the never-ending story
Apr. 20th, 2017 09:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
carlyinromeThis is ridiculous and I feel ridiculous about it, but a fact of my life is that right now I am not able to live on my own, so I do have to negotiate my family's perspectives on things. Anyway. Because of the subsidies I qualify for and because I really do not spend much money on anything, because I am sick all the time and never go anywhere or do anything that isn't related to my health, the money I have coming in each month is way more than the money I send out.
So, when you receive disability payments, the government monitors your assets to evaluate how much money you need in benefits. Of course, because this is the government, basically you go one dollar over budget, they decide to cut your benefits, and now you can't afford food. The point is, it's an issue. Because I am collecting so much money I'm not spending, my parents (also worried about this assets business), want me to hide it in ways that I'm not sure are legal and make me nervous. After my retroactive settlement last year, they convinced me to put several thousand dollars in a CD in their name, which I'm really unhappy about, because on the one hand if there's money I can't get to I get really, really stressed, like, what if I need it? what if something happens? I need it available at all times in case of catastrophe sort of thing, and also I feel like I'm cheating the government and lying, and that makes me feel really shitty.
Anyway, I now have more money that needs to be dealt with, so I told my parents, looking for their advice, "Well, I have this extra capital that I need to move, and once again I need to make stopgap repairs to my 15 year old car, so I thought a good use for the money would be a down-payment on a less shitty car." I did research, I did math, I got quotes, I can more than afford it even if I get screwed on the APR for the loan.
They are dead against it. A new car isn't an investment, it's an expense, it loses value every second it's sitting in your driveway, just keep pouring money into the black fucking hole that is your current vehicle until it dies, then buy a new one once you've spent the down-payment several times over in band-aid fixes. And my dad's like, "You aren't supposed to have assets," but I researched it and they do not count a car against you, no matter how much it's worth, as long as it's your only vehicle and you actually use it personally. My dad has me tell him the other things that don't count against you, and one of them is this savings account thing, and now he's adamant that I put all my money there, even though as I told him the money is audited and can only be used for certain things, and I may not even qualify. But he's built his church there, so there's no way he's ever going to think anything different unless, IDK, he reads it in the paper, because he has all the best ideas and nobody else has such wonderful ideas as him, regardless of the fact that I actually have done research and asked questions and know what I'm talking about, and he, well.
Anyway, it's fucking ridiculous that I'm having this sort of bullshit to deal with given that I'm an adult, but I am a sick adult so maybe that negates it, idfk. Meanwhile, my brother has to move out of his place by June, and he has decided, because he is just like my dad and doesn't need facts or evidence to stop him from deciding on the best plan ever and cementing himself to it, that he is going to buy a new house instead of finding a new place to rent. A new house that he hasn't found yet, that has to have a mortgage of under $800 a month and be move-in ready, and oh yes he doesn't have a down-payment or a loan or decent credit, or apparently any fucking knowledge of how real estate negotiations work.
So my brother calls my parents to inform them of his great plan, and asks to "borrow" $2000 so he has enough money in his bank account to fool the bank into giving him a loan to buy a house that he hasn't even found yet. (I put the quotes around "borrow" because he never pays any amount of money back to anyone ever. He still owes me $30 from Christmas, and I have to forgive all his loans every six months or so because if I didn't, I would still be holding out for quarters I lent him to use in candy machines 25 years ago.) My mom is against this, because it's not like they have that kind of money, and also he's obviously not going to pay it back. My dad, of course, is 100% for it, because Alex is just like him and his automatic favorite, and wants my mom to think of it as “an investment” because Alex's plan is super doable and mine is too ridiculous to entertain even though I am not asking them for a cent.
I guess I kind of thought my childhood would end at some point, but I guess I'm gonna Sisyphus this shit fo eva.
Before this shit show even got on the road, today was a really, really rough day. Day two of fighting off Level 10 pain and mostly losing, and I just keep thinking in this bone certain way, I cannot do this anymore. I don't know what the alternative is, or how to get there, but I cannot live like this.
So, when you receive disability payments, the government monitors your assets to evaluate how much money you need in benefits. Of course, because this is the government, basically you go one dollar over budget, they decide to cut your benefits, and now you can't afford food. The point is, it's an issue. Because I am collecting so much money I'm not spending, my parents (also worried about this assets business), want me to hide it in ways that I'm not sure are legal and make me nervous. After my retroactive settlement last year, they convinced me to put several thousand dollars in a CD in their name, which I'm really unhappy about, because on the one hand if there's money I can't get to I get really, really stressed, like, what if I need it? what if something happens? I need it available at all times in case of catastrophe sort of thing, and also I feel like I'm cheating the government and lying, and that makes me feel really shitty.
