We all know or should know by now that seniors generally on a fixed income which is generally not much to survive on because it is only based upon the three highest paying jobs they had over their entire life. Not all of the jobs but just three of them. And as the world continues to change it continues to push out the seniors making it harder and harder for them to survive. The problem with this kind of treatment is that those who are pushing them out will be where they are before they know it, because no one can stay young forever.
There is a huge problem with a country that refuses to help all of their citizens. With all of the budget cuts the country continually faces, instead of cutting from their own fat wallets the first group they hit are the seniors and getting assistance is nearly impossible these days.
Simply buying groceries for some seniors can be an filled with despair and depression forcing them to walk through the aisles with just a small shopping basket and not a cart like they once did. Why is that? It's because they only get paid once a month, and everything that they have to pay must come out of that small lump sum like housing, utilities, insurance, medical bills, etc. So there will be times that once their money runs out they will go without until their next check arrives. However for seniors there is advice for this situation and that is try and buy large amounts of items that can be made into soups or meat loafs and then turn these into smaller individual meals that can be separated and then frozen to be eaten at a later date. And although it is recommended that you eat lots of fresh veggies and fruits you may want to stock up on a variety of different frozen ones so that when the fresh ones are gone you will still have some veggies and fruits you can eat later in the month.
A lot of seniors can't even get the assistance of food stamps or if they do qualify the amount they give them is an insult and not worth the time and effort to fill out the paperwork. For instance if you are a mere $25 over what the government considers the poverty level you'll get a whopping $14 a month. This is in a way criminal and lets not forget that the government thinks they are doing seniors a favor by sending them those monthly checks too! What they fail to remember is that they paid for the right to receives these check each and every day that they worked prior to their retirement with what is called SSI tax. This isn't a hand out from the government, these people paid for this all of their working lives and it's owed them.
Despite how bad the government treats their seniors, which I find amusing since a large percentage of those in the government are seniors, there are places out there that will help seniors if you just look for them. There are many places such as senior centers that offer a variety of different services from helping with utilities, fixing heating problems, offering daily meals that are healthy to fun things like dance classes, different exercise classes, painting classes, computer classes, etc.
Even if the world seems to be leaving the seniors behind, seniors continue to strive and realize that they simply must deal with the hand they are being dealt. A good way for a senior to mentally cope with the feeling of exclusion they may have is to get themselves a pet. Pets can bring so much joy to anyone but especially to seniors. There are shelters out there that are filled with a variety of pets, especially dogs and cats that are waiting for someone to come and take them home so they can give them some love.
Being a senior is not easy but with the right resources, family and friends support you can rise above the silent and forgotten status that so many can find themselves in.
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