Let the record show that on Friday March 29th, we paid our property taxes (or enough of them, at least) to avoid going into a costly tax foreclosure situation on our home. $5,300 and some change, and we can stay here for at least another year.
This is both a bit of a "freewrite," as well as a Ulog entry... I'm giving myself ten minutes before I head off to bed.
Not sure what these are, but it's a flowering bush in our garden
It's ironic, as I have said before, that we actually "own" this house outright (no mortgage), and in spite of this the property taxes basically add up to about a $440.00 monthly "rent" payment, with another $90.00 a month in "community fees" to the neighborhood association.
What I consider to be "empty expenses" have always annoyed me. Because this has been such a financial struggle for a few years now, I have made an agreement with myself (and Mrs. Denmarkguy) to put our financial house in better order, so we know precisely where all the money is going.
Now you might be wondering why we are living in a house that seems "too expensive" for us... and there's a somewhat simple answer: Having a medical issue in the US of A.
This all began back in 2011 when Mrs. Denmarkguy had the first of two shoulder surgeries to have first her left rotator cuff repaired, and 12 month later her right side repaired. The problem was that after years and years of schlepping heavy trays in the foodservice industry (and playing high school and collegiate volleyball, before that) she was in a great deal of pain and losing mobility of her arms.
Her choice: Get the procedures done... or be permanently disabled... at 40-something.
Blossoms on our apricot tree...
Of course we had health insurance; health insurance that was already costing a back-breaking $660 a month. In spite of having this "insurance," the first surgery ended up costing some $13,000 out-of-pocket; the second surgery slightly more. By the time we were done with that, we had no more savings, no more reserves, and we were quite a bit in debt to medical bills. Eventually, we were sued for payment because — tada — we owned property.
One thing led to another, and we slowly fell behind on property taxes... because we had failed at America's TRUE health plan: "Don't Get Sick!"
Like an estimated 55 million US households (households, not people), we live on the edge; the edge where a single unexpected $1000 expense would make us destitute, in spite of the fact that we both work hard at something that pays us... just doesn't pay us enough.
Robin in the garden, outside my window...
The irony of being self-employed is that we have lots of "freedom;" but it comes with a somewhat hefty price tag... the "system" is designed in such a way that those who don't conform to a certain way of being find themselves facing a higher "price tag" for that non-conformity. It's hard to explain...
But anyway, there is a little "lightness" in the air tonight, as we "bought" ourselves another year! And I promise this will be the last time I publicly whine about taxes... at least for almost a year, till we go through this circus, again!
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Created at 190330 00:33 PST
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