Not dead in the water yet, but definitely floundering.
Expenses keep rising, but income doesn’t. These days, that’s true for many of us.
I was so happy when at the end of most months, I had about $120 left over from my Social Security check. I prided myself on my exceptional budgeting skills. In fact, in months when the weather was mild and the utility bills low, I was actually able to put some money into the savings account!
But then the real estate taxes went up, the homeowners insurance increased (because the value of the house increased – that should be a good thing, right?), and therefore my mortgage payment rose by $135 a month.
And of course, the cost of the Medicare Advantage plans is increasing for 2026, meaning my premium will rise by about $60 a month while most of the benefits are being trimmed and the yearly out-of-pocket cost will be raised by about $3,000.
I’m imagining that the manufacturer of my Remicade will find a way to increase those prices, too, considering the tariffs that are being imposed on medicines. And, of course, I will have to pay 20% of that additional cost on top of the $360 amonth that I’m already paying for Remicade.
All those additional costs will have to come out of the rapidly dwindling savings account.
So, I started looking for any kind of programs that would help with the monthly expenses. And found nothing, because, hey, who really gives a damn about struggling senior citizens?
I did get a little excited when I researched the town website and learned that my household would qualify for a low- or no-cost home improvement loan to pay for the new back roof. Which loan could be deferred until such time as the house is sold. I figured it would be an awesome way to keep that $10,000 in the savings account so it could be used towards all those aforementioned medical expenses.
The very nice lady in the town department which handles the program confirmed our ability to qualify and confirmed that any funds awarded could be used for a roof. Woo-hoo!
But then she relayed the bad news – there is a 2-1/2 year waiting list and there are a couple of hundred people ahead of us on that list.
We can’t wait 2-1/2 years for the roof. Goodbye to a good chunk of our minimal savings.
I did get us added to the home improvement loan waiting list because I’m sure something house-related will need repair in the next 3 years – and at least we’ll be a little closer to the top of that list.
Sigh.
Hubby and I will get by as usual, somehow. My biggest regret is that I am unable to help out those family members who have recently lost jobs and are struggling, too. (And truth be told, I’m just selfish enough to regret that those family members can’t help me, either.)
Kinda sucky in the USA these days, isn’t it?
But at least I’m not a government employee being told I have to keep working without a paycheck. Or a government employee who’s been furloughed and may be fired. Nor am I among the recently unemployed-through-no-fault-of-their-own who are all competing with each other for the few jobs available, none of which are likely to be in their chosen career fields.
Could be worse, right?
Let’s just hope it doesn’t actually get worse.
Hang in there, everyone.
And if anyone is doing better than the rest of us and wants to contribute to my sinking finances, you can contact me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com. I’ll take whatever help I can get.
Hugs, all.
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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Image by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalieStudio (photo taken of original oil painting by Jamie)
Cordelia's Mom, Still 
Know how you feel and can sympathise. I am so glad we don’t have a mortgage or rent to pay, but Her from Accounts is coming after pensioners and savers, house owners, and now they are thinking of scrapping pensioner bus passes. OK, we haven’t used ours yet as we can still afford to run a car, BUT where we live has next to no public transport service, and what there is is restricted. It’s a four hour journey to one hospital 35 miles away as there is no direct bus route, and getting a taxi is £100 plus. Hospital transport service? Fat chance.
I’m good at budgeting, but you can only cut your cloth so much before you have next to nothing to cover yourself. More and more stuff is being left on the supermarket shelf because of rising prices and cheaper alternatives are false economy, taste foul, or simply do not work!
We don’t qualify for any additional help because our income is over set thresholds as we have works pensions as well as the state’s. Energy prices have just increased by 6%, though we believe we might get our winter fuel allowance this year. I’ve already covered our anticipated winter fuel bill, so that will be squirrelled away to go towards the hike in local taxes next year which it is rumoured to be going up by at least 10%.
Swings and roundabouts, but not a big enough playground.
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Yep, I hear you. Our combined income is something like $200-$300 above the threshold for most government aid. So frustrating. Maybe you and I and our hubbies could find an island somewhere and start our own country. Oh wait, one of us would have to fund that. Sorry.
(PS – at least our medical facilities are within a 15-minute drive and we can still, sort of, afford the car. I can’t even imagine having to travel 4 hours for medical treatment.)
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That’s one of the main reasons we wanted to move, to put us closer to healthcare as it is so scattered from where we are.
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The joke here is that the ‘new state pension’ is above the threshold for help anyway!!!!
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Yeah, so is my Social Security. We older people should just go ahead and die already, right?
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That’s what our government are hoping as NHS treatment is being delayed for older patients.
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[sigh]
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Just read that they are revising the goalposts for free prescriptions, so anyone aged 60 to 66 may well have to pay £9.90 an item until they reach state pension age, even if they medication is life dependent ie. cancer, asthma, heart meds etc. Yep, they are out to kill off the older population one way or another. Freezing us last year didn’t work, cost of living and food is touch and go, so now they are playing with our health.
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Wow. Guess I won’t be moving to the UK any time soon. Sounds even worse than it is here.
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If we could, we’d emigrate as the country is not the one we grew up in, and the government priorities are all wrong IMO.
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Insurance is the worst. Every insurance we have increases regardless of the lack of claims.
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And it gets worse. Even if I opted to stay with my current insurance company at the higher premium rate, it turns out that some of my doctors, and the local cancer hospital, will no longer be accepting that insurance. So I’ll be forced to switch, and subsequently forced to change medications. We’ll see how that turns out.
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That’s why I didn’t want Medicare Advantage. The Supplemental plan an Part-D coverage is expensive, but at least I can go where I want to go.
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Unfortunately, that route wouldn’t work for me because of my Remicade infusions. As expensive as they are, the Supplement plan (or Medigap) would have cost me even more. At least with Medicare Advantage, my blood pressure medicine is free, so there’s that. (I’m easily pleased.)
It’s really sad, though, that those of us who worked for half a century and saved as much as possible to retire in peace are now faced with these kinds of nightmares. Something’s gotta give.
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