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Readjust the wardrobe: If your employer is going more causal or you are working more at home, consider selling the extras unless you do a lot of networking events. Wear workout clothing working at home, sitting around or working around house/cooking. Drip drying clothing and wash in cold keeps stuff looking good longer. Fussy makeup, purse/shoes cheer purchases and accessories just eat up your money...
Do your own yard/cleaning/basic car.
Coping by spending, eating, drinking, partying, shopping, gambling, smoking all eats the money faster. Try to exercise regularly and see if you feel okay enough without the expensive crutches, saves on meds and foods too.
Reconsider the belongings. If you rarely use it, no need to buy it. Don't have time for a hobby, sell it all. Want to try a hobby, get stuff off Ebay for 10-20% of retail or buy used from thrift.
Big city craigslist has tons of odd jobs under gigs plus focus groups (where you give your opinion on new products or advertising campaigns so the parent company can get bank financing for new products/business). Get paid on the spot for focus groups. Want to be called back for focus groups, really get involved in the conversation.
Can do surveys on pinecone research, opinion outpost... and get credit for amazon and other online retailers. Is nice way to buy music and ebooks off amazon or itunes.
Try ethnic good using entertainment book and coupons. Will get you started eating healthier and cheaper food. Look up tutorials on how to cook ethnic foods you enjoy, youtube has lots. Can get paid to video tape what you cook if you have video camera, mountable and use free video editing software or buy a cheap copy of Adobe Premiere elements.
Can search craigslist jobs for nation using Google advanced search on lower right of website. Fill in search terms, limit the timeframe you search and list cite: craigslist.org ... Is amazing amount of professional and intern work available for US....Can start a side gig, study something you would like to learn using Lynda.com and even start your own business from it later...
Depends, do you live in the midwest where homes are 10 dollars?
No, but I was looking at real estate in Detroit that's pretty cheap. Of course, that's probably offset by the need to put a 15 ft fence and a couple electric wires around your property.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elnina
After working for 35 years you have no savings? 401K? Pension plan? Just food stamps, welfare, and a car from your mom?
Sure, blame others for bad money management!
If you didn't manage to get rich then, you surely won't get rich on government handouts. Try to find a part time job, teach private lessons, learn to use computer to make money (perhaps write blogs? share your wisdom with others?), walk dogs, watch kids, google, google, google...
One of my friends was a house sitter for three years while the owners worked overseas - she had free housing and got paid too. Found that on google...
What part of disabled don't you understand? You find me the employer who will allow me to lay down for ten minutes at least once an hour to relieve the pain in my back and you'll find me working. Meantime, any employer who wants me to sit, stand, or walk for more than 10 minutes is going to be disappointed.
I certainly did have savings. You know how those snooty people always tell you to move to where the jobs are or move to find a cheaper place to rent? I did that at least 3 times in my life, using up all my savings and starting completely over each time. This isn't the perfect world you'd like it to be. Sometimes things don't pan out the way we all want them to.
Hmmm....maybe I could write blogs....do you mind me using any of your posts as examples of unrealistic expectations of disabled people?
Quote:
Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke
Let me see if I am getting this straight: the government pays for your food, your lodging, all of your medical, and you have a free Obama phone. You have enough money to maintain an older car and a computer that is hooked to the internet.
So your complaint is that the government does not give you enough money so you can also have a nice large savings account?
No, the government isn't paying for anything. Your tax dollars are, though. As my tax dollars supported people who needed the help when I was working. Don't be so hostile to a helping hand. You don't know when you might need it one day.
Rent: I still pay rent. I pay 30% of my income.
Medical: My mother will probably leave me money when she dies. Medicaid will take it all. Happy now?
Car: I pay $25/month for car insurance and one tank of gas a month. Let's see you do that. If my car breaks down, I don't know what I'm going to do. Do I look like a clairvoyant to you?
Computer: A computer connection is my biggest expense. And I keep it because I am sometimes in my room (that's the room I am renting) for 5 or more days at a time, without leaving. Why don't you sit in a room without TV, radio, or a computer for 5 days straight and we'll see how batty you end up. And every year my computer connection goes up and every year I fight with Comcast to keep the service from going higher. Fighting with Comcast gives me a lot of practice for dealing with the BS here.
Phone: Sorry, dear, try again. My phone is a Tracfone. It was a special on their web site - free phone. All I paid for was the shipping. I also pay for my own minutes. And you really need to educate yourself on those phones.
"Assuming one believes in the Lifeline program in the first place, and remembering that the FCC has mandated the program, it only makes sense to expand the phone assistance program to include cell phones. So, in 2008 the first application of this program for mobile phones began when a company called Tracfone started their Safelink Wireless service in Tennessee.
Aha, some say, that’s the same year Obama was elected! Well, that’s true. But the service in Tennessee was launched three months prior to Obama being elected. And that means the discussion and approval of the extension of the program occurred under President Bush’s watch.
The Bush Phone, anyone?"
Just do a Google search.
If you want any more info on me, you'll have to pay the $5 and send me an SASE. Or wait for the movie.
