Wednesday, March 25, 2026

There are people living in my van!

 I guess it's my turn to figure out how to care for an 80 year-old woman with the onset of dementia with zero savings, $9,500 in credit card debt and no life insurance nor long-term care insurance.  Her only asset is her sardine can of a trailer (which is falling apart) where she lives parked at an age 55+ community in Petaluma.  While she does own the sardine can she lives in, she must RENT the space it is parked on, which is about $1,200 per month depending on utility usage.  

Let's do some math on her income.  Her social security income is $1,421.60.  Her pension income from Sola Optical is $458.90 per month.  Another supplemental pension is $142.50 per month.  Putting all of this together, her monthly income is $2,023.00.  

Let's do some math on her expenses.  Her rent is about $1,200 per month.  Her medicare supplement through United Healthcare is $350.00 per month.  Her cable bill is about $200.00 per month.  Property taxes are about $700 per year.  Car insurance is about $80 per month. Doing VERY rough math that leaves her about $475 per month for groceries, gas, and care for her BLEEPING cat, house maintenance, car maintenance, car insurance, homeowners, insurance, blah, blah, blah, blah.....and she needs hearing aids along with elderly accommodations that will allow her to stay in her home.  Here is something very graphic for you all.  Her piss pads cost about $100 per month.  Bottom line:  There is nothing left to take care of her bottom.  

Here is the other fight I am having with my spouse.  It is HIS SISTER.  HE is RETIRED.  I am still WORKING.  Why does not HE get a part-time JOB to support HIS SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!!  All my husband does all day is watch crime shows on TV and waters the garden.  Tough life.  Taking care of HIS SISTER was NOT in our retirement plans.  She is like a TODDLER.  She has always been a TODDLER.   She wants EVERYBODY ELSE to figure out her life FOR HER.  

I am TIRED of wiping everybody's ass for them.  I'm sick of leading everybody around by the nose.  I am sick of being the "responsible one".  I am sick of paying for YOUR youthful sloth and lack of foresight.  Grow up and FACE the choices you made earlier in life and FIGURE IT OUT.  Let's deal with the truth:  YOU DID NOT SAVE NOR PLAN FOR YOUR RETIREMENT AND ELDER CARE!  YOU ARE GOING TO QUIETLY DUMP IT ONTO SOMEBODY ELSE TO FIGURE OUT AND PAY FOR

Sorry, I am not your dumpster.  Sorry, I am sick of trying to bail your ass out of piss-poor financial choices earlier in your life.  Anybody with half a brain would have opted to SAVING for RETIREMENT as opposed to tying to impress somebody with their trip to Europe or whatever.   

Sure, you have the photos of your European trip (gag....we never really wanted to see them anyway) but now you are just that much farther behind in retirement savings and the person you were trying to impress has long left you for other people *they* are trying to impress who are equally financially leveraged.   

What a joke.  

All this comes back to people living in a van.  That is what my sister-in-law is stating.  She is certain that there is a family living in her 2004 Toyota Sienna mini-van at night.  She claims they have two babies, and that they leave when the sun comes up.  She also states that there is a desk fan that turns into a head and comes down her hallway.  If she speaks to it, the head leaves through the skylight.  My sister-in-law also states that people are having parties in her back bathroom at night and stealing her water.  Yes, I am one for woo-woo spiritual stuff; however, this is over the top and has me very, very concerned.  Sister-in-law has called 911 more than once stating that someone was trying to break into her home (complete falsehood).  We could only WISH somebody would break in and take all her her SHIT.  PLEEEEEEEZE

I stopped today at our family general practitioner to see if we could get sister-in-law away from her pill-prescribing doctor into our family general practitioner's practice.  Our family GP is not accepting new patients, but made an exception because sister-in-law is family.  

Step 1 of many steps to come.  Step 1 is to get a complete physical and a neurological examination coordinated with our family GP.   I will be in the exam room as I do not trust sister-in-law to give me the straight answers needed to move her forward.  

One last plea to you all.  SAVE FOR YOUR RETIREMENT.  IT WILL BE HERE FASTER THAN YOU THINK.  YOU WILL NEED MORE MONEY THAN YOU EVER THOUGHT POSSIBLE.  THERE IS NO MONEY FAIRY TO SWOOP IN TO TAKE CARE OF YOU.