Anyway, I now have more money that needs to be dealt with, so I told my parents, looking for their advice, "Well, I have this extra capital that I need to move, and once again I need to make stopgap repairs to my 15 year old car, so I thought a good use for the money would be a down-payment on a less shitty car." I did research, I did math, I got quotes, I can more than afford it even if I get screwed on the APR for the loan.
They are dead against it. A new car isn't an investment, it's an expense, it loses value every second it's sitting in your driveway, just keep pouring money into the black fucking hole that is your current vehicle until it dies, then buy a new one once you've spent the down-payment several times over in band-aid fixes. And my dad's like, "You aren't supposed to have assets," but I researched it and they do not count a car against you, no matter how much it's worth, as long as it's your only vehicle and you actually use it personally. My dad has me tell him the other things that don't count against you, and one of them is this savings account thing, and now he's adamant that I put all my money there, even though as I told him the money is audited and can only be used for certain things, and I may not even qualify. But he's built his church there, so there's no way he's ever going to think anything different unless, IDK, he reads it in the paper, because he has all the best ideas and nobody else has such wonderful ideas as him, regardless of the fact that I actually have done research and asked questions and know what I'm talking about, and he, well.
Anyway, it's fucking ridiculous that I'm having this sort of bullshit to deal with given that I'm an adult, but I am a sick adult so maybe that negates it, idfk. Meanwhile, my brother has to move out of his place by June, and he has decided, because he is just like my dad and doesn't need facts or evidence to stop him from deciding on the best plan ever and cementing himself to it, that he is going to buy a new house instead of finding a new place to rent. A new house that he hasn't found yet, that has to have a mortgage of under $800 a month and be move-in ready, and oh yes he doesn't have a down-payment or a loan or decent credit, or apparently any fucking knowledge of how real estate negotiations work.
So my brother calls my parents to inform them of his great plan, and asks to "borrow" $2000 so he has enough money in his bank account to fool the bank into giving him a loan to buy a house that he hasn't even found yet. (I put the quotes around "borrow" because he never pays any amount of money back to anyone ever. He still owes me $30 from Christmas, and I have to forgive all his loans every six months or so because if I didn't, I would still be holding out for quarters I lent him to use in candy machines 25 years ago.) My mom is against this, because it's not like they have that kind of money, and also he's obviously not going to pay it back. My dad, of course, is 100% for it, because Alex is just like him and his automatic favorite, and wants my mom to think of it as “an investment” because Alex's plan is super doable and mine is too ridiculous to entertain even though I am not asking them for a cent.
I guess I kind of thought my childhood would end at some point, but I guess I'm gonna Sisyphus this shit fo eva.
Before this shit show even got on the road, today was a really, really rough day. Day two of fighting off Level 10 pain and mostly losing, and I just keep thinking in this bone certain way, I cannot do this anymore. I don't know what the alternative is, or how to get there, but I cannot live like this.
no subject
Date: 2017-04-21 02:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-04-30 02:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-04-27 01:07 am (UTC)You can have one car, no matter what kind it is. There is nothing wrong with spending your disability money on fixing up a car or buying another one. You would just have to prove how you disposed of the car you have so you don't have 2 on the books. If you were to sell it to a junk dealer, however, be sure the title to the car is out of your name. So many junk companies never take care of the title and people find themselves having cars in their names years after they got rid of them.
I agree that your parents are wrong about your current car. There is no point in having a vehicle that is nickle-and-diming you to death. I would certainly advise my clients to get a different car if the one they have is not cost-effective. I don't know how you'd convince your parents of that.
You're correct in being nervous about "hiding" money. It's illegal and if you get found out, you can get into big trouble for it. I work right next to some caseworkers whose job is to find out where people are keeping their assets. They don't take any joy in the work, but that's what they have to do because so many people who have considerable assets (I mean trust funds and the like) try to get public assistance even when they can well afford to take care of themselves.
One last thing. Don't feel shitty about yourself. You wouldn't be receiving these benefits if you didn't need them.
no subject
Date: 2017-04-30 02:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-05-01 11:53 pm (UTC)