[Travelinglady]

Many of us have few people to talk to, so here 's a place where we can just chat and visit. What's on your mind?

[CANDC]

@Travelinglady I am living in Northeast corner of US and winters last from Dec to March with iffy weather before and after. To be quite frank, I do not like the cold and snow of winter. This year has been interesting because while Buffalo NY and other parts of US have got hammered with snow storms, here it has been unseasonably warm and mostly rain very little snow and we had a "brown" Christmas.

What is the weather like where you are?

(If you tag me in your post I get an alert and will respond just include @CANDC in your message, not a quote of my message)

[Travelinglady]

Sunny and in the fifties today. Earlier this week the high was 77! That's warm for this part of the country in January, CANDC.

Our family has decided to try to spend most Christmases in a warm place. But I don't want to move to any place that doesn't have 4 seasons. I enjoy the changes. Actually, NC is a great place to live, and many people are moving here. We have great mountains and nice beaches.

How about the rest of you?

I'd really like to stop being in a constant state of fight/flight regarding my finances. Living single is a financial rollercoaster. My car windshield has a crack across it. If I don't get it replaced, I can get a ticket violation for driving with it cracked b/c its a safety hazard. Estimates range between $500-$1000 that's with/without insurance. My auto ins. is $1K (cheaper monthly payment).

[Travelinglady]

Motts, you can apply for some financial help here from MSF. Seems to me there's always some bill to pay. I just found out I have to pay over $200 for a Medicare deductible at a doc's office. And I just paid over $600 for a shot. And one med costs over $100 for 30 pills....Meds and docs are where most of my money goes. Sigh.

I hope you can get your windshield fixed. That is a tough issue.

How do you all cope with your money issues?

[divine1966]

Motts, I just replaced my windshield (also had a huge random crack). I used Belle Tire. Had to make an appt as glass guy had to come there, they don’t have one on staff. It was $360 for me..

I drive Chevy Trax, it’s a small SVU so not a large windshield.

My insurance would fix it for free but I had to pay deductible which is 500. Well it’s cheaper without insurance.

[CANDC]

I am sorry to hear about cracked windshields.

In Massachusetts, the law is an insurer must provide 100% coverage without deductible for damaged glass replacement. Maybe it is a good idea to check with your insurer if you have not already.

[Nammu]

Hello

I’ve no experience on a cracked windshield but I’m pretty sure it’s covered by my insurance.

The weather here is chilly, 20F for a high today. But nice bright sun, which is nice after almost a solid week of overcast weather. Yesterday it snowed in the am and coated the trees so when the sun came out everything glinted and shimmered. It was beautiful but a bit to much on my drive home from the eye doctor.

I ordered eye glasses online. I had a good experience last year with them, I’m hoping that it’s the same this year.

[nonightowl]

More storms on the way. Chilly and cloudy. Depressing and brrrrrr!

Like Motts it's brutal to be single and "robbing Peter to pay Paul", as far as money issues go. Not old enough for my measly SS, not disabled, not this or that.

This morning I was reading about ghosting and why it's so common. People I thought would never do that to me have done it.

[Travelinglady]

Owl, why is ghosting so common? People very busy or distracted or something like that?

Doesn't insurance factor in why a windshield gets cracked? I know there's this "act of God" thing where they can get out of paying. That makes me mad.

[divine1966]

Originally Posted by Travelinglady

Owl, why is ghosting so common? People very busy or distracted or something like that?

Doesn't insurance factor in why a windshield gets cracked? I know there's this "act of God" thing where they can get out of paying. That makes me mad.

Some states have a law that insurance must pay for windshield cracks without charging a deductible (KY is one of them). My state doesn’t have such a law so they’ll cover windshield replacement but after deductible is paid. So it depends on what’s your deductible. Since mine is 500, it’s cheaper to just replace it myself.

[divine1966]

Yeah I see people talking about being single. I hear you! I got married at 50, so it’s been a long single life on my own. It’s hard.

But then I know married people who have it much worse because they often have to support lots of other people. Sometimes I think I was better off being single.

Most of my girl friends are single never married and they are doing great in their 40s, 50s and 60s. No one else to support! But then I have this married coworker whose husband refuses to get a job and he drinks. She supports two people on one income. That’s a struggle.

My husband had long first marriage and when we’ve met he was worse broke than me because he supported 4 people on one income before the divorce and was paying spousal support after divorce

But in general if there are two incomes life is easier because two people paying mortgage or rent is better than one. Other expenses I don’t see much of a difference. Like two incomes is more money but two people have twice expense.

