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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 19 of 19. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Bob on October 14, 1999, at 18:15:07
Something Racer said up above made me think of entering this thread. Dealing with our disorders, what do you find most difficult about maintaining your finances? What have you done to meet these challenges? What's worked, what hasn't?
I'm in the middle of a pretty big transition myself, which I'll say something about in a little while. But I know one thing -- before I started addressing my panic disorder phamacologically, I couldn't face my bills at all. I had the money -- it's just that I wouldn't have much left if I ever paid them on-time. I'd have too little left, and that would prove to me what a failure I was. It would take me hours to write out just four or five checks. Yikes!
So, while I may be a math whiz, I s*ck at finance. I imagine there are people in my position, and then there are people out there who just dominate in this area. Maybe some of the latter can give some advice to some of the former.
Cheers,
Bob
Posted by Bob on October 14, 1999, at 18:20:17
In reply to matters of personal finance, posted by Bob on October 14, 1999, at 18:15:07
How about we start our own investment club?
The way I see it, we could invest in the company that manufactures, let's say, Naltrexone, then we could all switch over to it as an AD potentiator.
How's that sound?
Bob
Posted by Noa on October 15, 1999, at 2:37:13
In reply to matters of personal finance, posted by Bob on October 14, 1999, at 18:15:07
Bob,
Once again, proof that they took our brains from the same bin at the baby factory. I have always struggled fincancially, and in order to avoid dealing with the reality of being unable to hold my own fincancially, I began using credit cards, which were practicaly thrown at me. The companies LOVED me, because they made a mint off of me. I racked up debts too big to pay off, borrowed from family members a couple of times to pay off, racked up even bigger debts, etc., until I finally went to Consumer Credit Counseling. My parents had offered me a heap of money for a down payment on a condo or townhouse (money they assumed at one time would pay for my wedding--an expectation I did not fill for them). I had to fess up, and they gave it to me to pay off half my debt. The rest is being paid off through CCCS, taken out of my account directly each month. Which helps, because the other problem was, like you, I wasn't even opening my mail because of how overwhelmed I felt. Actually, that is still a problem for me. I still have student loans, a car loan, insurance, etc., and am constantly playing catch up by postponing when I mail my rent, etc. I also still owe my brother $1500; the woman I share an office with $600 for the furniture we bought; $500 to a friend when I ran out of cash while I was out of work; $700 to an attorney who did some work for me; and about $1800 to my therapist. AARGH!!!!It causes lots of anxiety, but not quite the intense self-loathing it used to. If I think about how much I still owe people, I get overwhelmed. But at least I know I have no credit cards anymore and have to limit my spending to the money I have. I need to get more work to catch up, but being depressed makes it hard to feel motivated and confident about getting more work. As I start to feel better, I hope I can start to do more.
Posted by Noa on October 15, 1999, at 2:40:34
In reply to matters of personal finance, posted by Bob on October 14, 1999, at 18:15:07
Before you say anything about my posting this at 4 am....one of the downsides to the meds working better is that I am having sleep problems. I tend to fall asleep ok, but wake up very antsy in the middle of the night. I can go back to sleep after an hour or two, but then have a hard time waking up in the am, which is only a bit over an hour away. Then I am sleepy all day, though continually restless and fidgety. Is this just a med reaction, or should I be wary of a med-induced hypomania?
Posted by Bob on October 15, 1999, at 6:18:35
In reply to Re: matters of personal finance--PS, posted by Noa on October 15, 1999, at 2:40:34
>Then I am sleepy all day, though continually restless and fidgety. Is this just a med reaction, or should I be wary of a med-induced hypomania?
RE: the PS ... you got me. =^S It seems to me, tho, from the accounts of others while hypomanic that lack of sleep did not leave them sleepy. Sounds like the aggitation may be just plain sleep-deprivation-induced jitters.
I went the credit counseling route FINALLY! myself just recently. I feel so proud of being able to take some charge to get on top of my fears. I kept trying to clean up my record, but one bastage farging icehole company (First USA) jacked my rate up to 26.7 and wouldn't lower it short of an act of God. I went to Genus (www.genus.org) and they have been way too cool about it all (especially having the weight to knock F-U-SA down to 8% =^). After I did that, I consolidated my student loans. The great thing about the consolidations is that even while paying on the most aggressive plan for the student loans, I'm still saving $50/month. Hopefully, I'll take that money and put it into something that will grow some more money. Anyway, I went from 8 bills to 3, two of which (Genus, SLoans) come right out of my bank account (like you said, it is sooooooooooooooooo good! not to have to face opening those envelopes!) plus my Amex, which I pay on-line thru their very cool website. Having those monthly deductions, and only two of them to face, gives me something to start building a monthly budget around with a level of complexity (next to none!) that I can handle.
