My Financial Puzzle
Thursday, November 17th, 2022 07:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioWe're at that point in November where it's cold, cold... like 30sF and a bit blustery during the day, with lows dipping into the teens on some nights.
We had our first dusting of snow early this week, followed by more of the same, mixed with drizzle.
So now all the dead brown leaves on the ground are wet, and they get a bit frosty as the sun sets... at 4:30PM.
A week ago I was still running around in a hoodie, with boxer briefs on under my pants, but this week, it's thermal underwear, gloves, and a jacket over that hoodie... with the hood up over my head if I'm outside for any length of time.
The only traces left of summer are in those few holdout trees, still hanging on to their yellow leaves... one tree here... one tree down there... while all the rest have gone to sleep until next spring.
It's not winter yet... but... this is the time of year when you realize... Oh my God... three long months from now?... it will still only be the middle of February!
And it'll still be getting dark by 5:30PM!
--<>--
I used to get pretty depressed about the winter, but... a while back I decided it's just too long a part of the year to spend being upset about the weather.
These days I just try to accept winter as part of the grand cycle, and appreciate the strange beauty it has to offer.
And I'll wax poetic about all that later on, when it's actually here.
Mid November, when it's finally getting cold, cold... and dark, dark... is the time to start planning for that four-month journey to St. Patrick's Day.
It's usually still snowy, and the trees are still dormant, but at least the decorations are green!.. and April is in sight.
--<>--
For me, the big challenge of the coming four months is quite clear right now.
I need to complete the financial jigsaw puzzle that will keep this household afloat!
We just scraped by again, through another four day stretch where both Dad and I were desperately low on money.
I was driving home tonight from work on E, with the gas warning light popping on a couple miles from home. And I'm $9.00 overdrawn at the bank.
Dad managed to scrape by the last two days with $43.00 cash out of his wallet... his savings from two months of aluminum can money.
Tomorrow his pension check drops, and on Tuesday I get paid, so... we'll be good to go again for a while, but... I finally got to plugging in all my paydays and his paydays into my calendar for the next several months and it's clear, now, that there's always gonna be this, four or five day, "dead zone", every month, from about the 14th, to the 18th.
And inflation is the culprit at work here.
Dad's dog, Yvette, has become particularly expensive this year!
She's a neurotic Husky who he saved from a shelter back in 2016, and one of her neuroses is that she will ONLY eat Good 'n Fun Dog Kabobs!
She WILL NOT eat normal dog kibble of any kind! She WILL NOT eat fancy moist dog food of any kind! She WILL NOT eat... ANYTHING... but Good 'n Fun Dog Kabobs!
Back when I was working at the hospital, they were $9.50 per bag, and she went through four to five bags a week, so... call it $45.00 per week!
That's a lot of money to feed a dog! But I wasn't paying attention to his finances back then, and I had tons of money of my own so it wasn't a problem.
But in 2022, the price of a bag of Good 'n Fun Dog Kabobs has skyrocketed up to $12.00 per bag!.. and Yvette has grown older, more sedentary, and more gluttonous... now hoovering up TEN bags a week!
That's $120.00 a week, or $480.00 a MONTH! It is INSANITY!
But who am I to complain, right? I'm sponging off the old man too!
Also... we all have our vices in this house, don't we? Dad and I blow a lot more on cigarettes than Yvette does on her precious Kabobs, so... I can't really ask her to kick her habit if I'm not willing to kick mine.
Yes, she's just a dog, but she's 14. Very set in her ways. As am I!.. and as is Dad!
--<>--
If I had a time machine, I'd go back to 2016, when he adopted her and say, "Hey!.. get her used to Kibbles 'n Bits right NOW! You will save a GODDAM FORTUNE!"
At todays inflated prices, a 30lb bag of Kibbles 'n Bits is $30.00 and would likely last Yvette a whole month!
That would free up $450.00 a month, and there would be no financial, "dead zone," to worry about, right now!
But... I don't have a time machine, and... now, Yvette's Good 'n Fun Dog Kabob habit is an immovable object!
So I have to figure out a plan to scare up more money!
--<>--
If you've been following this blog, you know from just this past summer, why I'm only working part time... because Dad is prone to, out of the blue health issues that;
1) Can be life threatening if I don't catch them fast enough, and
2) Usually result in a week at the hospital, and another few weeks requiring extra help when he gets back home.
