Oscoda County – On behalf of the Board and staff of the Oscoda County Council on Aging we wish everyone a very merry Christmas!!! Here’s what’s going on in December:
Monday Dec 9th at the Senior Center we will hold our monthly Board meeting at 9:00 a.m. As always anyone interested is more than welcome to attend. Friday Dec 13th we are having a small Christmas party at the Center. Santa and Jingles will be here and we will have cookies and stuff. Tuesday December 17th from 10-11:00 at the Center is the CSFP (senior cheese box) distribution. Saturday Dec 21st is the first day of winter (although I’m pretty sure it started October 31st). And of course December 25th is Christmas! The Center will close at 11:00 Monday Dec 23rd and will not open again until January 2nd for the holiday season.
A lot of my seniors lately have been coming to me for financial help. Although we do not have funds to provide that kind of relief, I must say I can sympathize with them. It seems the only people not suffering the financial pinch are people out in Hollywood. (I saw a picture of a mug the other day that said –“ I need one of those Kim Kardashian jobs where they pay me to exist”) So I thought I would focus on financial tricks this month. I thought maybe I should wait until the beginning of the year, but I will probably be focused on building a better body like the rest of humanity.
One thing I do every month that really helps me is putting a small amount of my monthly income into a subaccount. The Credit Union is really good at setting up small subaccounts for you so you can practice this method – or just envelopes at home for cash works too if you have the self-control. Think of major yearly expenses such as Propane, Car Insurance and Christmas money that can be divided into monthly amounts. So, for example I know I would like $500 for Christmas. 500 016÷”> 12= 41.66 per month. So, now I know how much to put away for the rest of the year. By December I have $500 for Christmas and I am not panicking because I didn’t get a bonus! I do the same with my propane bill and my car insurance. (However I won’t tell you how much I have to put away because you will think I am very rich or you will cry.) So, you can either start right now or you can wait until the bill is due to figure out how much you will need to save. I like starting now – even though you may not have enough to cover the whole bill – you will have some and that is better than a sharp stick in the eye. Also the sooner you get into habit of putting a bit away the less painful it becomes. Another good thing about putting a bit away is if you do have an emergency – you can use that extra money. But nothing feels better than saying “Hey, I’ve got that much money – I would like to pay my insurance now please”. And let’s face it – $40/ month is a lot easier to swallow than $500 at once. Save save save – this will be easier than you think! Have a great Christmas and I will see you in 2020!
Merianne Tappan is the Director/Medicare Counselor of the Oscoda County Council on Aging. To contact her please call 989-826-3025.