The funny thing about all this is as soon as it hit the credit bureaus that I had consolidated my credit card debt, I started getting offers for new cards! Each week, the offers get more outrageous -- I'm now in the no security necessary, moderate starting rate that drops in several months, $1-3000 limit range. It feels so good to laugh at them, rip them up, then dumpt them in the recycle bin ... in the past, I was always trying to play the balance transfer game. Just got me in deeper.
Anyway, I did have some concerns about how working with a credit counselor might look on my report ... with the sharks starting to circle again, looks like my "circulation" has improved instead of getting worse ... too bad them sharks are toothless, too bad for them, that is.
Bob
Posted by dj on October 15, 1999, at 6:31:54
In reply to Re: matters of personal finance, posted by Noa on October 15, 1999, at 2:37:13
It all sounds too depressingly familiar, and even more so as I have recently jumpted my debt to a much greater magnitude with my current studies which in hindsight are not a great fit for me...ARRRGGGGGhhhhhhhhh
Enought about problems --- anybody got any solutions to offer...
Posted by Bob on October 15, 1999, at 6:36:34
In reply to Re: matters of personal finance--PS, posted by Noa on October 15, 1999, at 2:40:34
> Before you say anything about my posting this at 4 am....
(guess you didn't notice that when I yelled GO TO SLEEP at you the other day, your post was sandwiched between two of mine ... brain bin again, we were on at the same time, posting to the same thread.)
This sounds like yet another case for either (a) learning how to do some serious meditation ... not to put you to sleep, but to help calm yourself so that you CAN fall asleep, and/or (b) learning self-hypnosis (again, not listening to tapes but putting yourself under). Back when I was still practicing the self-hypnosis, I would go into trance then go to sleep, waking up each morning about a minute before my alarm went off. Spooky stuff, but cool, too.
Bob
Posted by Racer on October 15, 1999, at 11:21:40
In reply to ...PS, posted by Bob on October 15, 1999, at 6:36:34
I don't open my bills, either. In fact, when I get enough money in to pay the telephone or electricity bills, I call and ask what I owe and pay that... The rest are mostly ignored, until I can deal with one or two, then I open that one or those two...
As for sleep, I have finally found two things that work for me - besides drugs, that is! The first is making sure I can read for about half an hour before bed each night. That relaxes me, and I read until I can read, without distractions of real life getting in the way.
The next thing I do is more important. The only thing I ever do in bed is sleep. Even when I'm sick, I get up when I wake up and go lie on the sofa. That way, I have the association of bed with sleep. When I can't get to sleep, I get up. I either do something to help relax me, or I go downstairs and lie on the sofa with a book until I'm sleepy. Some nights I sleep on the sofa, but that's better than having other associations with bed. (Yes, I do do THAT in bed, but that's a different story...) These days insomnia is very rare for me, and I think it's because of that rule.
As for the bills, I'm a recovering accountant. Go figure...
Posted by Bob on October 15, 1999, at 12:17:14
In reply to So, I started this, huh?, posted by Racer on October 15, 1999, at 11:21:40
> As for the bills, I'm a recovering accountant. Go figure...
HAH! Figuratively and literally ...
Posted by Elizabeth on October 15, 1999, at 19:46:15
In reply to Everyone back off!!! -- I got an idea ..., posted by Bob on October 14, 1999, at 18:20:17
> How about we start our own investment club?
You know, flaky moneymaking schemes are a hallmark of mania.
Posted by Elizabeth on October 15, 1999, at 19:57:47
In reply to Re: Everyone back off!!! -- I got an idea ..., posted by Elizabeth on October 15, 1999, at 19:46:15
> > How about we start our own investment club?
>
> You know, flaky moneymaking schemes are a hallmark of mania.:-), in case it wasn't obvious!
