had a late meeting, so got a few extra hours at home this morning…

clothes to take to Mexico…

saw a little piece on TV by the Golden Girl Finance women about comparing your finances to your closet…  it was very cute and reminded me of some of the things George and I had done to ensure our financial well-being…

George had life insurance from the time he was about 15 and both of us understood the important of insurance… when my parents were newly married their home burned to the ground and they got out with the clothes on their backs and the blanket they had wrapped my brother in…

at one point in our life we had to cancel one of the policies because we were in a very poor financial situation but he maintained his remaining policies…  we also carried insurance on our credit cards and line of credit and thanks to that I was able to wipe out any debt we had, which has made going forward much easier for me now that there is only one income…

I learned that I should have started claiming CPP as soon as I turned 60, even though I was still working… luckily I was able to rectify that…

dealing with government departments, like CPP, can be very stressful…  what I learned over time is that if you aren’t getting the right answers from the person you are speaking with, it might be a good idea to call again and see what another person’s response might be… if you can get someone interested in you, it feels as though they try harder to sort out your issues…

perseverance was something I also learned about… to me it felt as though the forms, roadblocks, and lack of interest were an attempt to have me give up and not collect what was rightfully mine…

thankfully I have sufficient income to remain in my home as I move forward but I have had to wear those big girl pants quite a bit over these last ten months…