For those that don't have a job....

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Nope, my rent comes out of the $1588 a month I get.

People who are on SSI, by and large, don't get their rent paid, either. They are eligible, though, for such things as "Section 8," where they might get most of their rent paid.

They are also eligible for SNAP, which used to be called "food stamps."

It sucks being on SSI, in general.

We don't really have anything like SNAP here, and as far as publicly subsidized housing, I'm not 100% sure how that works here, but I know it's a thing.

which one is means-tested- SSI or SSDI?

I live in Ontario and receive ODSP. I have my 5-year review coming up in October. Since I began receiving the pension I have worked at a few jobs but none of them worked out. One because I have worn out the disc in my hip/back junction, so I guess I can add another disability to the list for my review. I live in a room in a basement for $500, with 3 young males with shared bathroom and kitchen (and laundry, woohoo!) I am studying medical transcription editing and hope to start making money with that in the fall.

I used to be on a disability pension in Australia. At the time, this worked out to ~$1600 a month, including the extra rent assistance payment. Since I and my partner started living together, I haven't been eligible for the pension. Luckily, he has a very good job which can financially support us both.

it must be good to have an extra source of fundage.

It's a big relief. I was often worried, as a teenager, that I'd have a lot of trouble surviving with work and other "normal" things in adult life.

I wish I had Medicaid. Technically, I'm supposed to have it, but we're talking Pennsylvania, here. Ever since I became eligible for Medicare, PA Medicaid hasn't picked up on anything that Medicare doesn't pay.

As for housing, forget it! HUD section 8 housing list has been closed for years. Even then, the local housing authority has a 2 year waiting list

Long story short (See original thread here) I worked full time for a few years, and then had a severe burnout.

I've been unable to hold down a job since, and have been sitting at home unemployed for two years now. This is the main reason I've gotten diagnosed at the beginning of the year. There are many types of financial benefits available to me, I'm getting the lowest of the lowest financial net on the social security system. This is because I'm just too old for a disability one, and I got manipulated out of my job in a fashion that saved my old boss a lot of money, and meant I missed out on some significant benefits. I was too burnt out to do something about it, it's too late now.

I live alone and really like it that way. I cannot imagine having to share with a flatmate or something, it seems unbearable. I need my total independence and control.

Being unemployed is very low stress, and I have lots of time. However I don't have a lot of money. I try to make things last as long as I can, but I could really use some new shoes or a jacket. So far, stuff just looks worn out but isn't actually damaged or broken.

I did a bunch of math and I am currently living in the most expensive rental they'll let me have in combination with the financial benefits. My rent is almost right on the edge. Any more and I would've been forced to relocate to someplace cheap. Which means somewhere where I know no-one (consider also I cannot drive and do not own a car). And somewhere where there are no jobs in my field.

I will accept this temporary poverty if it means it'll be much more likely for me to get a job again. I can't keep this up forever, but if need be I will stay like this a year longer, I can handle that. By then, hopefully, I'll be through a waiting list for cheaper housing in the same area. This means that things will improve a little financially even if I don't get a job.

In an emergency, my parents will help me out as they've done before. Thankfully, they haven't needed to in over a year; my financial situation is stable and predictable for now.

I'm really good at keeping myself busy. After the financial situation, I think this is the most important. I have all these creative projects to work on and a huge backlog of books to read. I hunt for the week's best deals for my groceries, and walk all over town with a small bag. I buy as few groceries as I have to, at the last possible moment. On some weeks I have to go out to do groceries every other day. And I go for walks or bicycle trips. I don't particularly enjoy the activities but the exercise improves my mood afterwards.

I have some unemployed friends so we can easily make time to meet up and cook dinner at each other's house, play some games, watch a movie. My parents live very close by; I can give them a visit and maybe join them for dinner.

i am living in poor country. i am dependent financially on my hubby.

we are barely managing.

Worked off and on, mostly temping for many years. Other health problems finally made it too hard to work. Was living with relatives the whole time, until a little over 11 years ago. The relative I was living with had a girl friend who wanted me out of the picture, so she bad mouthed me to him when he would go to her house for dinner. He eventually threw me out, so I stayed at a Salvation Army shelter for a month, and then in a decrepit fixer upper for 3 months, that this relative had bought to fix up and sell, It should have been condemned, as it really wasn't in livable condition. After that some other relatives in a neighboring state bought an old run down trailer home for me to live in. After I moved there, I applied for benefits. They gave me temporary benefits, pending the medical findings, and I finally managed to get regular benefits, including money to pay rent to the relatives who own the trailer. The state I lived in before moving here isn't very good about giving benefits to people who need them, but this state is better that way. The other state did provide me with food stamps and Medicaid, but no cash assistance, which made no sense, as I was homeless at the time. If you are no longer able to work, how are you supposed to pay to live anywhere, and pay bills, and non food expenses without cash assistance? I am much better off living in the state I am in now, and live alone in the trailer, which I prefer. I get along better with people when I don't have to live with them.

Somehow I've managed to stay mostly employed until the past three years. I am now in a situation where I'm too depressed to get an interview, much less be chosen as the new hire. I keep looking at craigslist and seeing things like: dynamic, team player, multitasker, bubbly and these are for jobs like parking cars and packaging goods for online sellers. Really, I need to be bubbly to put your purchase in a box with a label and tape it up? It makes me so angry in part because I have a graduate degree in paralegal studies that I can't use because I had a panic attack and walked off my last job. I also cannot get disability because I abandoned my job. I live in the US where if I were to get disability I would get a measly $700 a month. That wouldn't cover my rent, so I guess I'm supposed to panhandle to get food? And I guess we disabled folks really shouldn't be allowed luxuries like heat, electricity and water. That just smacks of entitlement.
And that job that I abandoned, well let's just say it's amazing it didn't happen sooner. I don't know how to stand up for myself when I'm being treated poorly.

if it wasn't for savings and TOD from parents i'd be living under a bridge somewhere.

What's a TOD? Sounds like a trust fund or something.

Transfer On Death. bypassed inheritance and probate.