The Joys of a Fixed Income
It is April 30th and I'm down to three chicken breasts, six corn dogs and some frozen dinner I got by mistake. It's sweet and sour chicken with peppers and onions in it, which I hate. My bank balance has been overdrawn for at least two weeks. My electric bill is now over $800. I need to get my car re-registered (it's due this month, so tomorrow it will be illegal). I do not get my next disability check until Friday. I've been living on chicken breasts and Ramen noodles for several days. I don't mind either one, but day after day, it gets to be too much.
If you're poor, they want to make you poorer. I had two 401k's from when I worked, but in order to get help, I can't have that much money, so I had to cash them both out and spend down until I had no more than $2000 in extra assets. Several hospital visits, one car repair and some dental work later, that's gone, so I'm living from check to check and there always seems to be some unexpected bill that does me in for the month. I can't remember the last month when I didn't have to worry about food at the end of the month or that I had a surplus of money in my account of more than $5.
I've been checking out the local food bank and I would go today if I had the gas. But I'm going to go to Wally World on Thursday afternoon and write a check to get some food that's not chicken or noodles. I'm also going to get some gas so I can get back home. I'm also going to go to the food bank sometime in during the month to get some food so I have something to fall back on if things get tight again in May.
This is just a rant/whine post. I needed to get it off my chest. Thanks for listening. :)
If you're poor, they want to make you poorer. I had two 401k's from when I worked, but in order to get help, I can't have that much money, so I had to cash them both out and spend down until I had no more than $2000 in extra assets. Several hospital visits, one car repair and some dental work later, that's gone, so I'm living from check to check and there always seems to be some unexpected bill that does me in for the month. I can't remember the last month when I didn't have to worry about food at the end of the month or that I had a surplus of money in my account of more than $5.
I've been checking out the local food bank and I would go today if I had the gas. But I'm going to go to Wally World on Thursday afternoon and write a check to get some food that's not chicken or noodles. I'm also going to get some gas so I can get back home. I'm also going to go to the food bank sometime in during the month to get some food so I have something to fall back on if things get tight again in May.
This is just a rant/whine post. I needed to get it off my chest. Thanks for listening. :)