Hi. My name is Colleen Kobe. I have started this GoFundMe to help me get back on my feet financially. To get there, I need to pay off my credit card debt, look for employment, get at least one bedroom and bathroom in my house fit for people to rent, and continue writing my novels.

I am 66 years old, divorced, still have all my marbles, and I’m in pretty good health. I live in a big 122-year-old house that I currently owe $69,000 on, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

How I Got into this Situation

Five months ago, I was happily unemployed. I had a retirement fund I thought would last for years. I was getting Social Security. I paid all my bills on time, and I paid my credit card bills off every month. I even paid a little ahead on my mortgage when I could. My credit score was 844 out of 850.

Then I received an offer to join an investment opportunity. Short but painful story later, I lost all my retirement savings except for $1,600. I believed in that investment. I took a chance. I lost. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

Life goes on. Credit card interest accumulates. To pay bills until I get another income source, I applied for loans from my bank and credit union. They both declined because I had a poor debt-to-income ratio (which is true). I looked into short-term loans online and their terms were unacceptable, so I did not pursue them.

I’m currently looking on Indeed.com for employment as a remote writer (“remote” so I can write at home). I write technical articles, how-to articles, business documents, reports, instructions, obituaries, novels, lyrics...pretty much any type of writing, really, except for marketing.

I also do software testing.

I hope with all these skills, I’ll be able to find a job soon.

In the meantime, I am very grateful for Social Security. It is keeping me afloat for now.

How I Came Up with the Request Amount

My goal for the amount I would request would be to pay my credit card debt and normal expenses for the next three months.

The Other Income Sources I am Developing Besides GoFundMe

Income Source #1: Renting out Bedrooms and a Shared Bathroom

I have two unused bedrooms I can rent, either for full-time living, temporary housing for visiting medical professionals at the nearby hospital, or as an AirBnB. The separate bathroom will be shared by the bedroom renters. I already have furniture (bed, table, chair, dresser) and linens (sheets, blankets, pillows, pillowcases, towels, and washcloths) for each bedroom. All these rooms require some work to be acceptable for renters (in my opinion). All the bedrooms have a “theme” of an ecological environment.

Work Needed: Shared Bathroom

The shared bathroom needs a fan installed to vent outdoors.

Work Needed: Bedroom #1

Bedroom #1’s theme is the tropics: big tropical plants, parrots, waterfalls, and teal lagoons. This room needs repainting (prep work, walls, ceiling, and all trim) and its windows fixed. They are “sash” windows but they don’t stay up and they come down like guillotines. I have to prop them up with PVC pipe. Not acceptable.

Work Needed: Bedroom #2

Bedroom #2's theme will be the prairie (in honor of my parents, who grew up in North Dakota). In the spring of 2023, it was undergoing major changes until a death in the family occurred. Work stopped and has not restarted. The remaining tasks are: drywalling; priming and painting for the walls, doors, closet, windows, and all trims; if possible, the floor refinished; a ceiling fan installed; shelves and hooks installed in closet; and a few other small tasks.

Today, I picked up the business card for a drywaller who did excellent work for me several years ago. If I can afford him and he’s available, I’ll hire him. He will do a better and faster job than I can.

Income Source #2: Writing my Novels

I’m writing a four-novel science fiction series that starts in my little Upper Peninsula town in 1889. The novels contain time travel and psychic abilities, and deal with moral issues such as “the needs of the many vs. the needs of the few, or the one.” They start in the future with a fast-moving asteroid plowing into Earth, sending the planet into an extinction-level event. A group of scientists sends volunteers into the past to “acquire” healthy plants, animals, and humans to reseed the planet more quickly. The novels follow the lives of four teenagers whose lives are profoundly changed by the events.

I have made the bedroom beside mine into my writing studio. I write early in the morning, while my 17-year-old cat Odin is still asleep. Once he wakes up, there goes my solitude and writing time.

In Closing

Thank you for reading this far.

I have dramatically cut my expenses in the past month. I rarely go anywhere besides the grocery or hardware store. I don’t eat at restaurants. I’ve cancelled all my online subscriptions. I limit my purchases to necessities for myself and my health, for Odin, regular maintenance for my car, and house maintenance. Since I got myself into this mess, I’ve learned to shrug, smile, take the many little hits, and move on.

Please consider donating to my GoFundMe account. Every dollar helps.

God bless you and your loved ones.

Colleen (and Odin)

P.S. When I was young, I expected to be wealthy by this time of my life and I would turn my Social Security benefits away. But sometimes the Universe has other ideas. God bless the good-hearted folks who work in, are proponents for, or are involved with, the US Social Security office.