New Jersey Baby Boomer

The media is reporting that the first Baby Boomers in New Jersey, and all over the United States, have started collecting Social Security.  I’m a “Baby Boomer”, but still have 3-6 years until I can collect…though if those years go as fast as the previous years have, I’ll be there in no time.  Because I didn’t work outside the home for as many years as some…was a stay at home Mom as many years as possible, I don’t think my contribution to our household will be very significant, but it will be better than nothing.

Many predict that the baby boomers are going to eat up all the social security available, there’s quite a bit of talk and quite a few sites on the web projecting this.  Time will tell how all of that goes.  I’ve heard gloom and doom predictions before and they don’t always turn out as bad as predicted, but we are living in challenging times now, so it’s hard to say.

This gloomy article from foxnews.com states that 10,000 Baby Boomers will be retiring each day…and will start collecting Social Security, not to mention Medicare for some and Medicaid for others, things that we’ve just taken for granted that we will have available to us, just as they were available to our parents.  There are also interesting facts at the Social Security Reform Center website.

Fear does come along and rears it’s ugly head as I try to sort it all out in my thinking, and it’s good to think and plan as much as we can, but there’s a lot of things we can’t plan for…it’s those things that can bring fear.  It’s at those times that I love remembering and singing this old hymn of the faith, my faith:

I don’t know about tomorrow;
I just live from day to day.
I don’t borrow from its sunshine
For its skies may turn to grey.

I don’t worry o’er the future,
For I know what Jesus said.
And today I’ll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.

Many things about tomorrow
I don’t seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand

Christmas was only 2 days ago, but feels like it has been longer! Here in Northern NJ we enjoyed a large blizzard, that is if you enjoy that sort of thing! It started Sunday around lunch time and finished this morning leaving over a foot of beautiful white snow to blanket the area. It is also my birthday, which was spent quietly at home. My husband took the week off between Christmas and New Years and spent it spoiling me…my son did the snow shoveling for us which was much appreciated.

I will find a picture of our beautiful snow to add later, but for now, offer my hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and my wishes for the coming New Year!

It’s black Friday…or grey Friday if you look out my windows. No, I didn’t run out the door to hit the midnight sales last night, or the 3 am sales at Kohls, or the early sales at other stores. Those days are done for me, for some they may be a tradition, for me, they were something I did when my children were young….and there was no such thing as “online shopping”.

I’m an online shopper but this year, with a challenged economy and how it has challenged us financially, I’m going to try to rediscover my creative side, and see how we can save.

Thanksgiving holidays…yes, we have lots to be thankful for, there is no doubt about that, but it’s a deeper more meaningful kind of thanksgiving, not the kind that is thankful because we own this or that, but the kind that is thankful that someone in the family who is aging is still with you, the kind that remembers those that are no longer with you with thanksgiving for the part they have played in your life. There’s missing, the missing of those loved ones, missing children that may be overseas in the military, missing children that have married and moved out of the area. Everyone’s circumstances are different, so their approach to the season varies.

This was maybe not the best Thanksgiving I’ve ever had, not feeling well and various circumstances, but still, there are so many things to be thankful for, always…it’s a good exercise to take time to count your blessings, to count my blessings, especially if my mood isn’t lining up with the season as it should.

I’m thankful for you, my readers.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Dual Electronics. All opinions are 100% mine.

When this Baby Boomer got her first car, it HAD to have a working radio…the tires could have been bald, the finish not quite perfect, but the radio had to be perfect. I got my first car as we entered the year 1970, there was only a front speaker on the dash for the radio. My second car had front and back speakers. Then there were the cumbersome 8-Track players, then cassette tape players, and finally CD players…that’s what I still listen to in my car, but not my husband…read on.

The advances over the past 40 years have been amazing to watch, and now Dual Electronics has multiplied the “amazing-ness” almost beyond my understanding…but not quite.

My husband has the best iPod money can buy right now, sleek and attractive looking. But he has also purchased this very odd looking gadget he uses so that he can listen to it through his car radio…I mean really strange looking…I can’t quite describe it. But he still has to reach down and do all the adjusting directly on the iPod…hopefully at a stop and not while driving.

