My Favorite Year

 In my last post, I wrote about some of the part-time jobs I have had while receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). One year-long job particularly stands out in my memory because it was my favorite. Was there ever a job that you really loved? That brought out skills you hardly knew you possessed? That brought unexpected gratification? I suggest you examine that job again and ask why. The answer will tell you what is important to you for any future positions and necessities you may look for while still receiving your SSDI.

I recall working part-time for a gardening supply catalogue company. I started out answering phones, but later moved on to writing sales copy for items offered in the catalogue - interesting items like bat houses and elaborate bird baths. It was fun but very pressured. Sometimes I only was given 15 minutes to type out copy for an item before the publicity department wanted my draft.

But the thing that struck me about this position was the people. The kindness of my co-workers. At this job I found out how important it was for me to click with the people I work with. It made me feel secure and less anxious in my part-time spot. They gave me a giant, thriving purple geranium on my last day for my porch. They were so warm.

I left to work at a job that offered better pay but uncomfortably chilly co-workers. The people at the gardener’s supply company were sweet “crunchy granola types” (the job was in crunchy granola Burlington, Vermont, afterall) and I got to put my untapped writing and promotional skills to use. I was promoted from receptionist to part-time Public Relations Assistant. Sometimes I ever wonder why I left and have a few regrets. But I have good memories.

Last time I wrote about the value of work beyond pay - this job experience was a key example. It helped me find out that I really am a people person! What’s your favorite job? Chances are it will you something about yourself and what you value in the workplace. Look back at your employment past. You’ll find out a lot about yourself that you may just use in your future job hunting.

May I also recommend an excellent book to follow up? “How to Click with People: The Secret to Better Relationships in Business and in Life” by Rick Kirschner. Full of hundreds of practical tips for getting along at the office. Even on your email!

Cindy

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Cindy Battles is a freelance writer based in Rutland, VT, winner of the National Disability Institute’s 2008 Blog Contest and a regular contributor here on the Real Economic Impact blog.

The Value of My Work

Starting Next Year: The Check’s (Not) in the Mail

Don’t expect your disability check to arrive in the mail anymore if that’s the way you’ve been getting it. Next year, the Social Security Administration is stopping issuing paper checks for all benefits programs. Now you will receive your benefit through direct deposit to your bank account or in a debit card you can use.

It’s still tax time and tax refunds will still come through the post office. But the IRS does encourage electronic filing and encourages filers to go online by stating that it can process those refunds faster (and who doesn’t want their refund faster?) than mailed-out checks. The paperless payments switch will be made final by mid-next year. So what do these paperless changes mean? Well, if you’re one of the 90% who already receive their disability benefit electronically by direct deposit, the change doesn’t mean much.

Obviously, all-electronic payments will be easier and safer than paper checks. As you might expect, every month, posted checks are reported lost, stolen or used fraudulently through the mail. And the Social Security Administration should save big bucks by going all electronic.

This kind of switch has worked well for other government programs: the SNAP program (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – formerly known as food stamps) has already made the change from tear-out paper food coupons to debit cards years ago. I am one person who receives the monthly-updated food stamp card who was very glad for that change. Swiping a card, while using my food stamp allowance, promotes my privacy and dignity at the supermarket. I also already receive my disability through direct deposit. It is much easier to check the bank account on the third day of each month over the bank’s phone recording or a quick online look up rather than worrying about a check coming to my mailbox.

To get ready for this change, you may need to open a bank account if you don’t already have one. NDI’s partner One Economy has good information on opening an account on their Beehive website. Opening your own account is your best option to make sure that you’re ready for the switch to direct deposit and that once switched, you’ll keep all of your monthly cash benefit and not lose any to unexpected fees. If you do not have a bank account, like my food stamps, each month, disability benefit payments will be added to the new debit cards, which can be used to make purchases. But these cards also come with some fees. You can check out the fees at the Go Direct website.

Whether you are happy about it or not, paperless change is coming so you need to get ready for it. The government has created a website, www.godirect.org where you can find a toll-free phone number people can call for assistance in making this switch if needed.

Soon, we’ll go green with our green. Way to go!

