The main thing I dislike about being poor is not being able to travel.

[panader0]

I can make it fine here at home, with a small bit of discretionary spending, but travel is expensive.
In 2016 I had saved enough to go to Costa Rica for two weeks. It took a few years to save the dough.
And this past spring I took a road trip with my daughter through California, Nevada, New Mexico and then
back home to Az. I had friends to stay with in San Diego and Sonoma (an ex DUer) but hotels the rest
of the way. Gas was very high in Cal.
I want to go to Ireland, hell, I'd like to fly to see my kids in Denver, Kentucky and Virginia. Well, they
know where I live, and all of them make good money.

[debm55]

1. pan, have you tried different Irish agencies or groups so you are able to go to Ireland? Also,

people are traveling alone and would like a traveling companian. I would check them out very well if you are doing this. Perhaps a senior organization or church group know of people who are traveling and can hook you up. Hugs to you.

[Elessar Zappa]

2. I hear you.

The main reason I’d like to be rich is to be able to travel the world. Can’t do that on an $1100 monthly SSDI payment.

[debm55]

4. Elessar, that is very little money. How do you make ends meet? I wish I could help you and Pan.

Where would you like to go? It's a shame that is all you get.

[Elessar Zappa]

5. I manage.

My car and house are paid off so the $1100 is just enough to make ends meet. Plus I get $100 in food stamps. My dream places to visit are Germany, Mexico City, France, and many other places. Maybe I’ll win the lottery some day lol.

[panader0]

9. I've been to Mexico City. It's huge and sprawling and polluted.

I recommend Oaxaca. Much nicer.
When I was 6 and 7 my dad was stationed in Morocco, and my folks took me all over Europe. But at that
age, I missed out on the real beauty of Europe. My mom wouldn't let me go to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
I'm still bummed about that.
Later, when dad was in Honolulu, we hit Hong Kong, Taipei, Manila, Bangkok and more. Mom was a traveler.

[2naSalit]

19. I live on...

A couple hundred less than that. It means you are constantly on a budget and always making compromises over things you need. When I was homeless, I was surviving, just barely, on about $200/month + $190 in food stamps.

SSDI isn't the same everywhere, some of us get even less than Pander0. If you don't have friends or family it can get pretty rough.

[panader0]

6. $992 Social Security for me. But very few bills. I own my house and 15 acres.

I grow a cash crop, but now that it's legal in Az it's hard to sell.
But hey, there's an 8% COLA in January.

[GenXer47]

3. i feel guilty burning carbon solely for my own leisure activities

We can see the endgame with climate change. It's visible, on the horizon. I think if you have a job and need to drive a car to survive, and you can only afford a gas-powered car, then ok. But retirees should travel electric-only or not at all.
What Gen Z has already sacrificed, losing precious years of development in school, and tolerating massacre after massacre in their schools...we owe it to them to live humbly, and pay them back by not exacerbating the climate disaster for unnecessary reasons.

[panader0]

7. Believe me, I live humbly. Now I have to go outside and split wood for heat tonight.

[debm55]

10. Pan, please be careful. Damn, wish there was more help I could give . Have you thought about selling

off some of your property? Not all of it, but some to help you along?

[panader0]

13. No, I like the elbow room.

When I first bought my land, it was 40 acres, in joint tenancy with a friend. We had the only mailbox
on my road. Now there's a large bank of mail boxes, at least 100, as people bought nearby. The land is
zoned RU5, meaning you must have 5 acres for a residential unit. When my friend died, his wish was to give
his half to his nephews, which I did. They quickly sold it, but the buyers never did anything with it. so it's
like I still have 40.

[womanofthehills]

21. Where I live in NM - it's a conservation area - so you cannot split 40 acres

You can only built a second house for a family member or for a bed and breakfast. I love being out here. Most of us out here bought our land 25 yrs ago and built our homes ourselves- earthships, straw bale, adobes, rammed earth. However, mine is frame with redwood. My boyfriend and I built 3/4 of it ourselves. Now everyone out here is older and can barely build anything anymore.

