I haven't been around for the last couple of weeks. Life has thrown us another curve ball and I let it take over every waking moment of my days. My nights haven't been great either. I lay in bed wondering what the hell are we going to do now?
We're moving again. I was praying that the last move would be long term but the landlord has decided to sell the house. He's asking way too much for the property and financially we just aren't prepared to buy. We love it here in Spanish but we've learned over the last year that it cost us too much to live here, away from all the amenities. Staying here in Spanish would be financial suicide for us. We need to be closer to the things we need such as doctors, stores, and friends. We've decided to move back to Elliot Lake.
Unfortunately, we can't afford to rent a house in town. It's going to have to be an apartment or a townhouse. At the moment Michael and I are living on his pensions which limits out options. My pensions don't start until March of 2019 and even then we will have to be frugal. Being tight with our money is not a problem, we've been doing it since he got ill in 2005 and was forced into retirement. What we weren't counting on is me losing my job in 2012 because our mall collapsed and so I too was forced into retirement. Elliot Lake is a small community with very few jobs and at my age, it becomes even harder.
For a week now I've been working on a budget with different scenarios trying to figure out how we're going to survive this next move. I already have first and last months rent and the moving expenses saved and we don't have to move until the end of September but it's trying to find a place that fits into our budget. I can only stretch a dollar so far and I only have so much money for housing. Rents are going up by the day in town and hydro has gone up 60% in the last three years here in Ontario. I'm just a wee bit discouraged at the moment. I really don't know how seniors are coping with all of this in the bigger cities.
Elliot Lake is considered a retirement town and rents are supposed to be geared for seniors and their pensions but we can't afford the rents even with Retirement Living. I know seniors who turn their heat off in winter during the day and turn it on at night during the coldest times. If they leave their heat on they can't afford enough groceries to get them through the month.
I'm feeling a bit lost right now but we do have a few other options and we'll be looking into them over the next couple of weeks. It is frightening not knowing where you're going to live or if you'll even have a home in four months.
I'm not looking for pity because in my heart I know somehow I'll find a way to make it all work. I always do. I just needed to rant. Michael and I are not apartment people but if that's what we have to do, we'll do it. It just breaks my heart to have to take away his music. He's an entertainer and he wouldn't be able to practice in an apartment. Any extra money we make comes from his singing. I'm just going to have to believe with every fiber of my being that it will all work out and we'll find a way through this.
Betty Davis was right when she said: "Old age ain't no place for sissies."
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