Cindy

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Cindy Battles is a freelance writer based in Rutland, VT, winner of the National Disability Institute’s 2008 Blog Contest and a regular contributor here on the Real Economic Impact blog.

Practical vs. Playful: Ways to Spend Your Tax Refund This Year

As a person living mostly on Disability, I get a fairly low tax refund from my other sources of income. But I do get something, it’s just under $500. In my past blogs around tax time, I’ve urged first the Practical Approach, looking at your refund as money you paid into the system and deserve to treat frugally when you get it back.

In the past, I’ve used tax refunds for:

• an emergency fund for computer repairs
• putting the money in a savings account and paying off bills in those months when money is short
• paying down credit card debt
• investing in much needed car repairs or even an off season warmer winter coat
• taking care of the not so urgent but very necessary dental work.

In other words, Needs.

But this year, I am also including self-improvement Wants as a refund spending option but only when those financial Needs have been met. The Playful Approach - seeing the refund as a way to reward yourself for your financial hard work!

• How about a wanted new piece of furniture for around the house like a large, comfy armchair? Check out furniture store sales and local flea markets.
• Create great memories with the money: Put some money away for a shortish summer vacation (We’re going to Cape Cod this year, five hour drive, four day stay).
• As a Want and a Need, take a class in a subject that could help you move ahead at work or purchase computer software you’ve been wanting to upgrade.
• And how about a slightly expensive, new suit for out-of-town work meetings? Want/Need.

If you decide to go the Want route with a portion of your tax refund, don’t feel guilty! Consider spending your refund on you as simply treating yourself well. 

Go ahead and make a memory.

Cindy

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Cindy Battles is a freelance writer based in Rutland, VT, winner of the National Disability Institute’s 2008 Blog Contest and a regular contributor here on the Real Economic Impact blog.

April 17th

It’s tax season again. Federal tax deadline is April 17th. That’s because April 15th falls on a Sunday and Washington, D.C. will observe Emancipation Day on Monday, April 16th. So the deadline to file federal tax returns this year is April 17th. Most deadlines for filing state returns are also April 17; however some states may be different. Be sure to check on your own state deadlines.

Knowing some tips will help you get through this tax season. And knowledge is half the battle.

Start early and get ready. Spend some time up front to get together the information you or your tax preparer will need such as your W-2 form from your employer and any 1099 statements.

You’ll then need to decide if you want to prepare your own taxes or have a trained preparer file for you. My friends at National Disability Institute introduced me to Myfreetaxes.com, where you can file yourself online (for FREE!) or have your taxes prepared in person (for FREE!) by a certified volunteer!

They will e-file your taxes and use direct deposit. About 70 percent of taxpayers last year e-filed, many from their home computers, or through their local Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site, where you can also get free tax prep.

It’s ultimately easy and secure. And you know what else is easy and secure? Having your refund deposited right into your bank account. No waiting around for the mail. No hassle of going to cash or deposit the check!

More on what to do with your tax refund in my next blog. Hint: I’m a big believer in an emergency fund.

Cindy

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Cindy Battles is a freelance writer based in Rutland, VT, winner of the National Disability Institute’s 2008 Blog Contest and a regular contributor here on the Real Economic Impact blog.

A Place of My Own

“Women, then, have not had a dog’s chance of writing poetry. That is why I have laid so much stress on money and a room of one’s own.”
- Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

This week, I’d like to share some of my thoughts about getting a place of my own. Now I don’t write poetry like the author cited. Haven’t since high school. But I do write for magazines and newspapers.

As a person with a disability, I had a bedroom of my own in my mother’s apartment for quite some time. I lived with my family on and off since I returned to Vermont in the 80’s. Most recently, I lived with my mother and brother in a duplex for the last eleven years. I can’t tell you how important it felt for me to get my own apartment at last at the very end of 2010.

