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For the working poor, things many people take for granted can be serious budget-busting expenditures.

For Renee, 43, who asked that her real name not be used for this story, it was the two tanks of gas it took to bring her teenage daughter home from a neighboring state.

Like many 18-year-olds, Renee's daughter figured she was ready to take care of herself after graduating from high school, and she wanted to live somewhere other than Roanoke.

"Teenagers think they can make it on their own," Renee said.

She was reluctant to let her youngest child go but figured she couldn't hold her back. So she drove her to North Carolina, where the daughter had visited relatives off and on for most of her life.

But the experiment didn't last long. Within a month, the girl was begging to come home. She had gotten in with the wrong crowd and was scared.

"She found out pretty quick that this was the real world," Renee said.

At first Renee refused to come, knowing she didn't have the $60 for gas money for the trip. But she finally gave in. The drive down was uneventful, but on the way back, the car started using more fuel than usual. When they reached the state line, the tank was nearly dry.

"It just sucked up the gas," she said.

Out of cash, Renee begged a few dollars from a stranger and did it again when they got to Rocky Mount. From there, they limped home.

"I felt bad having to ask people," she said. "But I didn't want to be stranded. It was by the grace of God that we made it home. It was a bad, bad situation."

OUT OF MONEY: Because of the unexpected expense of the trip, Renee found herself unable to pay her water bill. In July, she was faced with a disconnect notice. She went to Roanoke Area Ministries, where she was given a grant toward the bill from the Emergency Financial Assistance Program, which is supported by The Roanoke Times' Good Neighbors Fund.

COMING TO RAM: Renee first applied for assistance with an electric bill in 1992. She had heard of the agency by word of mouth, she said. She wasn't sure if she could get help, but "my Mama always said if you don't ask, you never know," she said. "I tell everyone about this place. There's no need for you to be hungry or your baby to be without milk."

WORK: Renee has held down a job all of her adult life.

Usually, she said, she works for temporary agencies and can get by on the jobs she finds through them.

"But there's no guarantee you go to work every day," she said

And lately -- partly because of economic conditions -- things have been tougher than usual.

"Money has been crazy," she said. "You can't find a really good job."

MARRIAGE: Renee has been married for 16 years to her daughter's father. They met 21 years ago, when her son was 2, and she was charmed by the way her little boy took to him. Since then, her husband has always treated her son as his own, she said.

He has a full-time job as a custodian. The position comes with full benefits, she said, but the pay is so low that he was unable to pay his portion of his medical bills after a hospitalization several years ago.

His paycheck is still being garnished, leaving little to take home. Food stamp allotments and other public assistance programs are calculated on the amount the family makes before the garnishments are deducted, she said. Based on that formula, "we make too much" to get any help.

THE FUTURE: Renee would like to find full-time work and said she fills out several job applications every month.

She would like to work as a corrections officer, but really, she said, "I don't care what I do."

All she knows for sure, she said, is that she is tired of being poor.