His experience would be much nicer if he had one of the new and attractive units that Duel Electronics offers for car entertainment, like the the XDMA7650, providing a front panel with a USB connection giving you easy access to controls for your iPod® and/or your iPhone®. Though sound quality is important, the feature I think I like best as I think of him out on the road trying to tune the iPod, is the wireless remote control, which I would imagine would be safer than looking down at a contraption plugged into a cigarette lighter like my husband is using right now. And here’s some “techie” info that I don’t really understand, but may impress you, it has 3.5mm auxiliary input & 3-RCA preamp outputs.

This is not all that you’ll find at the site, there are many other car entertainment units available to suit a variety of needs. Take a moment to take a look.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of NMEDA. All opinions are 100% mine.

It is really a pleasure to be able to write about something that is close to home for me…literally and figuratively.  I have a brother who is disabled, or physically handicapped…unable to do things that you and I may take for granted.   In his case, it is more than just a physical condition, but for many who are simply unable to walk, or get in and out of a car or van, NMEDA has excellent, easy-to-use solutions for you.  I was so impressed looking at the vehicles and seeing what they were capable of doing…not all of them are alike, there are different solutions for different needs.   I looked at the drop-down menus under the categories along the top of the site, and visited a few links, and got the feeling that this was a very supportive organization.

The next thing that I wanted to know was whether or not there were dealers in New Jersey that provided these vehicles, and so put my zip code in, a relatively rural, out-of-the-way part of New Jersey.  I found 2 within a reasonable driving distance…1/2 – 1 hour away, in Fairfield, Saddle Brook; others in New York; and one near where I grew up before moving to this area, in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

If there are that many locations in my area, I’m sure you’ll find them in your area, too. Visit and check, and if you have a moment, let us know what your closest location is in a comment.

With the increase in job loss, or fear of job loss in the present recession, there are support groups beginning to form in New Jersey. I just received an email from a fellow NJ Baby Boomer, and thought I’d share the content with you. If you know of other support groups forming, please leave a comment:

UMDNJ-University Behavioral HealthCare to Provide Free Support Groups for People Affected by the Economic Crisis

NEWARK – Panic over job loss. Fear of unemployment. Profound worry about meeting mortgage and tuition payments. Unfortunately, these are the realities of this severe recession.

If you are experiencing any of these kinds of reactions to the current fiscal crisis, it is important to know that you are not alone; there is a place you can go for assistance.

Beginning March 3, UMDNJ-University Behavioral HealthCare (UBHC), a statewide mental health and addiction services network, will offer free 90-minute support groups, run by experienced counselors, for those affected by the economic downturn. Sessions will be held weekly at the following locations on the days and times specified:

-Newark: Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. at UBHC, 183 South Orange Avenue;
-New Brunswick: Wednesdays at 3 p.m. at 303 George Street, 2nd Floor;
-Edison: Thursdays at 3 p.m. at 100 Metroplex Drive, 2nd Floor, Suite 200;
-Monmouth Junction: Tuesdays at noon at 4326 U.S. Highway 1.

• Sessions are open to the public and no appointments are necessary to attend. Participants may remain anonymous.
• People interested in attending may call (800) 969-5300 for more information.
• Members of the media interested in more information about this new initiative should contact Zenaida Mendez at (973) 972-7273.

PLEASE VIEW THE COMMENT(S) BELOW if you are viewing this as a single post, or click the “comments” link under the title of the post, for more support group information that has been added since this post was published.  Thank you.

As I’ve shared in earlier posts, our family here in New Jersey is feeling the affects of the economic downturn in a personal way; not so much that we are devastated, but enough that we feel for those who are experiencing so much worse.  My son is unemployed right now, but he’s still single and living with us, so he doesn’t have the concern of how to feed a family or pay the next bill that many others are experiencing.  My husband has been unemployed, but now has a job that at least pays the bills and keeps us fed.  These small challenges are only a taste of what many are experiencing…I can only imagine what it must be like to be losing a home, not knowing where the next meal for your children will come from.

If we were in a position where we needed to explore benefits, the “red tape” involved in seeking them out in New Jersey, …

 THE REMAINDER OF THIS POST HAS BEEN REMOVED because a link that was sponsored in the post lead to a site affiliated with ACORN.  Until matters are resolved with ACORN, this site will not promote any sites that are related to them to the best of our ability.  Why?  Take a look at what’s been going on at http://biggovernment.com