We got unexpected $$$ for son!
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My husband turns 62 this month, has retired and will be collecting Social Security. When he went in to do his paperwork last week, we found out that our 17yo will be eligible for SSD payments of over $1,000/mo. in his own right starting in Dec.! and lasting for over a year (until age 19). Since DS turns 18 in February, we MUST "spend down" this money IMMEDIATELY so that he will not have more than $2,000 in his name once he turns 18 or that will prevent him from getting necessary Medicaid Waiver services. What we're going to use the unexpected SSD money for is to renovate a long-closed area or our house so that he can have his own independent apartment. I'm not sure when we'll have him transition to living in it (probably not for many years) but we need to fix up that area NOW so that it will be there when he needs it. It's a one-room apartment that has long been closed because an unseen water leak rotted the floor and we have not had the extra cash to fix it. Now we do! And the one-car garage right next to it will be included in the renovation so that there will be a large bedroom, livingroom and new bathroom. The entire suite will be contiguous with the rest of the house so we'll be able to use it as an extra bedroom, family room and bathroom for ourselves before DS needs to use it for independent living. Having a second bathroom in our future is nothing short of a dream come true. And HAVING TO SPEND this money makes certain I don't postpone the dream out of financial fear -- a tendency of mine. I'm now seeing more and more possibilities for my son's adult life. The money has kick-started my dreams for him again! Excellent, Tzoya -- and I cannot think of anyone who deserves it more! That is absolutely amazing! When was the last time you had a surprise - a happy one? And of this magnitude??? Ever? I am so happy for you guys, and really, the idea to make a self-contained apartment is fantastic! Cole is only 8, but of course we wonder about what's down the road.. We don't plan to live in our current house forever, and daydream about finding our next place with a tiny garage apartment. We could rent it to a college student until he would be ready for it, making it more affordable. But YOU!!!! You already have that - just need to get it renovated exactly like your son will need! Are you putting in features that he will really love in particular? Hey, you should post before, during, and after shots! Thrilled for you! The total amount of $$ will be a little bit more than $15,000 before taxes (tho it will be taxed at our son's tax bracket, which is the lowest). On LI, that is not a huge amount of money for a renovation, so we're going to have to take this in steps. Right now, the priority is simply to get the floor redone. I don't forsee him living there on his own for at least 5 to 10 years. In the meantme, we sure could use the extra space and extra bathroom. So priority imho is to get the bathroom done. I expect that to happen by this time next year. My dream is for it to include a jacuzzi tub since my DS love baths and hot tubs. So does my DH and I could learn to love that, too. I envision a completely separate shower stall that is universal design. If we continue to live here, there is every chance one of us will eventually end up in a wheelchair, at least part of the time, so having an accessible way to have a shower will be important. Other than that, just having the extra space so that he can comfortably have friends over without disturbing us is the goal. I want the space to get new windows for energy efficiency. And the fact that it will have easy access to the existing laundry area will allow me to start teaching DS to do his own laundry. RIght now, the space there is so tight, I don't even allow my DH to help me. So having this extra area will make our home more usable, even for us. It's going to be great to have TWO toilets. I am not looking much beyond this. I'm just happy to share my excitement. And, yes, nothing like this has ever happened to us before (except if you count getting respite -- that's been a huge positive change for our family).Hey, if you are going to do the separate shower, look into getting some pebble tile - maybe even just the 6 inch wide strip to put around the whole thing, maybe at shoulder height. I am getting some of this to put on the wall of our sensory mural at Cole's school. The sensory playground is breaking ground next week, and in addition to the equipment and natural sensory integration stations, we are doing some tactile stuff on a 60 foot long curved wall. I am Susie Tactile these days! Anyway, if you google "standing pebble tile" you can see the stuff where the pebbles are tightly placed together on the webbed tile backing. There is also regular pebble tile, where the stones are slightly more separated from one another and laying flat, but still you have that nice, soothing round surface. You can get this at Home Depot and Lowe's. It is THE hot new thing for bathrooms these days, but I like it for the soothing bumps with the tiny bit of flat grout in between. Excited for you! Yippee!!! When we first moved into our house, it only had one toilet. It was so awesome to get a second toilet before we started potty training our kids. You have a great plan that covers the whole family's longterm needs.
