Everything is Going Up But My Income Blues

So there was a report out a couple of days ago that people's income has fallen even further since the recession "ended". It was no surprise to me and just pissed me off the rest of the hour. I guess I shouldn't watch the news with my coffee anymore. :P Well, what is the reason for that since we are in recovery? One is that there are more and more unemployed and underemployed people. Another is that hardly anyone is getting a raise anymore. Still another is that the price of everything is going up.

I noticed my grocery bill was getting higher although the stuff I was getting was basically the same. Lately I've been reading the receipts carefully to make sure I'm getting the sale prices. If it ain't on sale, I don't get it. Of course, with some things I have no choice, like eggs. For the five of us, I get 18 eggs and now they're $4.19! Sometimes I get a coupon for them and I use them whenever I do. Another is coffee. I used to be able to get coffee at Walmart for $5.99. Now it's closer to $10. That's for the larger size. I used to get hamburger meat for $.99 and whole chickens for $.69. Now they're $2.49 and $1.99 on sale respectively.

It's not just food. Our electric bill jumped up because they were allowed a rate increase. Our health insurance (the secondary to Medicare and prescription plan) both nearly doubled.

All of that has just about trashed our budget. It used to be that we had enough for the bills and expenses with a little left over to save or for unforeseen expenses. Now we have just enough to scrape by. We're supposed to have three to six months of income saved in case of an emergency; we don't even have a week's worth saved after the hits our savings took from the vet and the bankruptcy attorney.

So now we come to TB's tooth. We shared with our therapist about going to the dental schools in Newark or Philly and she came up with someone who might be able to help us who is closer. There is also a dentist that TB used to see. This afternoon I began calling around. The place the therapist suggested told me an extraction would cost between $160-$400. For one tooth.

The doctor TB used to see would charge between $100-$190 depending on how complicated the procedure is. For one tooth.

I think it wasn't so long ago you could get a tooth pulled for less than $100.

The dental schools might be free but this time around TB wants someone who has experience, not a student, to mess with his broken tooth.

Now I'm going to be checking into all the secondary health plans to see if any offer dental or vision. I think it's ridiculous that they don't. When you can't take care of your teeth and they go bad, it's dangerous. When you can't get glasses and have to drive on the road with ten year old prescriptions, it's bad.

It might be tiresome that all I do lately is rant and rave about depressing stuff like this but this is my life right now and I can't hide it anymore.

Rock on, Take Over Wall Street and Take Over Philadelphia and Take Over Wherever Movements!