Tuesday, February 24, 2009

I'm stressed

Mr. T'dots and I never ever argue about money.  Unlike my previous relationships I was upfront about our money from day 1.

We have worked together since before we got married.  We took his tie-dye hobby & made it into our business 14 years ago. 

In the beginning we sat down & talked about money.  He came from a family that paid cash for everything.  I came from a family that sometimes had a budget.  Dad was self employed and Mom held a steady job.  Mr T'dots had never had a credit card before he married me.  Due to my ex husband's folly I had shitty credit.  (After 20 years he still shows up on my credit report. Thanks Ted.)  

But thanks to shitty fucked up (sorry Mom if you're reading this) insurance we are one of those Americans that are screwed financially.  If you have Netflix watch Michael Moore's "Sicko".  It sums up our life.

Mr T'dots had a stroke in 2006.  He was in ICU for 8 days & then the Neuro wing for another 8. Turned out our insurance wouldn't pay for rehab for a stroke so he had to come home & I was the caregiver.  

After insurance paid what they deemed "reasonable charges" we still owe the hospital $68,000. Add to that the dr's who are taking monthly payments of $25 along with new medical bill due to me breaking my ankle summer 2007, my skin cancer costs and Mr T'dots fainting and EMT's saying he was having a heart attack so there's another ambulance ride, ER & hospital costs = I'm stressed.

There was a huge fund raiser for us after his stroke.  Three different groups got together & had a music festival.  It raised about $8000.  We were able to live off of that for about 3 months.  

Our employees were amazing.  They were willing to work for free to keep the tie-dye business going.  I paid them anyway.

Friends showed up at all the markets we did to help me setup, sell & break down.  

But it's nearing the end of the month and it's when I start to get stressed about money.  "Just keep the roof over our head" is my mantra. 

So today I'm stressed.  Today I have to have a good day in the store to keep the roof over our head.

Petticoat anyone??



***********
12:12 Dying petticoats purple
I'm testing out new dye from our dye supplier.  He sent me 3 different dyes that dye different fabrics.  Since it's rare that I know what a petticoat is made out of I need to combine dyes.  I'm loving the shade of violet in the washer.  I'll find out today if it's the right dye to continue on dying petticoats.


4 comments:

Tricia said...

That's a great purple!

Nothing gets me fired up more than the state of insurance in this country. It's a fucking joke. I'm so sorry you guys are having to deal with this shit. Hopefully in the near future, there will be changes for the better. As long as this country is run by for-profit healthcare companies, none of us will ever be well.

Hope you have a great day in the store today!

wildfluffysheep said...

The charges you guys pay for the hospital are ridiculous. I couldn't believe my eyes when reading the amounts you wrote. We don't pay anything here in England, well besides our taxes. I'm sorry you're stuck paying that for healthcare.

Worrying about money sucks. *HUGS*

that IS a great shade of violet btw.

Dina said...

Petticoat=awesome

Sorry about all your stress. My hair would be falling out in clumps. Sicko made me so pissed.

I hope things start looking up soon :)

Teri Bayus said...

I am in the same boat and about to kill my Mr. Ballz. Fucking insurance. Fucking government. Teri had a heart attack on December 28 and can't afford to pay the bills or do the necessary treatment. so I sleep and whine and dream about killing Mr. Ballz when he tries to reason with me.
Sicko was Dawn's life and Michelle. Dawn got the easy way out.
It will look up, It will get better, It will, I promise. I love you. Pay what you can and fuck the rest.

On a funny note, my son is out of work so he applied and got food stamps. Guess what his first purchase was? Grocery store sushi. Raised them well!
Love you!