Fixed Income living this winter, could be big problems

Yes things are going to be tough for some people. I am getting a load of propane next week and am scared at the final cost. This winter I will be sealing off rooms not in use and buying slippers to keep my feet warm. Lucily I have my own wood that I can cut. Chris

My DH is disabled, so am I. You cannot see it all. We both have arthritis, we've both had back surgery. My disability is from my back and arthritis. I have degenerative disk in my back. Hubby has had 5 of his vertibra fused together. But his disibality is from his heart. Just to look at him you wouldn't think he was disabled. He does limp, and so do I sometime when we get out of the pickup. After we get into the store, we get a cart, lean on the cart and no longer have to limp.

As far as DH, he can't walk far if he does he get's where he can hardly breath. He also has beginning of emphizemia. He quit smoking back in 1985, Dr. said if he hadn't quit then he would either be dead now or on oxygen. So you CANNOT tell what a person's disability is just by watching them.

"JUDGE NOT, LEST YE BE JUDGED"

40 years ago, I bought candy bars in the gas station for a nickle.

They are 75 cents, now.

That means if a senior had planned on $100,000 in savings to help with his retirement, his savings are now worth what, $7,000? (Mental math is not my strong point).

THAT is why we now have SS. Because of inflation. Every year the feds print more money than they should!

People also need to take into account that some things just HAVE to be done. Take lifting that bag of feed. Who is going to come to your place and UNLOAD it for you? You HAVE to carry it - disabled or not. Just because you see me, or anyone, on disability carrying a bag of feed - again - means NOTHING. I am on a 20# lifting resrtiction. It is hard to get ANYTHING done around here and stay under the limit. Things NEED to be done, and aren't going to get done by themselves - and nobody else is gonna do them. I pay for it, and it will come back to haunt me later, but what needs to be done, needs to be done. I'm also diabetic. You might see me down town eating a doughnut. Does it mean I'm fakeing being diabetic?

I am too disabled, but to look at me you wouldnt know it. Im a stay at home dad, does taking care of my kids make me any less disabled? Yea bout the taxes too, i worked for 15 years before i became disabled, aren't I entitled to the money i put in, or is it just your money im spending???? Or what about the taxes my wife pays at her job?, those dont count either. Everyone has got a tough row to hoe in one way or another. I didnt ask for these problems, but i have them and they are gentetic so little i can do about it. You ought to be more thankful that you are abled bodied and can do things for yourself. I mean i can do alot for myself in and around the house, but i cant work at break-neck speed. Bailing hay all day or mucking out stalls for most of the morning is out of the question for me. But i can still do some work, i just have to work at my own pace, and take lots of breathers, which is okay by me. No one would ever pay me a real wage for this kind of work. So what am i suppose to do, just sit in a chair 24/7 waiting to die?? Dont i deserve some sort of life? respect? Not just I but all people that are disabled. Am i just supposed to sit and stare at the television why everyone else has a life? What about my kids, if i get down on the floor and play GI JOE with them does that me less diabled, does that make me a liar, as well as a thief for taking "YOUR" money????? I think not. What about changing my babies diapers? is that too much like work or making a bottle?? I dont understand why you or anyone else has the right to be the judge,jury, and exicutioner.

I will just end by saying this, and it holds true no matter what your beleifs. KARMA is a bitch.

As we get older almost all of us have some sort of disability. I don't think that should even be a point on this thread. The real point needs to be........HOW ARE WE GOING TO MAKE IT??? I for one have no intentions of sitting around waiting for the government to fix this problem because imho opinion they are the ones who caused it.

There are a lot of days when just getting out of bed is a torture for me but I know that once I move about for a while it gets better. I NEVER lift those 50# feed sacks. I don't shop where there is not someone to help me load. When I get home I slide them to the end of the tailgate, cut them open and bucket it a small bucket at a time to the storage barrels. I bring my own firewood in......somedays just a piece or two at a time and it takes me most of the morning to get a couple day's wood in. I have a rather large garden and orchard. Slowly and steadily, pacing myself I can live a fairly good, self sufficient life here on my homestead.

If I get to the point that I can not do what I am doing I know I will have to live with family or have family live with me or find a young person who wants to homestead. Right now I think that even being here alone I can generate enough income off this place to pay my taxes and get by even if SS were to disappear.

From a person who CANNOT, to those who SHOULD NOT!

Open the feed sacks and take some in by the bucketfull: use a dolly for the buckets if you should. Pellets instead of crumbles are less likely to make a mess.

Ask the staff to load it for you. They will.

Use bigger tools for more "OOPH", and get lighter tools so that you can carry them around. Extra tools are cheaper than a new back/wrist/or whatever! I have a tack hammer AND a regular hammer!

Get a wagon that can be pulled by a riding mower. Get a riding mower, too, if the alternative is carrying. Small baskets of veggies can be set next to the garden, pick as many as you care too, and you can swing by with the mower and cart when you are done and put the baskets in there to be transported back.

Take longer and guard what is left of your body!

Unfortunately - a riding lawn mower is not able to be in the budget.

My wife uses a push mower close to the house and I use the tractor for most of the other. Since gas is so expensive, the place looks a bit "ragged" this year.
When I unload the feed - I don't buy much in bags - I back the truck into the barn and get as close as I can. At the store, I usualy get help to carry it out but most of the time I put it on the cart myself.

Then open the bags and take it out by the bucketfull.

With breaks, this will turn a 20 minute job into a 4 hour job if you have much feed.

How many hours will recovering from surgery take? And, who do you think will load the feed while you recover? And, how many hours of your work will your wife do while you recover?

Scrounger, I KNOW how hard it is to take your time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I lost an entire spring because I threw my neck out while lifting something light but LARGE! (a bale of pearlite).