I know from experience, it's very difficult to deal with that stuff, while holding a full time job... especially one that's a long distance from home.
The second he goes into that hospital, I become a dog sitter, as another of Yvette's neuroses is acute separation anxiety!
She can be left alone for four hours... but not for eight, or nine!
And whenever Dad comes back from a hospital stay, he's a fall risk... and he's cranky and defiant for a week! Just read back to last August!
He too... can be left alone for four hours... but not for eight, or nine!
So... the job that I have now is absolutely perfect!
But it's only one peice of the financial puzzle.
--<>--
Another peice of the financial puzzle is SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).
I got the ball rolling on that for myself last week, and this week the case worker needed my pay stubs for the past 30 days.
I was finally able to obtain those today, and had enough ink in my printer to print them up.
I dropped them off at the local DHS office downtown before work, and... God willing, if I'm approved for SNAP, it should be $90.00 per month for food.
That will help, but the final puzzle peice has to be, either, restart my handyman business, or find some easy, disposeable second part time job.
------------{=0=}------------
You may be wondering why I didn't just reopen the handyman business weeks ago! What about that dream about hanging circus peanuts on the helicopter?
Well, for one thing it's just... it's dodgey! I'm not licensed to do anything... which limits the types of jobs I can take. And I'm not insured... which is risky.
The handyman gig would have to be just quick, cash under the table jobs, for $100.00 over here, and $200.00 over there... being careful not to get hurt... and not bringing in enough to flag the IRS.
And it's still doable, but I'm gonna wait until I hear back from DHS about SNAP before I flip that switch on Google, from, "Temporarily Closed," to "Open for Business." Because I stand a better chance of qualifying for SNAP with just my one little legit janitor gig!
--<>--
Also, I've just been trying to get thorugh my 90-day probationary period with GeoStaff, at Grape Elementary, before I have to start delving into other work.
I'm only now to the point where I can get through the 10K steps of a whole shift, with three Ibuprofin... and get home without any serious muscle aches or sore feet.
And I wanted to be properly, "work hardened," before increasing the load, as well.
But I am almost to those goals.
Come December 15th, I'll be fully on board with GeoStaff... uniforms, benefits, and all... with the first $250.00 of my sign on bonus attached to the 12/20 paycheck.
And I should be good and hardened by then, physically.
--<>--
So, presuming I qualify for SNAP... the idea is to flip the switch on the handyman job in early December, and see if I can't start snatching a couple hundred bucks here and there out of the aether every month.
But if the economy is still too shitty for those basic two or three jobs a month to come in for me... as was the case last May and June...
Then it's time to look for that disposeable part time job.
--<>--
For that, I'm thinking... 7PM to 11PM at a gas station nearby Grape Elementary.
Run the register, do the cigarette count, mop the floor... get a little extra scratch, without burning myself out... and out the door at 11PM.
If Dad gets sick, and they don't wanna give me a week off... I just quit! No big problem! Get another gas station gig a couple weeks later!
--<>--
However, I could do 11AM to 3PM near Grape running some other kind of register. There's a whole other strip mall by the school, with registers to choose from.
But I don't wanna get stuck loading stock or anything back breaking, because at 53, the janitor job is physically demanding enough.
I dunno... I have to think more about the disposeable, 2nd part time job.
------------{=0=}------------
However, if I can fit SNAP into the financial puzzle... and then figure out the remaining puzzle peice in December...
Dad will get a Social Security bump in January.
And that means that we could be doing okay in early 2023, making ends meet without any, "dead zones."
--<>--
After that, it's just a matter of biding my time... slowly building up momentum with GeoStaff... getting a little raise... weighing my options to either go full time Janitor or jump to maintenance.
Maybe inflation goes down? Maybe I get a pay bump if the union renegotiates?
Just gotta get that puzzle worked out between now and January.
And if I can manage that... then next March I can raise a glass of Guinness with Dad and look forward to spring with some genuine confidence.
°¦}
*I do have two credit cards for emergencies, but I'm trying desperately not to use them. The credit cards are another peice of the financial puzzle, but won't function if I max them out, or can't afford to pay them down in a timely manner.
*Dad's hospital bills and even the home care he received over the fall are all covered by his insanely good health insurance, so... thankfully, his medical bills never have any impact on the finances.
