Senior Center News, March 19, 20-21

North Central Senior Citizens Center, March 22-16

Menu by Earlene DeWinter, subject to change

Monday — Chicken-fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, broccoli, peanut butter cake

Tuesday — Cranberries, turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes, cake

Wednesday — Cheeseburger, potato salad, baked beans, dessert

Thursday — Pork chow mein, crunchy noodles, honey garlic chicken wings, fruit

Friday — Soup, chef’s choice, dessert

The Senior Center’s doors are still closed to the public. We are providing limited services by phone with individuals bringing their paperwork down to the center. Help is being given over the phone when possible.

Tax preparation information

The AARP Tax Preparation people are having major challenges reaching people to help them with their taxes. People still are not answering their phones. They will try to contact you two or three times. After that your name will go to the bottom of the call list. If you don’t want this to happen, please answer your phone.

If you want your taxes done, put your name on the call list at the Senior Center and the preparers will contact you to set up an appointment. The individuals that do the preparation are diligently working on the procedures they have to follow and have been making fantastic progress. They are taking additional seniors on their call list. When they call you to set up your appointment, be sure to answer your phone. As stated previously, they will try to contact individuals a couple of time, but they cannot spend all day calling one person. They are running into the problem of people not answering their phone or phones not working. As much as we don’t like the scam calls, you can hang up on them. Answer your phone in case it is from the AARP tax people so they don’t have to keep trying to call.

Walk-ins will not be accepted. On the day of your appointment, please wait it the alley by the doors on the west side of the building. Someone will come out and get you as they limited to the number of people they can have in the building at any given time.

The process is taking a little longer because of restrictions which have been implemented. Please be patient. They thank you for your patience as the new methods are tested and implemented.

Transportation: The Senior Center is providing medical transportation only. Remember to call ahead for Friday’s appointments. Monday and Thursday rides have to be worked around grocery delivery.

Congregate meals: We are still continuing to provide meals at the Hill County Senior Center as grab and go meals while we are still closed. If you would like to pick up a meal, please be sure to call the Center before 10 a.m. to order your meal through the kitchen. Your meals may be picked up at the center from 11:45 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. Monday through Friday. If you would like to, you may order a meal for one day or put in your order for the entire week. If you would please let us know which meals you would be like ahead of time, it would be beneficial in preparation so we are aware of how much food to fix each day.

With the isolation, challenges are being felt by some people be a friendly neighbor. Contact a senior or a veteran that may be facing challenges just to see how they are doing. The personal contact will help them feel a great deal better.

How to create a household budget that’s right for you

Take these steps to spend less, save more and achieve

your financial goals

by John Waggoner, AARP, March 9, 2021 

For some people, the only thing less fun than doing taxes is creating a budget. But a good budget means that you can do many of the things you want to do, such as taking a vacation or buying a new car, without worrying about where the rent money will come from. And if you’re realistic, a good budget can be remarkably easy to create and maintain.

Start with the basics.

A budget is a way to figure out where your money comes from, where it goes, and how to end up with money left over at the end of month. That’s the bottom line: Spend less than you make and save the difference for specific goals of your choosing. Basically, budgeting consists of four steps:

Step 1. List your income

For most people, that’s take-home pay. You can’t avoid paying taxes or health insurance. If you have other sources of income, such as Social Security or IRA distributions, add those in, too.

Step 2. List your fixed expenses

These are the expenses that have dire consequences if you don’t have enough money to pay them: rent/mortgage, utilities, insurance, car loans, credit cards, medicine.

Step 3. See what you have left

If you don’t have anything left, you need to reassess your income and expenses and perhaps even take drastic measures, such as selling your car, moving to a cheaper place or seeking a better-paying job.

Step 4. List your flexible spending

This is the money that goes to ordering takeout and delivery, traveling, streaming music and movies, shopping online for a new wardrobe and so on.

Be warned this is not always as simple as it sounds.

“While it’s relatively easy to get information on rent or house payments, car payments, utilities, and insurance, it’s harder to track variable expenses, such as food and gasoline, and even harder to track purely discretionary expenses, such as dining out, new furniture, clothing and charitable contributions,” said Mark Bass, a financial planner with Pennington Bass & Associates in Lubbock, Texas.

Important phone numbers

• Montana Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255) RAINN National

• Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673

• Tumbleweed Runaway and Family Crisis Program: 259-2558 (local) 1-888-816-4702 (toll free)

• Friendship Line by Institute on Aging — The Friendship Line is both a crisis intervention hotline and a warm-line for non-emergency emotional support calls. It is a 24-hour toll-free line and the only accredited crisis line in the country for people aged 60 years and older, and adults living with disabilities. Toll-Free Line: (800) 971-0016

• For those seniors getting frustrated with staying home and needing someone to talk to you can call 1-877-688-3377 for Montana’s Warm Line.