trying to navigate my future

[Cindyestravels]

Hello everyone,  My name is Cindye. I have been a fan of Bob's for a long time and he makes everything look so simple. 

I am 45 year old female. I have been divorced for almost 10 years now. My kids are both grown. My daughter and Grand daughter live in another state. My son lives with me. He is 21 and suffers from seizures. It is hard for him to find work because of them. Trying to take care of him and the bills are getting harder and harder. I have always wanted to travel and see what is out there. I have been on 2 cruises with my son and loved them greatly. Now  it is hard to just put food on the table. I am on the verge of having my utilities shut off. This does not scare me because I have seen this coming. So, I have been trying to get a way to keep my phone and computer charged. I have a solar panel wires and an invert er plus a charge controller All I have to get is a battery and a friend is going to donate one to me. I have been trying to figure out how I am going to survive the future and I am not 100% sure on everything yet. I used what little money I had put up to get the solar set up and a couple of storage containers to put my clothes in. you see I work for Wal-mart until Sept. 28 then I no longer have a job. I can no longer work like I have been due to my back getting worse. I have been working even though I was told to file for disability by my Doctor. Waiting on that to get approved was not paying my bills. I am starting all over and re-applying for disability for me and my son is also applying. however for the time being I am trying to figure out how I am going to get my car set up to live out of. I have a tent, I have a folding table, I have a folding chair, i need to get one more, I will be getting a camp stove for cooking and I will be getting a cooler for cold food items. Camping is nothing new to me I have done it a lot growing up and I always enjoyed it.  With that being said I am looking forward to the experience.  Thank you for reading this.

 

[GotOldEarly]

The SSA process is so very slow.  My lawyer and I have been working to get me disability for over 3 years.  I have several health issues and will likely die before I am age eligible.  I'm pretty sure the process is slow by design.  Saves them tons of money.  I to am in the process of getting my vehicle ready to live in.  My hope is that my body is not to broken to do it.

I admire your attitude, hope that your process goes smoothly, and wish you and your son the very best of luck.

My Grandmother always used to say. "We are not measured by how we fall.  We are measured by how we get back up."  Stay determined, smile and find the good in each blessed day.

All the best, Lee

 

[Cindyestravels]

Thank you Lee,  I have a friend that has been trying for about 5 years for it. I know its going to be a long process but with any luck I will be able to make it till then. : I wish you all the luck with you future endeavors .

 

[rvwandering]

Welcome to the CRVL forums Cindy!

To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[Moxadox]

It took me 3 years to get my disability, including multiple interviews, surveillance, and finally SS court. After the first denial I hired an attorney, who took a smallish cut, working on contingency, so it cost me nothing out of pocket. I believe that made the difference between winning my benefits and not. And she accompanied me to court, which made it possible for me to do that, since I have extreme PTSD and often can't manage things like court. The judge was astonished that I had been denied twice, and awarded me the highest amount retroactive possible, so after the lawyer's cut I ended up with a lump sum of over $20k, which got rid of the medical debt I had and freed me up going forward.

If you don't already have a lawyer, it would help you greatly to get one. It costs nothing out of pocket.

The Dire Wolfess

 

[GotOldEarly]

Maybe my time is coming soon.  I've had an attorney working on mine for right at 3 years now.  Hope I can get a little bit of the bundle I have paid in, for years, before I kick the bucket.  May be I waited to late to begin enjoying life.

 

[Dingfelder]

Good luck on your progress. Most attorneys who are particularly good in any specific area of law have specialized in it. That's one reason they tend to easily beat down less-experienced 'jack of all trades" attorneys. I hope everyone who chooses this route -- and I believe you should get an attorney, and right away -- is careful to get one who knows what he is doing. The best way is calling up your local bar association. They will refer you to someone in your area and may be able to point you toward someone who is well-versed in the particular areas of law you need.

 

[GotOldEarly]

Agree, and yes, my attorney is one of 4 in the firm and that is all they do.  Since, if I don't win they do not get paid, I'm pretty sure they only take on cases they they are fairly confident they can win.  They have been great.  The federal process is the problem.  Drag it out long enough and people claiming will die off.

 

[JuliaAnne2018]

Hello Cindye,

I'm about your age 44 going on 45. I just have a four-legged child none with two legs. I'm finally acting on what I wanted to do for years. Also in planning/preparing stage for some of the same reasons as you.

