Things that Break

No, it is not a game show question! The thing is, when you live far below the poverty level for years, you cannot replace things that wear out or break!

My Social Security Disability now totals a whopping $876 monthly.

Yes, I can pay my HUD rent. Yes, I can pay my basic utilities. Yes, I can buy (if I am careful and buy what I can afford, not what I need) groceries to get me through the month. Yes, I can pay for disabled transit (at $9 round trip) three or four times a month to go to doc appointments. Yes, I can buy ciggies (American Native – online once each month). Yes, I manage to keep one desktop computer (which a friend so generously gave me), up and running.

I have even managed to get The Sisters their shots, and I have enough Advantage in the closet to last a couple of years! (That is another story!).

But when the bottom-of-the-line ‘things’ that I bought 5 – 10 – 20 years ago finally break or die, I’m just out of luck. I do not have the EXTRA funds, even if only $20 to replace something.

A partial list of ‘things’ that I now live without because I have not been able to replace them:
-crock pot,
-toaster oven,
-kitchen timer,
-bedroom wind up alarm clock,
-radio for bathroom,
-can opener,
-utility scissors,
-small gardening tools,
-wind chime,
-stereo,
-portable radio,
-plug-in night lights,
-bath mat
-comforter

This is not even to mention clothing, I have four pant sets that I wear till literally threadbare before replacing, most folks would not even wear this stuff out in public! I have not been able to replace a 10-year-old coat that wore out, or my only sweater that was stolen off the patio 4 years ago. Nor my ‘linens’, two sets of bed sheets and two blankets that are over 10 years old and threadbare; ditto towels, except what is left is over 20 years old!


Unlike some people (usually males), living on SSD, I have no family I can live with and share expenses, I live alone. There is no one that helps me out; only I provide for me. I do not even get Christmas or Birthday gifts (as all my immediate relatives have died).

So, you can now see why I work so hard (to the point of not having energy to work on poetry or other writing projects) on these Blogs and on the HamFanz endeavors (which I just literally fell into and it grew).

The donations I get from these activities (and our trash bins!) are what keep me afloat! I do not spend the income from these donations on movies, clothes, eating out, etc. It goes to food, transportation, The Sisters, then hopefully, on the stuff that has broken.

The moral of this story? Do not get sick, do not get old, and do not buy things that will break! (Now you know why ‘I accept donations!’)