Wednesday, November 6, 2013

The Gate Keeper

Mike called us this morning with a guilty conscience.  He called AT&T Uverse last night and ordered more movie channels.  This is after we have told him a million times that he is not to order stuff without our knowledge.  He is on a tight budget that I manage for him and I can't do it if he keeps surprising me.  I told him that if he feels guilty after he does something then he knew he shouldn't be doing it in the first place.

Oh my, I hate being the gate keeper.  I feel terrible that I am telling him what he can and can't do with HIS money.  But if I don't then he will be broke and will never know or understand why.  I feel like I'm playing bad cop all the time.  

I worry all the time about what would happen if I became incapacitated and couldn't take care of myself let alone my brother.  But I guess that is a universal worry of all caregivers.

Ron is signing up for Medicare this month.  This is another milestone.  I remember the first solicitation I received from AARP.   I hadn't even turned 50 yet and I was so insulted when I got it.  Now here I am.....on the verge of Medicare. Since we plan to continue working we will only enroll in part A and continue our employer coverage until at least 66.  

There sure is a lot to learn about getting old!

2 comments:

Deb said...

I don't remember, but don't you have power of attorney for Mike? If so you can call and cancel those extra channels. There's a woman in our building who is developmentally delayed who really needs someone to act as her POA. She had a legacy from her Dad and she gets a disability check from the government every month. She has no idea. She buys stuff she doesn't need, gets talked into expensive contracts by fast-talking salesmen, and she's running a big overdraft by the end of the month, more and more each month. It's going to catch up with her and I'm worried what will happen when it does and she can't pay her mortgage. Her family is all around but don't seem to know about this, and I don't feel like I have the right to "snitch" on her. But I sure worry.

oklhdan said...

Deb we are going to put all Mike's bills in our name so he can't do this anymore. How sad for your neighbor! People do take advantage!