What makes a difference, and what doesn't?
Found myself pondering that question, following yesterday's post about food shopping.
It is with some sadness (and maybe a little shame?) that I must admit that I have lived at the edge of poverty for so long that I have come to recognize that every little bit matters. I am never cavalier about even the value of $5.00.
A long time ago, I remember buying a second hand coat from a charity store — spending, I think it was $5.99 on it — and when I got home it turned out there was a $50 bill in one of the pockets! Somehow, the staff at the second hand store hadn't fully emptied the pockets.
At the time, that made a huge difference in my life. It enabled me to buy some gas for my car, and some very basic groceries in some volume. A 20 lbs bag of potatoes always made me feel more "food safe."
Mrs. Denmarkguy and I are definitely not "welfare mooches," but we do look for every conceivable program, grant and opportunity for senior and low income discounts offered by various organizations.
The way basic cost of living keeps going up, it's another reminder of how every little bit matters. One of the good news items we received today is that we qualified for a grant to help pay for our winter heating costs. Again, this is not government aid; rather, it is a privately run initiative in our county to help lower income individuals over the age of 60 pay their winter fuel bills.
We got the letter from the organization today, letting us know that we qualify for a $1,664 grant to help pay our fuel bills! No, they don't actually send us a check that we can cash and go on vacation with, the grant comes in the form of a prepayment directly to our utility company, credited on our utility account.
This was very welcome news indeed, given that our latest bill covering the month of December was for $368... and that was before it started getting really cold.
It was also very welcome news in view of the fact that Mrs Denmarkguy needs to have dental work done on a front tooth, and the estimate we got for that last week was $1,711. It sure is expensive to live!
One of the ways I can tell that the economy is not really very good (regardless of government reports to the contrary) is by the very lackluster sales levels in my eBay stores. People often shop on eBay because they can get better deals than at stores or even from online retailers, and when they stop shopping even on eBay you know that they're keeping their hands in their pockets!
Meanwhile, I've been sitting here watching the crypto markets fall off yet another cliff for the umpteenth time, and I'm beginning to think this whole gig has no place to go, at least not anytime soon.
While there was a time when my blogging efforts were almost as good as a part-time income, I have long since given up on the idea that writing is any kind of a money maker. I do it purely for fun and relaxation these days, and while I'm certainly grateful for the couple of dollars I occasionally get it's definitely not something I count on.
Long before there was a Hive, there were gigs as a contract technical writer... but that went south as well — literally — when companies discovered that it was much cheaper to outsource work to people in South East Asia... with English degrees from American and British Universities.
But now I must get back to my eBay listings. I used to think that it was "not worthwhile" to offer items priced under $5.00... but these days, it's actually what sells, and... every little bit does matter!
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your week!
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Created at 2026.02.02 00:12 PST
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