Julie

Sent from my RS500 using Tapatalk

 

[Linda]

I, too, am on disability and am extremely grateful! I was not awarded any back money because I continued to try to work until I was let go. I turned in my application and was awarded disability within 2 months. Unheard of, right? Here is what I think really made a difference for me. I went to ADRC, Aging and Disability Resource Center, and the intake worker wrote a letter about how she saw me in her office and gave me all the little extra forms they sometimes use to plead our case. I saw every specialist I could think of to help with pain, and even sought the help of a psychiatrist to help with the stress and anxiety of how my life was changing. I think it's important to not only note the physical toll but the emotional toll on your life. Give them a list of every doctor and the dates the saw them. Also a list of every medication you have been subscribed.

Then I got every doctor to send me their records, and my primary care physician to write a letter. Then my 18 year old, my friends, and family filled out a Third Party Report.

I sent it all in together and within 2 months received an award letter stating that they did not request any physician records or other proof - which is what really slows things down - because I supplied them with all the information needed. I'm telling you the legal envelope was two inches high! I also wrote a letter explaining how my life has changed and what it has done to my quality of life.

Anyway, I had to sell my home and now live in an RV. Now the problem is I am camped and my back went out. I don't know how I am going to pack up when it's time to leave. I am fairly close to home if I am not better by the time I leave, but what about once I'm boondocking thousands of miles away? What do people do?

 

[Cindyestravels]

thank you all for the warm welcome and the information on ss it is appreciated.

 

[Dingfelder]

Agree, and yes, my attorney is one of 4 in the firm and that is all they do.  Since, if I don't win they do not get paid, I'm pretty sure they only take on cases they they are fairly confident they can win.  They have been great.  The federal process is the problem.  Drag it out long enough and people claiming will die off.

The feds or state/county are the least of the problems.  The insurance companies are the worst of the problem, an absolute nightmare ... and yes they do treat things as if hoping you'll simply run out of willpower or life itself before they have to pay.  I worked in a plaintiff's workers' comp/disability firm for 13 years and could tell you stories ...

Stick to it.  You're right, if they took on your case in the first place, it wasn't because they didn't want to get paid.  It can be a long slow process, until the opposition exhausts its last possible option ... but in the end, if you're due the benefits, you're due them, period.  And you'll get them if your attorney is a match for the opposing attorneys.

Thank goodness you got one, because the ordinary worker or even the ordinary jack-of-all-trades attorney is no match for the highly-paid pros or the indifferent but sometimes truly awful and vindictive bureaucrats on the other side.

 

[Dingfelder]

Anyway, I had to sell my home and now live in an RV. Now the problem is I am camped and my back went out. I don't know how I am going to pack up when it's time to leave. I am fairly close to home if I am not better by the time I leave, but what about once I'm boondocking thousands of miles away? What do people do?

Is it possible boondocking way far away simply isn't the right choice for you?  I'm a guardian/conservator for the elderly, and one of the problems people serving the elderly and disabled face (which really means what those people themselves face) is that help is so far away.  They often buy homes way out in the sticks because they're cheap and the surroundings are beautiful and nobody can tell you what to do.  But then the ambulance is 40 minutes away and there's only two for the whole gigantic county and you'd be dead by the time they got there ... a taxi would cost a fortune if you're alert but can't drive ... so much more I won't and probably don't need to go into ...

Okay on a more positive note .. are you near a city that has easy to find immigrant labor? I'm not now, but when I lived in southern california, I could find immigrant labor almost anytime i wanted just by going to the Home Depot parking lot and asking guys to jump in the car or the back of a truck.  And they all but fought for it.  

Not all were good, that's for sure. Some of them, I wondered.  But most of them were really hard workers, amazingly strong, would sweat up a storm for you and i defy you to not give them a nice lunch when you see how hard they're trying to do the right thing and work their tails off for you for minimum wage.

Also, college kids are an incredibly under-utilized resource.  Many of them are desperate for work.  College is a very financially hazardous thing for many kids and they would love the chance to help someone who is willing to just give them a chance.  Whether it's through the bulletin boards scattered through campus, the official employment center at a college, or craigslist, you can often find a young person thrilled to make a few extra bucks.

Finally, senior service agencies in any halfway developed town or city can either refer you directly to an astonishing number and variety of services or refer you to other agencies who can get you going in a positive direction.  The breadth of variety of help out there is astonishing, and some of it doesn't even depend on being funded -- there are actually plenty of volunteers in many small towns and cities who have nothing better to do than help others and wouldn't mind doing it.  In my town, for instance ... too many!  There's actually a waiting list for volunteers or a "not now, please check later we love ya" attitude toward volunteers in some services and areas.

The key thing is asking about in a community.  It's all but impossible to have people reach out to you if you don't reach out to them, so ... pick up a phone, walk into an office or agency, be honest but hopeful ... you might be surprised how many people out there are actually pretty fond of helping others and have thought a lot about how to do it ... and then made it possible.