As for my complaint....where on earth are you getting that from? I actually don't have any complaint at all. This thread was supposed to be fun for everyone. It's certainly not my fault if you all take things way too seriously. I'd say a lot of people here have a serious reading comprehension problem. Remedial English classes - they're your friend.
Now go away before I put a spell on you again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lacerta
See, now I have less sympathy. Degenerating disks happen with age. Happens to most people as they get older. WebMD says "Degenerative disc disease is not really a disease but a term used to describe the normal changes in your spinal discs as you age."
And you studied at what medical facility again? Have you seen my X-rays? My MRI? Yeah, I didn't think so. Headaches aren't a disease either, but you'd be an idiot to think they're not debilitating for many people. But call me when you have your medical degree - we can get together and swap stories.
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This thread is really off topic - not that I care. But I am concerned that no one is having any fun. So let's do this - we'll start over. Obviously, if you have more money than you need, you aren't able to see the humor in not having any. So all those making more than $25,000 a year, you people are readers only. Anyone making $25,000 a year or under, go ahead - post here and give me your HUMOROUS methods of how we can save money.
Do you pick up stray pennies for a year and then use them as a down payment for a bike? Hit the landlord over the head and bury him in the backyard to use as fertilizer for the vegetables? Throw chlorine in the bathtub and pretend it's a pool?
Am I the only one with a sense of humor here? Well, except for City-living.
I don't like to judge people's situations from a few statements online or from 2nd or 3rd-hand stories. We don't know the full nature of their situation.
My dad was one of the hardest working people I've even known. He was in agriculture, so he worked from 7 in the morning to 7 at night, doing a combination of hard physical work & also complex management tasks. He was a big, strong working man, I mean a hulk of a man, 6'6" and huge. He was also highly educated... went to a good college and had a master's degree. He came down with a number of health issues, most notably lymphoma, and within a relatively short time became a frail shadow of his former self, both physically & mentally. He became eligible for a number of government benefits in the process & aftermath of losing everything, & died with very little. It was tragic to watch.
What I learned from watching it is that being sick and/or disabled not only affects you physically. It messes with you emotionally & mentally. All the logic & well-reasoned plans of action we propose on here don't always impact a sick person. They're not always thinking straight like a healthy person.
None of you walked in his shoes. Even I didn't know the full extent of what he went through. No one did. I stopped judging people after that experience. When I was younger I used to second-guess & criticize his decisions because I thought I knew it all, like many of you here are doing to the OP. We don't know the full story and it's hard to say if any of you or I would make better decisions given others' circumstances.
I also stopped complaining about various government benefits. Obviously like everyone I don't support fraud or cheating. But a lot of people actually do need that stuff, and it's not like they
live like kings on it.
Excellent post and a good reminder to us all not to get too judgey on other peoples issues. But for the grace of G*d, go I.
I Agree. I was browsing GW and looked at ladies blouses and they were all priced $4.29. I can get
a brand new blouse for $4.99 to 5.99 elsewhere. GW used to have good prices but not anymore.
In my area, we have a surfeit of thrift stores and they are all overpriced. The Salvation Army has always been the best bet and I purchase all my clothes there.
Here is the best thing I ever did to cut costs at a period in my life where money was so tight that I went a few days each month doing something I used to call "involuntary fasting": Got rid of my car and bought a monthly bus pass.
That was several years ago and now that I find myself back in a position to afford a car, I chose not to incur the expense. I like the money I save each month more than I like the convenience of autonomous transportation.
Granted, this will only work if you live in an area with decent public transportation.
My mom washes those plastic sandwich or freezer baggies out until they decompose. I never thought it saved much money... I mean those are 100 for 5 bucks or something... but she swears by it.
I knew someone who washed out and reused plastic drinking straws - that they got at McDonald's! She always asked for an extra straw when they got a drink.
For what it's worth, I'm putting tiles and stone on a dollhouse. The stone I'm making from cardboard egg cartons. The tiles (those ones you see on adobe houses) I'm making from cutting a straw in half, and then cutting the halves into inch long sections for tiles. Then I'll dunk them in red paint or something.
Are you in a state where you return other people's plastic bottles for money? Not a fast way to make extra money, but if $4 matters, it's something.
Are your doll houses something other people would buy? Make some up before the holidays and sell them. If you've got a creative skill, use it. Recycle some other people's junk and sell it. If you've got good people skills, it'll help.
Barter with people for what you want. You've heard of starting with a paper clip and trading up to a car. Start with something small and see what you can get.
Can you draw? Get some white paper and a pencil. See if you can draw those quick, funny cartoon faces of people and sell them for a $1 or $5 at a local park or event.
200 a month is pretty good for passive income. Not having to work anymore = retirement. You're basically living a comfortable, stress free life even if you don't drive a cadillac and drink a 100 dollar bottle of rum on the beach.
No, it's not good unless you're sitting on a pile of cash and investments.
We are all living the results of all the choices we have made, short of having some terrible physical calamity leaving us unable to care for ourselves.
No. Sometimes we are living with what others have left us. I didn't choose that. It was dumped on me. I didn't cause it, do it, and now it is mine.
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