And traveling lady asked about coping with financial troubles. I had to work two jobs most of my life. I’d not manage otherwise. And because I was raising a kid alone I couldn’t really live with roommates or in bad places. So I had to make enough for a decent place. Pretty much I worked and worked and worked. And worked some more. Exhausting

[Travelinglady]

Exhausted? I bet so. I hope you can get more rest now. I work now, but I just don't get paid for it!

[divine1966]

Originally Posted by Travelinglady

Exhausted? I bet so. I hope you can get more rest now. I work now, but I just don't get paid for it!

No, no rest for me yet, I still work. I am not in a retirement age yet. Getting married didn’t decrease my expenses. That’s why I am not sure how getting married makes one much better off, except it’s easier to pay mortgage with two incomes. Two of our three kids live far. So that means traveling. Mine in particular lives very far so it’s a very pricey travel. We have two grandkids. And so on.

I love being married but not because of financial reasons, but because my husband is the kindest man alive. But money wise it’s not like a drastic difference. Maybe if I married a rich man. I didn’t. We make roughly the same. It wasn’t meant to be rich for me hahah

[divine1966]

I really think Medicare should be totally free for retirees. I don’t comprehend how people are expected to pay for all that when they don’t work anymore.

[Travelinglady]

And I fear the payments will go up and the benefits will go down.

[Nammu]

When the rules for Medicare we’re dreamed up medical care was much more affordable but then bush with his privatization and Uber wealthy medical lobbyists friends really messed things up. He’s the one responsible for the crazy donut hole laws. The Clintons tried hard but that was the beginning of the crazy republicans who were willing to bring down the government to get what they wanted.

…..and the finger wrote

[nonightowl]

Getting so many scam calls/texts. I wish I had that many legit calls/texts, such as from family and friends of which I have none. Just scammers all the time. I know they call everyone but this is ALL I GET.

[Nammu]

On my cell phone any call I received that’s not a text call gets blocked, after the fact. I never answer voice calls. As a result I get very few calls on my cell phone. But on the landline. Everyday there’s scam calls.

[unaluna]

Originally Posted by Nammu

On my cell phone any call I received that’s not a text call gets blocked, after the fact. I never answer voice calls. As a result I get very few calls on my cell phone. But on the landline. Everyday there’s scam calls.

I hate landlines now. Last time i had one after cellphones, i got a call from an effin spam SHIP every effin day.

[nonightowl]

Originally Posted by Nammu

On my cell phone any call I received that’s not a text call gets blocked, after the fact. I never answer voice calls. As a result I get very few calls on my cell phone. But on the landline. Everyday there’s scam calls.

My scam calls don't ring through either, as they aren't in my list. Still, it's aggravating to see them on my screen as "missed call." It's a call I'm glad I missed. It will show as spam risk or telemarketer, the phone is smart enough to tell.

Texts show up in my unknown sender list but still show up. In general I get few calls on my cell but on my landline it's relentless. I won't give it up because it's durable and has ALWAYS been in order, even during storms. Cell phones can have weak signals or the battery drains too fast. No problem with a landline.

I do have a feature to block up to 10 numbers on it, but since they call from different numbers every time (which are probably spoofed), that list fills up fast. Then I have to clear them all and start over. The calls have suddenly stopped for some reason, but I was getting a lot around election time. And last year I got dozens of "car warranty expired" scam calls.

Those stopped too but did get a text about "verifying" my CarMax code. Never did business with them. I know that doesn't matter; scammers spoof legit companies all the time. "Your Netflix account has been suspended" and "You must re-activate your EDD Debit card within 4 hours." Yeah, right.

[Nammu]

Those car warranty people called mum, she doesn’t have a car any more. So she lead the people on that her car was so old,…and they fell for it. She finally said she’s 93 and doesn’t drive, doesn’t have a car. We’ve not gotten a call from them since! 😂

[nonightowl]

Originally Posted by Nammu

Those car warranty people called mum, she doesn’t have a car any more. So she lead the people on that her car was so old,…and they fell for it. She finally said she’s 93 and doesn’t drive, doesn’t have a car. We’ve not gotten a call from them since! 😂

My car IS old, long past warranty time though in good shape with not a lot of miles on it.

[Travelinglady]

My car is 11 years old. No one seems interested in it anymore. But I love it and it has relatively low mileage for its age. I don't drive much anyway, so it's a good deal.

[Nammu]

My car doesn’t get much of a work out. I don’t go anywhere. I go days without starting it. It’s unsexy but a good egg.