Virginia Woolf is correct with her emphasis on the necessity of your own money and space. I couldn’t and still can’t afford an apartment on the market here in Rutland, so I applied to my subsidized apartment complex four years ago. I didn’t really know how to get into these little apartment houses on the hill outside of town. So I tried the basics: drove by the complex, wrote down the name and looked it up in the phone book. Their management company answered. I told them I had a disability, wanted to rent and they sent me an application. It was a case of hurry up and wait. And wait…

Turned out as the years passed and I pined for an apartment to open, I met a friend who lived in the complex, and I could see her place and what I was getting into. I loved her small but neat little space. As I said, it took me four years on the waiting list to be selected for a downstairs apartment. I couldn’t take a second floor place because of my feet impairments.

During that long waiting spell, I heard of other friends who couldn’t hold out being on hold long term and had to look for apartments on the market with family money or move in with their parents. During this same time, I was also on the waiting list for five years to get on the Section 8 program. I was accepted, but instead I chose to live in my current complex - the difference being this is a subsidy which is given to the owner of housing units that must be rented to lower income households at affordable rates. Versus a federal program, Section 8, where you receive a voucher for landlords to accept and be paid two thirds of the rent by the government. My project was in one spot in Rutland. Section 8 travels.

So why did I choose to move here? After seeing my friend’s place, I fell in love with the complex. Because my housing is subsidized, I also pay only a third of my meager Disability income in rent. As a bonus, the heat is included. If it sounds like a good deal, it is. I got lucky. My apartment is small and modest, but it works for me. My neighbors are nice folks, some with disabilities, mostly elderly.

I have found that with independence comes responsibility. I need to maintain my apartment’s cleanliness and habitability (we are regularly inspected), take care of household chores like grocery shopping and laundry that were previously done as a family.

All of these new demands are helping me to grow as a person. I still live in Rutland, write on my computer - mostly features about my hometown, but when I sit down to write, I am in my own living room. My own put-together “office space.”

A place of my own. You can never overestimate how good independence feels.

Cindy

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Cindy Battles is a freelance writer based in Rutland, VT, winner of the National Disability Institute’s 2008 Blog Contest and a regular contributor here on the Real Economic Impact blog.

Delayed Web Gratification

You could say I live on a fixed income. I receive Social Security Disability and while I am a freelance writer, those checks aren’t regular enough to get me out the “fixed income” zone. As I’ve chronicled over the past few years on this blog, I’ve been working very hard to become better with my finances. But a few years ago, I had a real problem living within the confines of this under $1,200/month income: I was (almost) an online spendaholic.

I looked into Spenders Anonymous where I learned to reign in my penchant for buying gourmet chocolates for Christmas presents and other sumptuous, out of my reach birthday gifts from the web. I might have even surfed the Internet to buy a new couch, new stereo equipment or other large household items. The UPS truck knew its way to my door by heart! In short, I was hooked.

My advice is to delay, delay, de-lay buying any stuff. Give yourself time to think it over. If you really want to get out of debt and make do on Disability, your goal should be to save, save, save and stay ahead of your monthly bills, maintain your car as required and pay down your credit card (singular in my case). Then see what’s left over. Don’t blow it. On Disability, or any fixed income, the last days of the month are the hardest financially.

So why did I overbuy? Buying on the Internet filled an emotional need for me for a moment. I felt more well off than I truly was. This spending high was squelched when I saw my bank account dwindle. It was no win. I stopped cold turkey.

Today I buy what I need (not often what I want) which is a budgeted modicum of clothing, groceries, gas, rent, and utilities. With the occasional indulgence of dining out somewhere nice for lunch once a month or so. You gotta splurge now and then.

But basically, now I only spend what my banking website says I have in my debit account by not letting the balance go below a certain amount each month. I feel better about my finances when I do without what at the time seemed so enticing online.

As I wrote in a previous blog, I email friends before clicking that last Purchase Item Now button on Internet sites like Amazon.com (books) or Overstock.com (gifts). Simply getting off the site and checking with a sponsor or financially-sensible friend can help me avoid another unnecessary debit card depletion.

Delay gratification when web surfing and you’ll necessarily speed up your savings. At the end of the month, when you assess your savings, you and your bank account will be glad you did - without.

Cindy

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Cindy Battles is a freelance writer based in Rutland, VT, winner of the National Disability Institute’s 2008 Blog Contest and a regular contributor here on the Real Economic Impact blog.

