life upgrade

Note: this is Version 2 3 of this post. The changes referred to below are food for much reflection and self-assessment. I’m finding it difficult to express (or even understand) my own reaction to events.

It contains references to mental health so if you are a horse named Trigger consider yourself warned.

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battery replacement costs, tax refund, and a banking anomaly of the happy kind

The $180 cost of the new starter battery stuck in my head for some reason. Then I realized why: that was the ~amount of my tax refund would be this year.¹ I hadn’t checked my refund status and I couldn’t remember if TaxSlayer sent a notification when it was processed. So I checked that banking account where it would be direct deposited (DD hereafter). Turns out the refund was issued rather quickly – about a week after I e-filed. Cool.

Logging into that bank reminded me to do my monthly check-in with the other two.² Logged into the first and swept April’s direct deposit from Amazon ($42.51) into my main account since it pays more interest..

Logged into the third bank and got very confused. The balance looked more like my main account and there was a small flurry of transactions that morning that didn’t make sense. Had I moved funds around and forgotten about it? Was I confused about what bank I was logged into? The transactions seemed to be VA-related so I worried there’d been a bureaucratic SNAFU which could end badly for me.³

VA disability rating

Apparently⁴ my VA disability rating was increased on May 1st, retroactive to Jan 1st. So there were transactions for my usual (small) VA direct deposit, a less small deposit (the difference between the old and new amounts), and a larger deposit (lump sum for Jan - March)

At the urging of my main VA counselor I had put in for the adjustment several months ago; I approached it as a therapeutic/cathartic exercise and expected nothing to come of it. In fact, I was a little worried they might decrease my existing rating for spinal and other injuries because of the present “slash it all” political chaos.

my reaction[s] to this increase

Foremost, I am grateful. Although the numbers would be relatively small for a Normally-Housed Person the difference is significant for me.

I am aware that ~2.15% of federal budget goes toward paying for veteran disability compensation and pensions. I intend to steward the compensation prudently to show respect to the taxpayers who pay for it.

some indirect benefits

The compensation will make my life easier, but there are knock-on effects associated with higher disability ratings. These kick in at 50-70%, depending on the program. I will have to do the legwork to figure out how these work.

• Texas
  • no fee for Texas DL
  • no fee for vehicle registration (after paying for $3 DV plates)? This one isn’t clear.
  • state Parkland Passport for free lifetime entry
  • state homes for elderly veterans in several cities
  • combo hunting/fishing license for free (no waterfowl)
• VA
  • Priority group 1, so no copays for meds

This pdf is a pretty good Texas-specific list.

past precariousness and present situation

Since my early “retirement” (secession from society for my mental health) I’ve had to be very, very careful with resources. If everything went exactly right (and so far it had) I would squeak through to early Social Security at 62 (in 2028). As in “pull into the gas station running on fuel vapors”. My income for every year since 2020 has been <$5000, and that includes 457 retirement withdrawals. The shortfall between that income and my living expenses was made up by savings withdrawals and stuff like recycling ammo brass I find on BLM land. I had researched other options like plasma donation but there were some odd logistical challenges with that as a nomad. I tracked my balances and expenses in a spreadsheet to help me understand how thin the margin would be… I paid every bill scrupulously on time and paid off everything each month. The reward for that was a good credit rating even though I had minuscule assets and resources.

I’m not complaining. Even though things were very tight and I was living (from society’s PoV) a marginal existence, it was still much better than the alternative (being around people). I chose this life. Living on 1/3rd of the federal poverty line has been challenging but not necessarily unpleasant. The main drawback was anxiety about expenses that would be beyond my control.

This increased disability rating lets me live a less survival-oriented existence. It’s not enough to get a tiny studio apt or even a rented room in the present market, but it’s a big step up for a vandweller. It feels like I’ve been hacking through underbrush with a machete and suddenly emerged into an open meadow.

immediate effects

My spending habits have not changed; after I saw the balance I trolled the discount grocery section like normal and bought a sleeve bagels for $1.69, some sausages (brat and Italian) for $2.25/lb and some yogurt.

I did pull the trigger on some items I needed but have been putting off for lack of funds:

• socks and underwear to replace ones that were falling apart
• a set of easy-outs to extract some munged fasteners and hopefully repair a spare 50A MPPT I have as backup (~$8)
• a small 12v water pump. Been planning on DIYing a swamp cooler out of parts I scavenged from ones I broke.
• a signal tracer for troubleshooting campervan electrics
• replaced my busted gym bag with a new[er] one from Goodwill ($6).
• replaced a watchband I broke two years ago ($6.98)

I think economists call that pent-up demand. :-)

I have not adjusted my $20/month entertainment budget. I did make small contributions to projects I feel strongly about.

{Today when I was at the grocery store I got emotional and shaky when I realized I could buy something that was not deeply discounted for SELL-BY or other reasons. I didn’t do it, but I could have if I wanted to. This epiphany occurred in front of a row of beef jerky. Told you I wasn’t normal.}

near-term effects

I can travel further if needed to escape the heat. Colorado and Utah, etc, are back on the table. In winter I can head to Arizona again.

longer-term effects

• no longer have to take early SS at 62 as a matter of survival.⁵
• will be able to make a Great Loop trip to knock stuff off my bucket list.
• when my (mini) state pension kicks in at 65 (2031) I should be able to take a smaller percentage of it (50% instead of 75%?) which would leave a better benefit for my daughter when I croak. Actuarially and according to family history I should make it to ~83.

1. My income is well below the $12k personal exemption but some taxes were withheld when I took a distribution from my 457 in Spring 2024. ↩

2. I keep my my meager funds spread across 3 banks, having learned my lesson from this fiasco ↩

3. I worry a lot. ↩

4. Apparent because I found out about it by looking at banking statements. The VA doesn’t email this kind of info, only snailmails it. And since all my mail goes through a mail forwarder it will be at least a couple weeks before I see the documentation. ↩

5. I’d run the numbers before, and assuming I live to my actuarially-projected age of 83 (also the age my father was at his death) then early vs standard SS is basically a wash. The VA compensation has no bearing on SS taxation so it really doesn’t matter one way or another. ↩