*A typical day at the hospital, for 14 years was 8K of walking... in 8 hours. A really hard day was 12K. NOW... it's 10K every day, in just four hours! And I was off work for 20 months before I started with GeoStaff, so... it HAS been a challenge for my body to adjust.
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
We had our first dusting of snow early this week, followed by more of the same, mixed with drizzle.
So now all the dead brown leaves on the ground are wet, and they get a bit frosty as the sun sets... at 4:30PM.
A week ago I was still running around in a hoodie, with boxer briefs on under my pants, but this week, it's thermal underwear, gloves, and a jacket over that hoodie... with the hood up over my head if I'm outside for any length of time.
The only traces left of summer are in those few holdout trees, still hanging on to their yellow leaves... one tree here... one tree down there... while all the rest have gone to sleep until next spring.
It's not winter yet... but... this is the time of year when you realize... Oh my God... three long months from now?... it will still only be the middle of February!
And it'll still be getting dark by 5:30PM!
I used to get pretty depressed about the winter, but... a while back I decided it's just too long a part of the year to spend being upset about the weather.
These days I just try to accept winter as part of the grand cycle, and appreciate the strange beauty it has to offer.
And I'll wax poetic about all that later on, when it's actually here.
Mid November, when it's finally getting cold, cold... and dark, dark... is the time to start planning for that four-month journey to St. Patrick's Day.
It's usually still snowy, and the trees are still dormant, but at least the decorations are green!.. and April is in sight.
For me, the big challenge of the coming four months is quite clear right now.
I need to complete the financial jigsaw puzzle that will keep this household afloat!
We just scraped by again, through another four day stretch where both Dad and I were desperately low on money.
I was driving home tonight from work on E, with the gas warning light popping on a couple miles from home. And I'm $9.00 overdrawn at the bank.
Dad managed to scrape by the last two days with $43.00 cash out of his wallet... his savings from two months of aluminum can money.
Tomorrow his pension check drops, and on Tuesday I get paid, so... we'll be good to go again for a while, but... I finally got to plugging in all my paydays and his paydays into my calendar for the next several months and it's clear, now, that there's always gonna be this, four or five day, "dead zone", every month, from about the 14th, to the 18th.
And inflation is the culprit at work here.
Dad's dog, Yvette, has become particularly expensive this year!
She's a neurotic Husky who he saved from a shelter back in 2016, and one of her neuroses is that she will ONLY eat Good 'n Fun Dog Kabobs!
She WILL NOT eat normal dog kibble of any kind! She WILL NOT eat fancy moist dog food of any kind! She WILL NOT eat... ANYTHING... but Good 'n Fun Dog Kabobs!
Back when I was working at the hospital, they were $9.50 per bag, and she went through four to five bags a week, so... call it $45.00 per week!
That's a lot of money to feed a dog! But I wasn't paying attention to his finances back then, and I had tons of money of my own so it wasn't a problem.
But in 2022, the price of a bag of Good 'n Fun Dog Kabobs has skyrocketed up to $12.00 per bag!.. and Yvette has grown older, more sedentary, and more gluttonous... now hoovering up TEN bags a week!
That's $120.00 a week, or $480.00 a MONTH! It is INSANITY!
But who am I to complain, right? I'm sponging off the old man too!
Also... we all have our vices in this house, don't we? Dad and I blow a lot more on cigarettes than Yvette does on her precious Kabobs, so... I can't really ask her to kick her habit if I'm not willing to kick mine.
Yes, she's just a dog, but she's 14. Very set in her ways. As am I!.. and as is Dad!
If I had a time machine, I'd go back to 2016, when he adopted her and say, "Hey!.. get her used to Kibbles 'n Bits right NOW! You will save a GODDAM FORTUNE!"
At todays inflated prices, a 30lb bag of Kibbles 'n Bits is $30.00 and would likely last Yvette a whole month!
That would free up $450.00 a month, and there would be no financial, "dead zone," to worry about, right now!
But... I don't have a time machine, and... now, Yvette's Good 'n Fun Dog Kabob habit is an immovable object!
So I have to figure out a plan to scare up more money!
If you've been following this blog, you know from just this past summer, why I'm only working part time... because Dad is prone to, out of the blue health issues that;
1) Can be life threatening if I don't catch them fast enough, and
2) Usually result in a week at the hospital, and another few weeks requiring extra help when he gets back home.