Posted by Noa on October 15, 1999, at 20:30:38
In reply to Re: matters of personal finance--PS, posted by Bob on October 15, 1999, at 6:18:35
While I am in repayment through CCCS, I am in the bad credit category. I also still got a bunch of credit card offers after I entered the CCCS program, even from the very same banks I was in repayment to!!!! Out of curiosity, I called one of them to inquire, essentially, if their right hand knew what their left hand was doing. The two functions of the company are completely separate. But if I were to have actually applied, ie responded to one of those "you have already been approved" offers, they would have rejected me. I think what is happening is that the unit that sends out the offers must use some credit bureau info that is not very specific, such as frequency of inquiries by other folks into your credit, or something like that, as a trigger to spit out another card offer. Not very precise, but it must be worth their money to just blanket the world with credit card offers. Eventually, I listed myself with the direct marketing association as wanting NOT to receive unsolicited offers of any kind. It makes taking out the trash a much easier job.
Posted by Racer on October 15, 1999, at 20:32:08
In reply to Re: So, I started this, huh?, posted by Bob on October 15, 1999, at 12:17:14
About that investment club:
I've always thought that since I could handle other people's money just fine, what was needed was a depressed buddy to swap financial stresses with. You know, I'll balance your books if you balance mine....
Maybe some day I'll be able to handle my money as though it were someone else's...
Thanks for the laughs, though
Posted by Noa on October 15, 1999, at 20:35:41
In reply to Got my idea swatter ready!, posted by Racer on October 15, 1999, at 20:32:08
>
> Maybe some day I'll be able to handle my money as though it were someone else's...
>
Ha! The cobblers children go barefoot. I am all too familiar with this...I help other people with their problems, and can't seem to help myself with mine.
Posted by Noa on October 15, 1999, at 20:36:46
In reply to Re: Everyone back off!!! -- I got an idea ..., posted by Elizabeth on October 15, 1999, at 19:57:47
We could pitch in on a lottery ticket, maybe.
Posted by Racer on October 16, 1999, at 0:13:58
In reply to Re: Got my idea swatter ready!, posted by Noa on October 15, 1999, at 20:35:41
> >
> > Maybe some day I'll be able to handle my money as though it were someone else's...
> >
> Ha! The cobblers children go barefoot. I am all too familiar with this...I help other people with their problems, and can't seem to help myself with mine.And you just had to inject a note of reality....
My philosophy in life is simple: never let reality intrude on a really good delusion...
(I'm registered to vote in Delusion, MN... ;^P)
Posted by Bob on October 18, 1999, at 11:42:39
In reply to Re: Everyone back off!!! -- I got an idea ..., posted by Noa on October 15, 1999, at 20:36:46
> We could pitch in on a lottery ticket, maybe.
Don't get me started ... don't go there! You wanna hear about crackpot money schemes? Don't even talk to me about the Lottery ... otherwise, Elizabeth's going to have those nice young men in their clean white suits come and take me away ....
Bob
Posted by Don on February 11, 2000, at 11:21:37
In reply to Re: matters of personal finance, posted by Noa on October 15, 1999, at 2:37:13
>Greetings,
Justfound this site. And I thought I was the only one.
Haven't determined from limited reading here what medical conditions afflict those who post.
I have a recurrent, non-functioning pituitary adenoma (can't be removed as it encases the right internal carotid aretry)
One surgery and a 'blast' of radiation via the gamma knife, and I battle with depression, apathy & depression to the point that I've really gotten the family finances in a mess - and I have a BA degree in accounting plus a JD - so much for education being helpful regarding personal matters.
Just finding this location has been helpful. Anyone else here with pituitary induced problems?
Don
Posted by CarolAnn on February 11, 2000, at 13:41:44
In reply to Re: matters of personal finance, posted by Don on February 11, 2000, at 11:21:37
Hi Don, I don't have the pituitary problem, but I wanted to give you a better way to get a response. Each subject line of posts is called a "thread", and some people just look at the titles and if it's not interesting to them they don't read it. If you are starting with a whole new subject, you will reach more people if you stay on the main bill board page and go all the way down to the end where you can start a "new" thread. Then you want to make sure that your subject line is somewhat explicit. For example:
Subject: "Anyone W/Pituitary induced depression?" or something like that, whatever will fit in the box. I just happened to stumble on your post, cause I read pretty much anything. Good Luck! CarolAnn
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