<p>What a bummer. There is really no way to predict how your earnings will impact things, I guess. </p>
<p>I know that in my case, I felt that it was worthwhile to return to work. For me, any income was better than none. We didn’t qualify for any need based federal aid other than loans, though. I was really glad I went back to work when I did, because our area got hit with the nation’s highest unemployment right after I got my job.</p>