...someone had told me when I was a young woman that saving for a 'rainy day' was not just preparing for emergencies. Silly me, I thought being a single mom of two and working hard would be enough. True, I'd opted for marriage rather than a college education (yeah, like that worked out) because the guy I'd dated all thru my junior and senior year of high school was my One True Love and we were going to be together forever. Well, forever lasted for a little over three years, but I still loved him and just knew he would be concerned for and provide for the 1.5 children we had at the time of our divorce. However, it seems the golden glow of true love tarnished for me when I learned of the .5 child his girlfriend was going to bless him with. Provide? Um... well, he did provide me with the dubious satisfaction of putting him in jail, but with very little else.
Soldiering on, I did manage to keep the three of us out of the 'welfare neighborhoods' by working full-time during the week and doing ironing on weekends. With the help of foodstamps and Medi-Cal my kids grew up healthy, if not wealthy, and as it turned out not all that wise. My daughter has been married a gazillion times and is not all that familiar with the truth, and my son seems to be bitter that he didn't have more of everything growing up and is not what you'd call a caring thoughtful dad. I dunno... nature? nurture? All I know is that I haven't seen either of them for years and am not all that eager to change that state of affairs, although I do wish with all my heart that I had relationships with my grandkids. I'm not about to be a hypocrite, however, and chase after them. At least they will not have a life without the opportunity to know their grandparents, like I did. As the only child of parents without living parents of their own, they will not feel the isolation I always have felt. So I guess the moral of this story is...what...keep one eye on the far future, because as far off as it may seem, it can still circle 'round and kick you in the ass.
What brought all this on? I suppose it was having to ask my landlord to hold my rent check because the simple act of paying shipping and handling on a 'free sample' offer put me, unknowingly, on a recurring charge agreement that tapped my bank account just as the rent was due, and since I live on soc. security only, my careful correographing of my budget went south with the unexpected charge. Perhaps if I had thought more about my own future rather than theirs I'd be in a better place financially now. Please let this be a lesson...if you can, find a way to make a few bucks at home after work to just put away for YOU, in a retirement account. Trust me, old age ain't for the faint of heart.
Sorry to hear you're having trouble, we're on SS here too--when we got the letter that there wouldn't be any COLA increase this year we were like "what? Are you kidding?" Apparently SS is claiming there was no increase in the cost of living this year. I was talking to my mom about it and she said her medicare premiums have been going up all year, and we've both noticed that the cost of food keeps going up. We think the non-COLA is just SS's way of trying to hold down their expenditures. Not a bad idea in theory but it makes it harder for those of us who depend on that income.
ReplyDeleteDid you contact the company that's charging you? I would think you should be able to get your money back. That happened to me once, I canceled the membership I had inadvertently signed up for, disputed the charge with my credit card company and it was removed.