Awesome news Tzoya!!!!That's wonderful Tzoya!!! Sorry forgot to type my message, not much sleep last night. I wanted to say good for you and your wonderful plans for your son's future. I have been dreaming of doing this as well. Keep us posted along the renovation trail! 
That's great news. It will be nice to have the space for him when he's ready.Tzoya, I want to add that $15K will go alot longer now that it would even a year ago. During the winter there is always a slowdown because there is only so much "inside work" that can be done. This winter it will be REAAAALLLY slow because of the economy. You may be able to get a really, really good deal if you shop around. Get multiple bids. If you don't already have someone in mind, a great way to get quotes is to use servicemagic.com. Even if you have a contractor in mind, you may still want to use servicemagic to get multiple bids to compare. You may be suprised what you can get for your money right now. Folks are desperate for work. YAH, Great News Tzoya! Very Happy for your family.That is like SO awesome. I would do the same here--and renovate downstairs into a second living area, including standing shower (we have a half bath down there, which is kinda useless--and would be great to have a standing shower). I don't know how they will do it but, sometimes they do installments for a large amount--as they did with me. I got 12K but, I don't get the larger amount until next June. they send small installments every 6 months instead. You can put in for an "immediate need" if this happens..it is kind of in fine print on the official letter when it starts--I just wanted to let you know SS has a habit of doing installments now since so many people are owed back pay with their new rules. If this happens, and you need the full amount now, put in the form to receive it. I think they kind of hope we don't notice that small sentence in the letter, so we don't ask for what is due to us, and they can hold onto the money, gaining interest until we get the full amount. Hoping you post pictures of the project and..Leslie, i am drooling over the pebble shower, literally. :) Oh yes, and before your son is ready to use this neat apartment, we are all coming for a weekend visit. ALL of us. At the same time. Get busy! This is just the greatest news. I am thrilled for you, and like a previous poster said I can't think of anyone who deserves it more. As far as the construction goes... Best of Luck. We are also on LI and in the midst of a great big remodel. We are adding another bedroom and bath over our existing den and its been hell. After almost a year since the planning phase we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Best to do it in phases and your lucky that your existing living space will not need to be altered. Kristy is right, get multiple bids and take your time selecting a contractor. Even the smallest remodel can be very stressful. But even with all the set backs and stress, its still very exciting! Best of Luck and Warmest Congratulations! Thanks everyone for your good wishes and great advice. Right now, JOB ONE is for me to carve out time to EMPTY these two spaces. They've become dump sites, sorry to say, and I have to finally face the mess. I am a Flylady fan, so I know I can do this 15 minutes at a time. I want to get at least an estimate for the floor replacement right after Thanksgiving. With the economy the way it is, I truly believe we'll be able to stretch this money pretty far. I also plan on using some of the funding to buy a power toilet for our one existing bathroom (as well as for the eventual new one). Pebble tile sounds great, but that choice is a long way off at this point. I'll keep posting as things move along.Tzoya, I just noticed this post. What great news for you and your family. I hope you get everything you need done and then some. Good luck with the mess. I have an attic like that which I am about to face. Grrrrrrrr. Congrats, Lady.
Hi Tzoya Yippee! I hope this is the beginning of all good things to come and you deserve it! UV Tzoya, that is great news. And I know from experience that the stand up shower is going to be very important for you and your husband in the coming years. My parents have had various surgeries and that is one thing they wished they had. EVen the PT remodeled her house and added one. Tzoya---That is great news for you and your son. Congrats! Awesome tzoya - you and your family SO deserve it. Sorry I didn't post my congrats until now - I just noticed the thread!Update -- most of what is "happening" is in my head. I'm also coming up with plans for adult services. I've put in motion a plan to bring my son back to district (for various reasons) and I know that, come February, we will be doing Person Centered Planning, which will mean I'll hire and train all the people who will be helping my with son get more independent accesss to the community. This is important because they'll eventually be helping him live at home alone or with roommates. Fixing up the house is supposed to support that eventual outcome. I'm taking off the week of Thanksgiving and hope to spend some of that time making headway clearing out the areas we're going to fix up. The money starts coming in mid-December. I figure we'll put out some bids for the basic work in January. Tzoya We are starting CSS on December 1st. I've taken half the classes I need to be start-up and support broker. If you need any help let me know. We've already gone through the planning process with DS. You can ask for just about anything if you can prove to medicaid that it is a valued outcome. |
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