Not taking my time cost me my garden, a lot in fast food bills as I am the cook and DH would rather buy, and about 4 weeks of pain.

I use a dolly now, and take things out a scoop at a time. Not using one before cost me several hundred.

Lifting feed is one thing, I know some who have problems with getting their groceries into the house. Many who move to the country don't take into acct. that they will age or possibly have any disabling problems. Many have impassable roads in bad weather, No big problem when you're younger and can carry your groceries and such up or down the hill or even the length of your driveway. Also what comes in must go out so trash becomes another problem, something as simple as old magazines or a broken appliance becomes a problem.

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost

I retired the first of 2008. I live in a tiny old house, my car is a 1993, 4 cyclinder car and a 1997 Ranger bought new with over 200,000+ miles on it and a 6 cylinder engine. I am not disabled, just have a lot of arthritis and diabetes, hypertension, and terrible allergies.
I have a garden and am fighting too much rain and too many weeds. I bought a new ventless infared 30,000 BTU wall heater and an energy efficient AC unit as my allergies are my biggest problem. I had more insulation put in the attic too. I do not heat my bedroom but do have an electric mattress pad that really keeps me warm. I am a careful shopper and buy a lot of needed things from Goodwill or thrift stores as well as Aldis.
My biggest bill is the $300 health insurance every month. I have replaced my presciption meds for cheaper generic or even over-the-counter meds. They do not work as well but they are good enough for me.
I still have a small herd of goats. I sold most of them this spring. I do eat the goats too. My chicken population was also greatly reduced and I am culling more before long. The rabbits are staying at their present number as they are doing well. I switched from chickens to rabbits as the rabbits are easier to butcher and and there are fewer to do at one time. This saves my poor arthritic hands and fingers. The ever rising cost of feed is a big concern.
My furniture are early Salvation Army but good enough for me.
I am an independent woman and if and when, I have to move it will be into the senior low cost apartments first. My kids have enought trouble trying to make ends meet without having to deal with me.
So far I have avoided anything like a food bank. That is for really needy people.
The first thing I will sacrifice will be the Cable-telephone-internet bundle that costs me $120 a month. I almost stopped it this spring but have 2 part-time jobs now and this has really saved my butt. The price I pay for the jobs is complete exhaustion. I am so darn tired now that my house is in need of a good cleaning. I'll clean it when I have to stop my jobs and that will happen when I reach that magic amount set by our govenment for social security.
You'll know when that happens as I won't be online anymore.
Getting old is not much fun.

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Living the good life in Kansas.

I know what you are saying about taking my time. I already DO. It will take me 3-4 hours to do what used to take 30 minutes. But SOME things just NEED to be done, no matter what.

I store the feed in bags, so opening them up is usually not going to work. I don't get that much bagged feed - dog, and cat, mostly, with some stuff for the goats. I was just trying to make the point that, if you see someone carrying a bag of feed, it doesn't always mean they are fakeing a disability.

The biggest hit we are taking this year is the cost of gas, grain, and food. Propane is up, but not HORENDOUS yet. We are going to use the wood stove this winter, so that will help.

I know, someone will drive by and see me up on my roof, installing a pipe for the stove and scream bloody murder that I CAN'T do that if I'm disabled.....

Instead of starting a rumor, it would be nice if they came and helped.....

I can carry 50# bags of feed and small square bales of hay. I just have to rest between each one LOL.

I also have to do my own climbing around on ladders.

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I usually split the bales in half. I also avoid ladders like the plague but, if I GOTTA, then I gotta....

What I'm reading here is that a lot of people are smart and resourceful and doing what it takes to keep going.

The only person we have to please is ourselves, and if we're happy with our effort, then it's no one else's business.

I have problems with physical chores. You learn to cope with it. You come to an understanding that some things really don't matter much in the big picture of things.

There's nothing quick about me... well, maybe my quick mind.

I've found that the world doesn't stop turning just because I didn't get all the chores done. After awhile, the chore list becomes more of a "what do I want to do today" list.

You adjust and you cope. And happy is all about how you see your big picture.

Yep, you adjust and cope and hope some busy body don't think you are doing too much for a disabled person and turn you in and cause you to loose your only source of income, or at least tie it up in red tape for months.

Good point Beeman but there are ways to cope. I purchase my whole winter's worth of groceries before the snow sets in. I use a dolly to get my big sacks of flour, sugar etc. into the house and put them in the five gallon buckets. I stay home when the roads are bad. Last winter I was home for three weeks at a time. I WANT TO STAY HERE. People make that suggestion.......move in with family. I love my kids but I would rather walk off into the woods and lay down in a snowbank and die than live with any of them in the suburbs.

I must admit that I am very blessed by a neat bunch of guys from church. Once a year in the fall they have a work day here and cut me what wood I still need and do some of the things I am just physically not able to do. At first it really bothered me but then I realized I serve the church in other ways and have for years and I just fix them a good meal and take treats to church frequently and say thank you.

Ladycat, it is the same for me. I look terribly disabled when I get out of my car, but after I get the joints warmed up I'm good to go for at least 20 minutes or so, then I'm down for the count again. I make my shopping trips short and I hope no one is ever judging me on how good or bad I'm getting around!

We have the same situation. Hubby just retired about a year ago and we're finding that his pension isn't stretching far enough these days what with the gas prices, utilities and food going up. We live in a small paid for house and have no other debt, but still finding it hard to make ends meet lately. Definitely no fun traveling for us.

EXACTLY!

If this was an option for me in all other ways ... I still would absolutely prefer the snowbank.

I don't think I could live in the city/ suburbs at all and I also don't think I could live in someone else's home. A few people I could probably live "next door" to in the country ... none of whom are relatives ...