I suggest you might get into the cookie business.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

8. My dream is to go to Egypt

I love the gods myths culture and art of ancient Egypt.

Cant afford it at all. And the islamic bullies run Egypt and being transgender I'd probably be killed by a religious fanatic or tossed in jail or worse.

I wish there was no religious control freaks with power and it was safe to go anywhere in this world.

There are so many things I wish I could experince,like the Cattoset in Belgium and visit St. Dymphnia's shrine.

I'm not a catholic but she intrigues me as she is the saint who protects people from mental illness and abuse from family..

Would love to see the art in france (that magnificent fountain with the winged lions) and art and legends of other European
cities.

Shit texas isnt safe for people like me,but I wouldnt go to texass if you paid me.

[debm55]

11. Dear Panther, Egypt would be wonderful if it wasn't for the fanatics. Thank you for the name of the

Saint. I'm Catholic and never knew about her. Will have to pray my heart out because I know what's coming Christmas Day. Long story short, I will be spending time with my husband and son and not the aabusive family.=which they will not like.and I will hear about how much I disrespect them. You know blahblah blah.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

12. St.Dymphna is the coolest saint to me

She is an irish Saint and has a shamrock as one of her symbols. Story goes when her own father after his wife died became attracted sexually to Dymphna.
Dymphna ran away,her father relentlessly stalked her and when she fought against him he killed her. That is her basic story.
Another symbol is a downward pointing sword and gold chains to bind the demons that cause mental illness.

If you want PM me.I can tell you how my pagan self got in touch with St. Dymphna.

[debm55]

14. Panther, I PM you Thank you

[UTUSN]

15. Uh, you ain't "poor" in DU fellowship. I hate traveling, myself. My mind travels 'nuff.

[panader0]

16. Back atcha UTUSN. The people here are great, like a family you never knew you had.

So many smart people---Democrats.

[UTUSN]

17. Yeah, the family we CHOOSE!

[Maraya1969]

18. Are there programs around that can help? I started volunteering at a food pantry and

they only require proof that you live where you say you live and be in that area. They also offer tax services and get get you money for bills that you may have fallen behind.

The United Way - Call 211 has a lot of services. I wonder if they could direct you to a budget service. I know I learned a lot about budgeting and/or just finding ways to save money from certain people in my life. For years my mom worked at her church thrift store which had a wealthy parish and it was amazing what she found there. She would bring me beautiful great quality clothes all the time.

I wouldn't tell anyone that you just want to travel but maybe be able to travel to see your kids.

I know that it is hard if you are poor to be able to save at places like Costco if you can't afford to buy in bulk but I know people who join together and shop together and then split their haul. Plus they sell whole cooked chickens for about $5.

I bet there are a lot of websites dedicated to helping people budge money or make their money go farther. Like ditching your cable and getting a roku TV. It is a lot cheaper and frankly I love it.

Then there is visualization which you may not believe in but I know people who have used it and it has worked. One person told me he would imagine money falling on his head and he would make declarations like "I am going to travel to Europe on a wonderful vacation" Well actually that person was my father who grew up hungry poor and just a 6th grade education and he managed to make a lot of money in sales. Our house was filled with books like "Think and grow rich" and "The power of positive thinking" No one in his business or any of the top executives he ended up dealing with knew he had no formal education. He education himself a lot.

I'll visualize you coming into money. It could work, who knows.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. Such Differences Due To Circumstances

I will not travel in retirement, despite being able to afford it because I traveled so much for work.
Here, you wish you could travel & I completely avoid it.
I'd think many more would understand your perspective, than mine.
Hope you can figure out how to get your wish.

[womanofthehills]

22. I have lost all desire to travel

I just want to do art, grow stuff and create at home. A day trip around NM is about my limit now.