Thursday, January 26, 2012

How's Your Economy Working?

Even us uber frugal people reach our limit at times. Today was mine.
We needed propane. We had 200 gallons delivered at a cost of $608 including tax. A year ago when we filled the tank (450 gallons) it cost $1.69/gal. Today is was $2.849/gal.

Then we call in a refill for Sweetie's nebulizer med. His COPAY on one script was raised by $41.00!

Next, we get a notice on our car insurance. It's going up too so we dropped the truck insurance for the second time in six months.

His Social Security raise was $20.00.

Tell me please, what is wrong with this picture?

We seldom leave the house because we can't afford gas for the 1996 Ford Crown Vic with 130,000 miles on it. Gas receipts for December came to $63.45. That's for a month, not a week or a few days. This month we've spent $43.25 and have 1/4 tank left.

Summer property taxes are overdue. Get turned over to the county Feb. 28th I think. With interest it's only $198 and change but that's not the point. The winter tax bill will be due soon too.

We have concluded we'll have to keep selling stuff (as long as we can find buyers) just to pay taxes and hold a bit back. Last night I sorted garden seeds & cleaned pots. I'll plant inside April 1st. unless by some miracle we're gone by then.

I have absolutely no confidence in any fix for the financial mess in this country & little hope that we'll have golden years. I shake my head when I hear of shootings, robberies, rapes, drug & alcohol addiction, abuse and believe it will only get worse.

Today, two people stopped by for our indoor yard sale. I made $4.00. Woopie!

They told someone else & that guy pedaled a bike here. His truck motor had blown up so he looked at our truck. We've had three lookers & nine calls. Everyone wants to "work some kind of a deal" or have us cut the price in half.
Another sign of the times.

I don't listen to the presidential debates. It's a dog & pony show & no matter who the next president is it won't improve my life much. No wonder people are disillusioned.

We sit home grateful to have TV, internet & a pantry of food and we still get robbed a little more every month. For what?

5 comments:

Sixbears said...

The worse thing is do everything right and still keep slipping. The thing that always drives me nuts is when you do heroic things to save $20/month and then something like medical insurance goes up $250/month.

You guys are working on stepping outside of the mold, so it will happen. Major moves don't seem to scare you.

Good luck with your plans.

Anonymous said...

Did you look at the place I found on the internet?
Is that too pricey? 114,000 for direct water access? B.

treesong said...

Yes, we had already looked at that listing & discussed it with an agent. The water depth is too shallow & the width too narrow. WE have our eye on something else nearby & will just have to see what develops. Thanks for your help...we have connected with a good realtor who sends us updates of possible matches.

S-W said...

You mentioned nubulizer meds. Are you aware that some meds can be obtained for free?

I work as a patient advocate at our county clinic as the medication coordinator. My job is to get people who qualify, no or low cost meds directly from the Pharma companies.

Recall all the Pharma commercials on TeeWee that state, "If you can't afford your medications, Astra Zenica can help"? That is what this program does.

Financial qualifications are around 200-300% of the poverty level on most meds. Here in N Idaho, that is around $31K.

Anyway, call your county health clinic and see if they have some idea of where an agency like mine is in your area. You won't regret it.

Some of the programs allow the patient to apply directly to the manufacturer. Go to needymeds.com to get the info for your medication.

You might even do a blog post about it to tell others who are also unawares.

Good luck

treesong said...

I appreciate the info on medication help. However, the first qualification for Sweetie's albuteral sulfate is: Must have no prescription coverage. He has script coverage (with co-pay) through his Medicare. He just requalified for Medicaid but it will only pay any medical expense beyond $782 EACH month (such as if he was hospitalized) and it will pay his monthly Medicare premium. It seems he is stopped at every turn and it's discouraging.