ORDER

KIMBERLY J. MUELLER, District Judge.

Plaintiff Paul Cromer filed this action under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 29 U.S.C. § 1001, et seq., on July 7, 2014. (ECF No. 1.) Plaintiff requests permission to proceed in forma pauperis (IFP). (ECF No. 2.) As explained below, the court GRANTS plaintiff's request.

I. DISCUSSION

A party instituting a civil action in a United States district court, except for an application for a writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of $400.00. 28 U.S.C. § 1914. If a party, however, is granted leave to proceed in forma pauperis, an action may proceed without prepaying the entire fee. See Rodriguez v. Cook, 169 F.3d 1176, 1177 (9th Cir. 1999). To qualify for IFP status, a party need not show that he or she is entirely destitute. Adkins v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 335 U.S. 331, 339-40 (1948). Yet, "the same even-handed care must be employed to assure that federal funds are not squandered to underwrite, at public expense, either frivolous claims or the remonstrances of a suitor who is financially able, in whole or in material part, to pull his own oar." Temple v. Ellerthorpe, 586 F.Supp. 848, 850 (D.R.I. 1984).

Here, plaintiff is entitled to IFP status. In the application to proceed without prepayment of fees and affidavit, form number AO 240, plaintiff, under penalty of perjury, states he has been unemployed since January 15, 2013; has no assets in value; has no income; and has a bank account with a $300.00 balance. (ECF No. 2.) Accordingly, based on these circumstances, the court grants plaintiff's request.

II. CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, plaintiff's motion to proceed in forma pauperis is GRANTED.

IT IS SO ORDERED.