Spending your stimulus check?

[user 30781]

I was collecting vintage perfumes for a while. If you know what to look for you can usually get ones in good shape still on Ebay. In 3 or 4 years I only got a couple duds.

I love essential oils too. I was playing around with natural perfumery for a while. Now I mostly use them therapeutically.

 

[XERTYX]

what's going on with your van ????

The gauges all started going wonky and a little Google-Fu suggested a faulty ground, battery, or alternator. 

My nephew and I pulled the alternator after I checked the battery and it was way low. Took it to autozone and their machine said it was fine. They tested it 3X.

The alternator safety clip wasn't all the way clipped in so maybe a combination of problems. But the top of the battery shows signs of acid boiling over. (Likely a dead cell) when running with the alternator back on the battery seems to charge but rapidly drops in voltage after turning off. Then it starts to rise rapidly.

At any rate the battery IS in need of replacement at this point and after paying half of last months check to the dealer for carrying a balance same as cash for me I'm broker than the 10 commandments atm. I didnt even have the cash to buy the permanent tag after the 45 days tag expired.

But April will have me caught up so all is well in whoville. I plan to get my fishing license and drive up further into the mountains and unwind a while. I dont like fish but I might try and cook one if I can catch it.

 

[Gypsy108]

@Wanderingsoul 
I bought a few (Joy) on EBay that were duds ... that did it for me ... I use to wear it in the 70’s...

@XERTYX

sounds like you’ll be able to get on with your life soon...vehicles can be a pain in the butt... I always got new ones cause I got tired of the beaters nickeling & diming me...would rather pay $300 a month car loan than $ 300 month fixing ...but now I’m in no position to get a loan for a better vehicle...maybe in a few months...I plan on getting a credit card to build my credit again...then I hope to get another VAN !

I’m giving up on looking for apartments now..I don’t qualify for a regular apartment with my low income, and the waiting list is long on sec 8 ....so my only option is to live in a vehicle ...

 

[Camper]

If you've shopped for vehicles lately, a $35,000 van can be up to $600 a month. I'll just keep my paid for used one.

 

[Gypsy108]

If you've shopped for vehicles lately, a $35,000 van can be up to $600 a month.  I'll just keep my paid for used one.

i'd never buy one that new....i know banks want you  to buy the newest....but sometimes a few years old is ok....the first and last van i bought was a 2016, the payment was around $330...i would never go much higher than that.  If i got a section 8 apartment I'd be paying 30% of my income...wich would be around $300.  So if my van payment is $300 , i could afford that....

 

[XERTYX]

Section 8 is no picnic. When I got mine while waiting for disability thru my doctors office I finally got a place. It seemed ok. Public transportation. An hour + drive each way to see my family and then finally the neighborhood started to show its teeth. Everywhere had bedbugs. People getting shot. They found a dead body 100ft from my front door from an OD. The first shooting incident was 30ft from my front door.

I lived in worse places before but this one just finally clued me in that this country mouse isnt a city mouse. I need trees, and more importantly NO PEOPLE. (You guys seem ok. )

One thing I'm going to have to do with my stimulus is to get new contacts. I cant friggin see with the old pair I have now. They seem to be worse every day. I'm having to take them out to be able to read my phone. I cant nearly see better without than with them.

 

[Gypsy108]

Section 8 is no picnic. Everywhere had bedbugs. People getting shot. 
I lived in worse places before but this one just finally clued me in that this country mouse isnt a city mouse. I need trees, and more importantly NO PEOPLE. (You guys seem ok. )

One thing I'm going to have to do with my stimulus is to get new contacts. I cant friggin see with the old pair I have now. They seem to be worse every day. I'm having to take them out to be able to read my phone. I cant nearly see better without than with them.

I have never lived in a icky place....i would not tolerate living in a bug infested place or crime infested.....i'm planning on checking the place out that i'm on a waiting list for....if it's too crappy i'm not going to do it....i don't understand how these places even get that bad....i thought the government subsidized places had higher standards and rules to follow.....????

I have never worn contacts either....they never appealed to me....i hope you can get new ones made so you can see better......would those glasses you can buy at the drugstore help in a pinch ?

 

[XERTYX]

The govt subsidized places DO have harder rules. For YOU to follow. Crazy. Every slum lord and his brother tries to get his slice of hell on the section 8 list. And in my experience you pick the first one available or you dont pick.

Of course that was going thru my doctors office that was recieving govt subsidies itself and on a quota. The more people they push thru the higher their budget.

The place I was in wasn't terribly bad as a whole, but it was on the lower rent side of town, near several major thoroughfares, and walking distance to freight RR lines. A lot of people hopped onto the trains and off at that stop where there was a tent city nearby.

The bulk of people down on their luck got help from the homeless services, food banks, and so on. But a lot of the hellians blend in and circulate amongst the people trying to get back on their feet.

I didnt even know there was a homeless epidemic in that area before I moved there. Once my disability was finally approved I LEFT.

Edit:
As far as reading glasses I doubt it. I have astigmatism and a different strength in each eye. The contacts I wear are really good. Most of them make your close vision say 60% and long vision 85%. These are up close like 70% and far 90% almost like a bifocal. It has to do with the specific shape of my eye that I can wear that type.

 

[Gypsy108]

well the one i'm on a waiting list for is for seniors & HAS A POOL :heart:
I LOVE outdoor pools when it's hot out...i hope it will be a decent place.  I have never lived in a section 8 before...the last apartment i had was very nice & quiet ...i'd still be there if i didn't quit my job....my plan was to work for one more year to pay off bills, then get a van & be a nomad.  But i quit my job unexpectedly....just couldn't take it anymore....so had to move out cause i couldn't afford it....now i'm stuck....and trying to get unstuck..
i also have a stigmatism....i thought you couldn't wear contacts if you had a stigmatism....i guess that's changed....

 

[txmnjim]

i always say to drive by the place you are looking to move into at night and see what it's like. some places take on a whole new look at night. btw, we're still waiting on our latest stimulus check and sure hope we don't get passed up again

 

[sreesekelley]

I remember a house when I was little where the rats would come out to play first thing in the morning. I was little and didn't know any better but I have vivid memories of the place. As an adult I would have been horrified to have my kids live in a place like that. It does give you an appreciation for clean and quiet later in life.

 

[HappyLife1977]

Every penny of one, two and three is for the conversion. There's supposed to be a California one, the Golden State Recovery or whatever. To misquote an old Saturday Night Live joke, Covid has been vedy vedy good to us. We qualify but it's always a fight to get it, and it goes right into feathering our rolling nest. If we get the CA one eventually, it'll reimburse us for this year's registration and by then, a week's worth of diesel the way prices are going. This 'emergency' money is supposed to take 45 to 60 days to show up.

 

[XERTYX]

The first stimulus was "mad money" I was skeered. And spent it on things like TP and TP futures.

The second went towards my van.

The 3rd has financed things like solar panels and batteries. And my "Jesus shoes" (sandals)

Last years sandals are a little scuzzy. Gotta replace them. Before last year I hadn't worn sandals since I was a kid. Sandals are a lot more visceral than boots. Which I also have.

When I was a kid I stopped wearing sandals after I cut a path thru a briar patch. The sandals were pokey. As an adult I realize boots are for work. Sandals are for leisure.

Minds are harder to change than hearts. Take what you can get.

 

[WanderingRose]

“Minds are harder to change than hearts.”

So true, and I will remember that one.

 

[vanbrat]

I spent mine on my vans solar stuff now we can cook no mater where we are, and we can read at night, and if it gets to cold we have heat. And we have music again.