Day 17

Blog Post #18 – January 17th, 2020.

More than halfway finished.  The means test and schedule J have a line item for expenses associated with caring for elderly or disabled family member.  It states the expenses must be for those that the family member cannot afford to pay themselves. My parents live in a little town about 125 miles from San Antonio.  My mother will be 90 on March 1st and my dad is in his 80’s. My mom was an Army nurse in her younger years and my dad is a retired Army Colonel. They have enough money for a comfortable retirement.  They still live on their own in a house built in 1915. They used the house as a Bed and Breakfast until just a few years ago. My dad has always enjoyed entertaining. I try to drive down once a month to make sure they are in good shape.  I budgeted $85.00 for the weekend trip for gas and additional food and supplies.    

Every year for as long as I can remember, my dad has hosted a dinner in honor of Robbie Burns, the poet laureate of Scotland, the  last weekend in January. The dinner was well attended by members of the Clan MacLeod. This year he is having a little bit of a health setback and requested I come up early on Friday to help out.  I already have a full schedule for the day so my husband, who is actually the better cook in the family, will take the day off on Friday and do the food preparation. I will still come down after work on Friday.  This will increase the cost of this month’s adventure.

So the question is would these expenses even be allowable?  If not what are we supposed to do with our aging population? If I were actually living on this budget would I have to ask my parents for money every month to fund my trips to their home to check on their welfare and help out with projects. Is paying back debt a more important moral issue than making sure our aging or disabled population is safe and well cared for?  I vote for taking care of family.