JGalt
Diamond Member
- Mar 9, 2011
- 77,902
- 99,710
- 3,635
Both my wife and I collect Social Security. She also has a job teaching in a Christian school, but I've been retired since 2000. We live in a modest three-bedroom, 2-car garage house on 100 acres of wooded land, in a rural area, and are still paying on it. There are also bills like electricity, a package that includes a land line, cable TV, and internet with four email addresses, two cell phones, credit cards, a car payment, a co-pay to the VA for prescriptions, food and other consumables, and a yearly fill of the propane tank.
We've lived comfortably on what we made together for the last 15 years, and I had some side hustles that brought in some extra income. That was until the Inflation Reduction Act, back in 2022. That cut into the side gigs I had going. Owning a home is expensive, and this year seems like the worst one I've seen in a long time. First the septic tank pump went out, that cost us about $800. Then our home owner's insurance company decided not to renew, because the roof was deteriorating and some trees were leaning toward the house.
I got a loan at a rather high interest rate, and had a new roof put on the house three months ago. I also hired a guy to limb from the top down and drop a large red oak tree away from the house, then I removed two other trees that were leaning over the house, a piece at a time. The guy did a great job, and only charged me $530. I couldn't have done that myself, as it required a winch to make the tree fall away from the house. Then we changed both auto and homeowner insurance companies, and actually got a better rate.
So anyway I just decided to get a real job and make some extra money, and today was my first day. There aren't a lot of jobs in the small town we live 15 mile from. But I did find one as a food product demonstrator for a large chain of convenience store/gas stations. It feels pretty good to go back to work, even though the pay is only $15 per hour. But hell, I can remember only making $13 per hour as an experienced commercial brick and block mason down in Texas, back in the 80's. Every little bit helps when you're living through these last days of the Biden/Harris administration. I don't see how people are making it these days, especially those less fortunate than my wife and I.
We've lived comfortably on what we made together for the last 15 years, and I had some side hustles that brought in some extra income. That was until the Inflation Reduction Act, back in 2022. That cut into the side gigs I had going. Owning a home is expensive, and this year seems like the worst one I've seen in a long time. First the septic tank pump went out, that cost us about $800. Then our home owner's insurance company decided not to renew, because the roof was deteriorating and some trees were leaning toward the house.
I got a loan at a rather high interest rate, and had a new roof put on the house three months ago. I also hired a guy to limb from the top down and drop a large red oak tree away from the house, then I removed two other trees that were leaning over the house, a piece at a time. The guy did a great job, and only charged me $530. I couldn't have done that myself, as it required a winch to make the tree fall away from the house. Then we changed both auto and homeowner insurance companies, and actually got a better rate.
So anyway I just decided to get a real job and make some extra money, and today was my first day. There aren't a lot of jobs in the small town we live 15 mile from. But I did find one as a food product demonstrator for a large chain of convenience store/gas stations. It feels pretty good to go back to work, even though the pay is only $15 per hour. But hell, I can remember only making $13 per hour as an experienced commercial brick and block mason down in Texas, back in the 80's. Every little bit helps when you're living through these last days of the Biden/Harris administration. I don't see how people are making it these days, especially those less fortunate than my wife and I.
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