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How do you live a fulfilling life when you’re not allowed to earn money or volunteer too much?
Our guest today concludes our Tales from Camp Mustache series with a heartbreaking tale about being disabled in America. She has asked us to remain anonymous for fear of someone figuring out who she is and taking her healthcare benefits away. It costs over 6 figures to keep her alive each year, so the penalty of being caught is steep.
She went on disability at the age of 24. 24!! That is crazy young. Because she is on disability, she is not allowed to earn over $1,000 a month, have more than $1,000 in cash on hand at any one time, volunteer too much or get a part-time job. If she volunteers for 10 hours a month, someone could see that and decide she’s capable of working 160 hours a month and take away her benefits. It’s not that she doesn’t want to work, it’s that she literally can’t afford to look like she’s doing too much.
It sounds crazy, but that is her every day reality.
We also chat about…
- how to get your expenses super low
- crazy times from Goodwill store hunting
- tips on how to hack Target clearance items
December 2018 update: Tami decided to live a fuller life, one not full of fear. She claimed her additional income and lost her disability benefits. She has since started a blog (link below!) on what life is like for someone to face medical problems but live a rich and full life. We are here to support her in her endeavors!
We hope you learn a ton from our guest today – we know we did! If you like what you heard today, please subscribe to us in Apple Podcasts.
Show notes and links from today’s episode
- OfferUp
- Mavis Butterfield – Wool Artist
- Disabled Girl on FIRE (Tami’s NOT ANONYMOUS BLOG!)
- Her Twitter
- Her Instagram
Key takeaways from our chat with our guest today:
1 – She cannot have over $1,000 on hand at any time
The rules for disability state she cannot have over $1,000 to her name at any time.
If she volunteers too much, or makes too much money, she can lose her healthcare benefits.
Even volunteering 20 hours a week is grounds for termination of her benefits.
This is something J and Gwen didn’t even know and definitely think this whole situation sucks a ton. If universal healthcare came to America, she wouldn’t have to worry about losing her healthcare and could work as she is able.
2 – Expenses need to be hacked as low as possible
Since she can’t have any money on hand, her expenses need to be as low as possible. This means….
No cable.
No new clothes or fancy electronics.
….No garbage service?
She takes care to produce as little waste as possible, but does end up with a few grocery bags here or there that she disposes of at friend’s place or in public garbage cans. It might sound extreme, but it’s the same concept as cleaning out your car at the gas station. Just with a bit more dog poo.
3 – Goodwill Hacks
Some Goodwill regions offer 30% off coupons when you drop off an item and get a tax receipt. Those coupons are stackable with the colored sticker discount days for an even better price!
Buy small appliances in the off-season. Ice cream makers in the winter, bread makers in the summer, the list goes on. Hold on to them until the right season comes around and then there will be a pool of buyers eager to snatch them up.
Goodwill Outlets sell clothes by the pound. A hand-made sweater could cost over $100 in yarn and supplies from a yarn store. If you buy sweaters by the pound from a Goodwill Outlet store, the net price of a woolen sweater could be under $1! Disassemble the sweater and bam! Tons of yarn for a new sweater for a super low price.
4 – Target Hacks
If Target has too much clearance stuff, they send the excess to Goodwill. (Varies upon region, of course). Then you can get brand new Target items still in the box for $.99 or $1.99! Wipe off the permanent marker with rubbing alcohol and you can flip it in no time flat.
If you buy clearance items from Target itself, sign up and use their Red Card. Not only do you get 5% off, you also get an extended window of time to return items. If you can’t flip it in 60 days, you can simply return it to Target and get your money back. When you’re dealing with small amounts of money, every item and every dollar matters.
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Christina Traffanstedt says
I have to say, this is one of my favorite FI podcasts I’ve listened to and am so glad to have found her blog! I too have become chronically ill and haven’t been able to work a “real job” in two years because of it. However, I also haven’t taken on the challenge to get on disability for fear of getting stuck in that income bracket and ruin my chances at FI. Between the shame she touched on and this fear of being stuck, I’m in a sort of limbo where all I’ve been able to do is work to lower my debt. It’s nice to hear that there are more options for side hustles that don’t require tons of energy that I don’t have or a large monetary investment (living on $400/month means a very tight budget). I was starting to think FI and living with a disability were mutually exclusive ’til now!
Minnie says
I’m a Canadian living with a disability pursuing financial independence. Found this podcast episode in my search for disability financial independence content.
I started my FI journey 2017 then quickly realized that I have more to do to hit F.I then realized I do not want to retire early, I need to retire with dignity. In Canada they took over 3 years to debate if they should lift Canadians with disability out of poverty and it’s still a debate.
It is easier to be approved for medical assistance in dying due to poverty then get the income and benefit support you need as a disabled person. I got tired of hearing the abled body narrative of people in the fire community, so I started sharing my story.
There is so much the fire community needs to understand about disability and if they are not prepared for it they could lose all their F.I