How is it that old saying goes?
"The only certainties in life are death and taxes."
The bad news is that the giant combination suck-fest known as the US economy and inflation, combined with the crappy crypto market, combined with our own home businesses being in the toilet... means that my Hive Power has all but been completely powered down to... well, virtually nothing.
All this in service of being able to pay a US $7,225.44 property tax bill, due at the end of March. Thank you, come again!
I suppose the good news is that we did have Hive as an "ultimate fallback" option, when all else failed. Which it pretty much did.
The bad news is that now it feels like I am pretty much "starting over" on the process of building my Hive account... which it took six years to build. From 16,500 HP to 1,600 HP, thanks to tax on a property we own outright.
The Good, the Bad and the Indifferent...
I suppose the "good" news is that we now formally qualify for the designation "senior and poor," as a result of which our property tax bill will be about 75-80% lower from this point forward... unless, of course, our business ventures actually start making money again.
As an "added bonus," the state of Washington freezes your assessed property value at the moment you qualify for this program, so even if property prices were to resume their crazy upwards spiral, our taxes would continue to be based the same lower and partially "exempted" value from now till... well, the end. Or when we sell the house and move to a smaller space.
Which basically amounts to the equivalent of being $5,500 a year "better off," from this point forward, or until our income rises by at least 50%.
Poverty (relatively speaking) sucks.
As I mentioned, the irony of the whole situation is that we allegedly own our home outright, having bought it with cash, long before the crazy property prices went haywire and lost all connection with reality.
Let's face it — inflation notwithstanding — the cost of a pile of lumber, bricks, wires, roof tiles and pipes has NOT risen by 500% in the last 15 years!
But at least the tax abatement means that not only rebuilding my Hive account without as many concerns for having to liquidate everything again, but also the potential to start building an HBD savings balance, with a more long term horizon in mind is actually on the table.
My immediate ambition there is to just be able to supplement our incomes with +/-$100 a month from the interest... so the goal is to build a 6,000 HBD savings balance.
I guess that means I get to see — first hand — just how serious the "HBD liquidity shortage" might be!
I expect it will be nothing to worry about, on the scale I'm working with!
Glad this "death march" is now over... and onwards! Gardening season is almost here, and it's time to start growing things!
Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the rest of your week!
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Created at 2023-04-12 14:25 PST
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