I know from experience, it's very difficult to deal with that stuff, while holding a full time job... especially one that's a long distance from home.
The second he goes into that hospital, I become a dog sitter, as another of Yvette's neuroses is acute separation anxiety!
She can be left alone for four hours... but not for eight, or nine!
And whenever Dad comes back from a hospital stay, he's a fall risk... and he's cranky and defiant for a week! Just read back to last August!
He too... can be left alone for four hours... but not for eight, or nine!
So... the job that I have now is absolutely perfect!
But it's only one peice of the financial puzzle.
Another peice of the financial puzzle is SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).
I got the ball rolling on that for myself last week, and this week the case worker needed my pay stubs for the past 30 days.
I was finally able to obtain those today, and had enough ink in my printer to print them up.
I dropped them off at the local DHS office downtown before work, and... God willing, if I'm approved for SNAP, it should be $90.00 per month for food.
That will help, but the final puzzle peice has to be, either, restart my handyman business, or find some easy, disposeable second part time job.
You may be wondering why I didn't just reopen the handyman business weeks ago! What about that dream about hanging circus peanuts on the helicopter?
Well, for one thing it's just... it's dodgey! I'm not licensed to do anything... which limits the types of jobs I can take. And I'm not insured... which is risky.
The handyman gig would have to be just quick, cash under the table jobs, for $100.00 over here, and $200.00 over there... being careful not to get hurt... and not bringing in enough to flag the IRS.
And it's still doable, but I'm gonna wait until I hear back from DHS about SNAP before I flip that switch on Google, from, "Temporarily Closed," to "Open for Business." Because I stand a better chance of qualifying for SNAP with just my one little legit janitor gig!
Also, I've just been trying to get thorugh my 90-day probationary period with GeoStaff, at Grape Elementary, before I have to start delving into other work.
I'm only now to the point where I can get through the 10K steps of a whole shift, with three Ibuprofin... and get home without any serious muscle aches or sore feet.
And I wanted to be properly, "work hardened," before increasing the load, as well.
But I am almost to those goals.
Come December 15th, I'll be fully on board with GeoStaff... uniforms, benefits, and all... with the first $250.00 of my sign on bonus attached to the 12/20 paycheck.
And I should be good and hardened by then, physically.
So, presuming I qualify for SNAP... the idea is to flip the switch on the handyman job in early December, and see if I can't start snatching a couple hundred bucks here and there out of the aether every month.
But if the economy is still too shitty for those basic two or three jobs a month to come in for me... as was the case last May and June...
Then it's time to look for that disposeable part time job.
For that, I'm thinking... 7PM to 11PM at a gas station nearby Grape Elementary.
Run the register, do the cigarette count, mop the floor... get a little extra scratch, without burning myself out... and out the door at 11PM.
If Dad gets sick, and they don't wanna give me a week off... I just quit! No big problem! Get another gas station gig a couple weeks later!
However, I could do 11AM to 3PM near Grape running some other kind of register. There's a whole other strip mall by the school, with registers to choose from.
But I don't wanna get stuck loading stock or anything back breaking, because at 53, the janitor job is physically demanding enough.
I dunno... I have to think more about the disposeable, 2nd part time job.
However, if I can fit SNAP into the financial puzzle... and then figure out the remaining puzzle peice in December...
Dad will get a Social Security bump in January.
And that means that we could be doing okay in early 2023, making ends meet without any, "dead zones."
After that, it's just a matter of biding my time... slowly building up momentum with GeoStaff... getting a little raise... weighing my options to either go full time Janitor or jump to maintenance.
Maybe inflation goes down? Maybe I get a pay bump if the union renegotiates?
Just gotta get that puzzle worked out between now and January.
And if I can manage that... then next March I can raise a glass of Guinness with Dad and look forward to spring with some genuine confidence.
°¦}
*I do have two credit cards for emergencies, but I'm trying desperately not to use them. The credit cards are another peice of the financial puzzle, but won't function if I max them out, or can't afford to pay them down in a timely manner.
*Dad's hospital bills and even the home care he received over the fall are all covered by his insanely good health insurance, so... thankfully, his medical bills never have any impact on the finances.
*A typical day at the hospital, for 14 years was 8K of walking... in 8 hours. A really hard day was 12K. NOW... it's 10K every day, in just four hours! And I was off work for 20 months before I started with GeoStaff, so... it HAS been a challenge for my body to adjust.