Beating the February Status Quo

It’s that time of winter when you might not be living up to your New Year’s resolutions. You remember: Eat fewer sweets. Exercise more at the gym. Are you stuck in what I call “February Status Quo?” My take? Replace your unfulfilled resolutions with some economic solutions. In my last blog, I wrote about giving up drive-thru eating. That saved me at least $15 a week. Other suggestions for saving during the late winter months are as simple as walk, talk, and get together, etc.:

Walk

Go grocery shopping with a friend and walk the aisles together chatting and getting your groceries. You’ll save on gas going together and have two pairs of eyes for spotting those supermarket bargains.

Call a few local gyms and find out if they have any 2 for 1 membership deals (you may have to call around). Then grab a buddy and walk the treadmills together discussing how the day went. You’ll split the cost of the gym and be doing something good for your health. (Remember that resolution about going to the gym?)

Talk

Instead of meeting up with friends at Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks for a chat, have them over and brew coffee yourself. Talking is just as good at home over Folger’s. And cozier.

Have a call buddy/shopping sponsor to talk you out of ordering that gigantic piece of exercise equipment which you already suspect will ultimately hold and hang clothes in your living room. I don’t buy anything over $25 without running it across my buddy. It helps to have someone who is also on a budget and successfully getting by to be your call-in sponsor.

Get together

Dining out with friends is one of my favorite things to do, but it can add up. Try planning a bi-monthly potluck to replace some of those meals out. Warm up dishes in the oven and gather round your diningroom table. This beats itemizing bills and leaving sizable tips. Also groups help in fighting those isolating winter blues.

Do laundry with someone, share a car to the laundrimat and back for reduced gas prices. Flip the laundry from washer to dryer and fold while you visit. Friendship makes even the laundry more enjoyable.

This last tip was recommended by a friend: hold a Savings Party where like-budgeted pals pool together their own ideas and perspectives for saving money.

Whatever you do, join me in making sure this February won’t be like the others before. Join me in beating the status quo!

Cheers!

Cindy

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Cindy Battles is a freelance writer based in Rutland, VT, winner of the National Disability Institute’s 2008 Blog Contest and a regular contributor here on the Real Economic Impact blog.

Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is

This year may be the year I resolve to put my grocery shopping money where my mouth is and stop frequenting Taco Bell drive-thru twice (or thrice) a week for their rice and bean burrito.  Not to say that their burrito is evil per se (though it is tasty and addictive).  It’s just not sensible financially when I could be spending about the same on bags of rice and beans and some flour tortillas at my local supermarket and always have these staples on hand at home. 

Remember the old adage about shopping the perimeters only of your supermarket?  There’s something to that. Carefully plotted out, a healthy eating plan can be as inexpensive or more so than fast food where McDonald’s meals can now top six dollars. (I may have gotten the salads, which are also pricey, but I’m an avid scanner of their whole drive-thru menu.)

“It’s a total myth that eating healthy is expensive,” according to dietitian Katherine Tallmadge, author of the book Diet Simple. In fact, she holds, “it’s the cheapest way to eat. The fat, the salty, the sweet, that’s the expensive stuff.”

With my resolution firmly in hand (clutching my reformed grocery list, that is) I did some sleuthing at my local Price Chopper Supermarket and found out that a large bag of potato chips can cost anywhere from three dollars to $5.99.  For the same money, I could buy several pounds of fresh potatoes with nutrients intact and many possibilities for preparation.

So I am now buying things like a lot of quite small and skinless cuts of chicken, those full of protein beans I love (I tell myself, “Don’t head for that drive-thru, Cindy!”) and fruits in season when they’re cheapest not to mention freshest.

Getting on track with healthier eating can save me money in the short term, but it has the potential to save me money in the long term as well.  Studies show eating right and regular exercise can lower prescription costs and medical costs can decrease as well.

Exercise can also improve conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease.  That translates into better overall health and fewer doctor visits. 

Well, catch you later.  We might bump carts in the fresh veggie aisle.

Cindy

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Cindy Battles is a freelance writer based in Rutland, VT, winner of the National Disability Institute’s 2008 Blog Contest and a regular contributor here on the Real Economic Impact blog.