More Stimulus Payments On The Way For These States

Beyond the three federal stimulus checks given in response to COVID-19, some states are giving additional checks to some citizens. The funding for these checks comes from the American Rescue plan that was passed to give states money to use in response to pandemic needs. These funds must be allocated by the end of 2024 and spent by the end of 2026.

Thirteen states are using the funding to give checks to some of their residents:

• Arizona
• California
• Colorado
• Florida
• Georgia
• Maine
• Maryland
• Michigan
• Missouri
• New Mexico
• New York
• Tennessee
• Vermont

Since these fourth stimulus checks are administered by states, eligibility and benefits vary. Some benefits have already been paid. Others are coming.

Here’s the state-by-state breakdown:

Arizona

Arizonans who’ve been on unemployment and return to work can get $2,000. You must be employed for eight weeks before you’re eligible for the stimulus check.

California

Californians earning less than $75,000 have already benefited from the Golden State Stimulus I, which gave people $600 or $1,200. A Golden State Stimulus II is coming in amounts of $500 or $1,100.

If you have children age six or younger, you can also benefit from the Young Child Tax Credit.

Colorado

Coloradans who received an unemployment check between March 15, 2020 and October 24, 2020 are getting $375.

Florida

Focused on education, Florida is sending $1,000 to teachers. While this benefit is positive, details regarding eligibility are limited.

Georgia

Similar to Florida, Georgia is sending a $1,000 bonus to teachers and school administration and $500 to part-time teachers. Pre-kindergarten teachers also benefit from these bonuses.

Maine

The state government is making disaster relief payments. These $275 payments are going to the people who worked during the pandemic.

If you live in Maine, you may also benefit from an additional $850. Funded by budget surplus, these payments are a response to inflation.

Maryland

Maryland is sending checks of either $300 or $500 to people who filed for the Earned Income Tax Credit in 2019.

Michigan

Teachers and school support staff have already benefited from Michigan’s additional stimulus. $500 checks were sent to teachers. $250 checks were sent to school support staff.

Missouri

Taking a similar approach as Maine, Missouri gave money to people who worked in nursing homes, correctional centers, and mental health facilities during the pandemic. These workers received an extra $250 per paycheck for their work.

New Mexico

In New Mexico, people in low income groups who did not qualify for the federal stimulus checks will receive $750.

New York

New York is also keeping an eye out for people who didn’t benefit from other aid through its Excluded Workers Fund. Through this fund, you can get a single payment between $3,200 and $15,600 if you lost income or employment because of the pandemic and didn’t qualify for unemployment benefits or the federal stimulus checks.

Tennessee

Full-time teachers in Tennessee benefited from a $1,000 payment. Part-time teachers benefited from a $500 payment.

Vermont

Like Missouri, Vermont’s spending focuses on frontline workers. Through the Vermont Frontline Employees Hazard Pay Grant Program, frontline workers in grocery, retail, health care, and more received checks between $1,200 and $2,000.

What to do if you’re in need of extra income immediately

If the stimulus payments are falling short and you find yourself in urgent need of more money, we have a few suggestions for getting back on track!

Start a side hustle

Think Save Retire has a whole library of different tactics for side hustling that you can find here.

There are a lot more options for making extra cash than you might think. For instance, we have a definitive guide for getting paid to play video games, or how to turn your shopping obsession into a lucrative side business.

Whatever your skillset might be, it's likely that there's a side hustle that suits you.

Get free gift cards

The best kind of gift cards are free gift cards. If you need a few bucks to supplement your income, we can help with 17 ways to get free gift cards.

If you've got internet access, there are multiple websites that will reward you with gift cards for taking surveys, performing small tasks, scanning your grocery store receipts and more.

Get help to pay off your credit cards

Many Americans have unfortunately had to put necessary and incidental expenses on their credit card during the pandemic. Through the power of compound interest, it's disturbing how quickly debt can spiral out of control.

If you have less than $10,000 in debt you can use a personal loan from AmOne to pay off all your balances so you can consolidate your debt to one bill instead of multiple.

While it's generally inadvisable except in dire cases for borrowers with limited options due to bad credit, online payday loans are also an option in cases of absolute emergency.

Mortgage refinancing

If you are a home owner looking for a little relief, refinancing your mortgage could potentially lower your monthly payment considerably.

Use the mortgage refinance calculator at whatsmypayment.com to crunch your numbers and apply for pre-approval.