We ate a lot of rice and soy sauce. I sprained my ankle and the list goes on and on and on..
but, somehow we survived. And you know when it rains it pours..it got to the point that I had to start laughing. but somehow we began to experience joy...we worked harder to accomplish things..we painted, we learned how to fix plumbing..we improved our lot and somehow had a furnace put in.and no matter what we were doing we went to the masjid. Today, we count our blessings. Allah has given me so much..I am financially independent. I can, Alhumdulila, afford to start giving back.

So you go to the department of social services and you apply for temporary help. You apply for food stamps, you fill out a financial form so you children can eat a reduced or free lunch, your children will have insurance..it is free;
you apply for help with the LEAP program. You ask for temporary rent assistance. You are simply asking for a hand up and not hand out.
Step two is to speak to the imam of your closest masjid. And just tell the simple truth.
Should you need help..feel free to PM those of us who are in a position to share our blessings with you.
Sister..please PM me. Insha'Allah our dua is with you. Stay strong sister..you are not alone.

Being a man, I feel ashamed. But reading your story my eyes soak with tears sister, honestly. I'm very sorry to hear that and I pray to Allah for you and your children better future moving fwd.

 

[Aapa]

Salaam,


Alhumdulila, I am fine. What does not kill you makes you stronger. I am happy now. And I am waiting for the moment that I will marry a pious Muslim man, Insha'Allah.

 

[shaheeda35]

:salam2:
So sorry for you situation dear sister, I have been there, mashallah. I have been homeless twice. Once with my oldest was a baby, and another time when my now ex-husband put my now three children(one being his son) out in the street. I was in a shelter, no food, and struggling, but Alhamdullilah I made it out of my situation with a lot of duaa and patience.

Sister MirajMom has the right idea. Apply for services, you have to feed your family. You can get emergency food stamps, and money until you get on your feet. We have to do what we can as mothers to take care of our children. Dont worry dear sister, everything will be fine and Allah will help you.

Check out this site www.sista2sista.org

They might be able to help you inshallah. I will keep you in my duaas.

 

[Khalil2u]

ASALAAMU ALAIKUM,
HELLO SISTER I AM IN THE SAME BOAT AS U. I JUST TRUST IN ALLAH SWT. HE HAS NEVER FAILED ME I JUST HAVE THE TRUST IN MY HEART THAT HE WILL HAVE MERCY. I TRUST THAT HE WILL MAKE SURE THAT MY KIDS GO HUNGRY AND THEY NEVER HAVE ALLAH IS WHO U NEED MOST AND WILL HELP U BETTER THAN ANYONE AND I BELIEVE THAT BECAUSE I HAVE HAD NOTHING AND THE NEXT 5MINUTES HAVE SOMETHING. SO SISTER TRUST IN HIM THAT U WILL MAKE IT. YOU HAVE UPROOTED YOURSELF TO B CLOSER TO THE UMMAH U WILL B REWARDED I LOVE U MY SISTER
KHALIL2U4EVER

 

[yameenahmed]

keep faith in allah insahallah allah will help u ................ ameen
with every difficulty there is relief

 

[yameenahmed]

Salaam,

Sweet sister you made the big move. You are doing a great job. You are working and you are striving.
Sister I pray you find comfort in my story: 18 months ago my husband left me with two boys. Allah subhana talla blessed me with two humble sons. We were broke for two months. I was between jobs. We ate a lot of rice and soy sauce. I sprained my ankle and the list goes on and on and on..
but, somehow we survived. And you know when it rains it pours..it got to the point that I had to start laughing. but somehow we began to experience joy...we worked harder to accomplish things..we painted, we learned how to fix plumbing..we improved our lot and somehow had a furnace put in.and no matter what we were doing we went to the masjid. Today, we count our blessings. Allah has given me so much..I am financially independent. I can, Alhumdulila, afford to start giving back.

So you go to the department of social services and you apply for temporary help. You apply for food stamps, you fill out a financial form so you children can eat a reduced or free lunch, your children will have insurance..it is free;
you apply for help with the LEAP program. You ask for temporary rent assistance. You are simply asking for a hand up and not hand out.
Step two is to speak to the imam of your closest masjid. And just tell the simple truth.
Should you need help..feel free to PM those of us who are in a position to share our blessings with you.
Sister..please PM me. Insha'Allah our dua is with you. Stay strong sister..you are not alone.

marvellous sister may allah bless you really it was a heart breaking story may allah bless all of us

 

[TheHumbleWun]

Assalamu alaikum everyone! I REALLY need some help and advice right now. I am having severe financial difficulties and I just feel at a loss. I just moved to this city a few months ago. There is a larger Muslim community here than in my old town, an Islamic school, several masjids that are always open (unlike my old town where the masjid was locked 98% of the time), and the community here is pretty active. I liked it so I found a job up here and moved myself and my two kids up here. I was supposed to start my job in August but they had to do criminal background checks and all that and it took a month. I didn't start until September. I work with the school district. How they pay my position is they take the amount of days we work per year and divide that by our yearly pay and then that's how much we get per month. (I think that's how they do it, I'm horrible at math). Since I didn't start until September, I'm basically not getting the pay that I they told me I would get. I'm actually getting a LOT LESS which means my "affordable" apartment now isn't so affordable and even my small bills are piling up because I can't catch up on them. I fear losing my apartment and not having anywhere to go. I fear coming home to no electricity or no heat and having no money to get it turned back on. I can't stop thinking about it. I feel helpless. I keep trying to remind myself that Allah does not give us more than we can handle and that this is trial is teaching me something.

I've thought about a second job but I can't do that unless it allows me to work from home. I'm single and I have two children. They are my priority and I don't want to leave them all day and all night as well. Besides that, I can't pay for night daycare. I couldn't handle being away from my babies all the time. And that's just not fair to them. I am their mother and they deserve to have ME raise them, not someone else.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Does anyone know of any at-home jobs or online jobs that pay well? I always see those "work from home" ads but fear they are a scam. Does anyone know any legitimate ones? The stress is really taking me down physically, mentally, and emotionally. I know that there are others worse off than me and I just wonder how they handle it. Alhamdulillah I have what I have.

Asalaam'alikum sister DawnMarie,

What are possible reasons you might be getting paid less than you were expected? Paychecks deduct federal & state taxes, social security, insurance (medical, vision), retirement (401K), etc. This brings your high gross income to a relatively low net amount. Read your bi-weekly or monthly pay statement to make sure everything is adding up correctly too.

Being a single parent, you'll get most of your tax dollars this April when you file your tax return. That should give you some leverage.

There are many online, weekend & telecommuting jobs. Here is an article I had saved:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/12/01/cb.home.based.workers/index.html

You should also check out www.craigslist.com & look for jobs there. You'll find all kinds of part-time/telecommute jobs.

Sometimes you can also cut back on your spendings - if possible take lunch to work, don't drive to work use the bus/train or catch a ride with co-worker who lives nearby, ask to see if you can sometimes telecommute and do the work from home. This saves time & gas.

When compared to men, statistics show woman do not negotiate when they are given a job offer. Always ask if there is any room for negotiation. Never settle for less. Build your skills. Have high expectations and be confident.

If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to ask me. I pray that Allah swt makes us all sucessful in this life & in the hereafter. Ameen.

You brother in Islam,

TheHumbleWun