Cleaning up Some Odds and Ends

I apologize for earlier this week when I interuppted the conversations in progress for one of my periodic money requests. The money received, while not enough to allow me to go live high on the hog in some exotic land, __was enough_ to meet this month's living expenses, and provide for my 'children' (three cats and one dog).

Something very strange is happening here. I know I should not count on Google AdSense to earn a supplementary living, but I have been doing just that. When I first started using AdSense, in September,

2004, I thought at that time it was some sort of (most likely) unpayable gimmick. Particularly when I saw so many 'make money fast' reports from Google itself. So I checked with a few independent witnesses who (like myself) had signed on with AdSense almost from day one of the program. I spoke with a few guys, who like myself, have years and years of files on line for research. The figures they quoted me were that I could count on Google for at least a 'few' dollars each month. And so it was for the first year and a half; on the one hand, nothing to get excited about, except that I always did mark the days on my calendar each month until I knew the Google wire transfer had been made into my account. It, plus my social security disability check always managed to 'tide me over' one month to the next, along with the scrapings I collect from State of Kansas' own welfare services, etc. State of Kansas/City of Independence does provide me with a few things: a housekeeper for four hours per week, (of which I have to pay twenty percent of her competitive wages), one meal per day (no charge, delivered here to my door, not the best food, but hardly the worst). Social Security got me a motorized wheel chair; prior to the delivery of the chair (and still available) are discount taxicab rides around town. Taxicab charges flat rate around town anywhere to anyone, five dollars, but City of Independence gives me a coupon book allowing me to ride for two dollars plus a coupon. So, you might say I make do, although I have been out of my house and riding around more now that I have the motorized wheel chair, and riding less in the taxicab.

I also, once each year, get two interesting benefits: food sales tax exemption (a flat payback of $72 for the prior year) for whatever I paid in food sales tax. The second benefit is 'property tax refund' which is some percentage of whatever the mortgage company paid on my behalf in property taxes. I pay my monthly mortgage, mortgage company pays taxes and insurance, eventually city rebates some percent of it back to me. Actually I am paying _mother's_ mortgage, she is in the old people's home now for a few years, but _she_ cannot claim homestead tax exemption as I can; her monthly upkeep at the old people's home is itself in part subsidized by government. So, with all that in mind, let's say I get by ... barely, but I do. I use every single discount available to 'senior citizens' or 'disabled citizens' I can find that I would otherwise be using ... and yet, and yet, I still wind up at the end of the month (Social Security Disability payments run from the 4th 'payday' of one month to the 4th 'payday' of the next month) right back where I started, zero or a few dollars either way in the bank, preferably in my favor, because if it is the bank's favor the bank 'treats' me to an overdraft fee when the next monthly payment from the feds is made. I think this month it will run in my favor (thank you, readers!) since your donations got me 'over the top' by a few dollars.

That's another thing: the monthly federal payout on Disability is _not_ the third day of each month. Feds cut that system out many years ago. If you *were* getting paid on the third of each month, then you still are; but for those of us who started either disability or retirement later, now the checks are paid on Wednesdays; the first through the fourth Wednesdays of each month are the paydays, based on Social Security numbers, staggered throughout the month. I am on the fourth Wednesday of each month. At 2:00 AM on the fourth Wednesday of each month, Social Security's computer automatically makes a deposit into my bank's computer of the amount of money I receive. Bank automatically pays bills, etc. I do not actually _see any money_ all month. All I see are computer pixels; starting at about 2:00 AM on the magic day (fourth Wednesday) my credit balance fills up with money, then all day long the same day and the next, I see it bleed away to the various creditors. The bank does give me a debit card and I can go to any ATM (preferably theirs, to save fees) and withdraw it as I go along. Those of you who sent me money this month; that goes into the PayPal bank. From time to time, I can authorize PayPal to automatically transfer some or all of it (usually all of it) to the regular bank. So I do not, as some have suggested, live 'high on the hog' with 'all' my money.

But, back to AdSense to conclude this wrapup: Ad Sense was running along pretty well for a year or so, then, one month it began getting very meager. Once per month, (like Social, the month following, and about three weeks into the month) Ad Sense makes payout. It _had been_ running along okay. But AdSense only pays on those months in which the payout is more than one hundred dollars. A year ago (last summer) AdSense claimed I did not reach the hundred dollar mark, and they held it back. Well, when you live as close to the wire as I do, that tipped me over entirely. Ad Sense did not come through, bank account ran _very low_ and Bank charged me a few of their $35 per incident fees. Frankly, I never did recover from that until now. And when you add in the credit card overlimit fees it gets a bit much. Ad Sense seems to have recovered from whatever was ailing it and is now back to more or less normal payouts.

I have learned to live very close to the wire, and have learned how to use things like bank float, credit card float and creditor good-will to get through life. But ... anytime some part of the machine fails, I am so close to the edge that I topple over, and have a very hard time recovering, which is what finally happened during May/June. I thank all of you who participated in getting me back on my feet once again. I sincerely do thank you.

PAT

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