Keep Us Moving: Support for Medical and Living Costs

In late 2023, I moved from Ohio to Texas to assist my partner with travel concerns to doctor’s appointments and emergency care visits. For the past year, I was able to keep up with my monthly bills with the part-time position I took when I got here; unfortunately, there have been a few monetary setbacks and I am now almost at a crisis point.

I live with bipolar disorder (type I) and use medication to manage my condition; I was also diagnosed in 2021 with ADD-C and take medication for that. My monthly costs for my health are ~$50 for insurance and ~$75 for medications, plus quarterly appointments with my psych team at a copay of $30. I also require annual tests which vary in cost.

My partner is chronically living with ESRD, diabetic retinopathy and neuropathy, and type 1 diabetes (from which the other two are complications). Dialysis is being used to manage the ESRD, and the journey to transplant is underway. A migraine complication has developed recently as well, but it is unclear why or from where it developed. We see a lot of doctors and go to a lot of appointments, often spending 5-8 hours a day either on the road or in a waiting room or exam room.

My vehicle, the one that takes my partner and me to and from appointments weekly and gets me to my job, is about to be behind on its payment ($480/mo), needs brakes desperately (at least $150), needs an oil change (~$75), and NEEDS to be registered (~$100 to transfer the registration). I do not have the $1000+ to do this, nor do my family or partners.

Additionally, I am currently $300+ overdrawn in my bank account and have maxed my credit lines. (10/10/24: account is back positive!) The overdraft initially came from my car insurance (~$192/mo) coming out of my account at a time I couldn’t postpone it or cover it and has piled up ever since. Because of that overdraft, my phone bill is sitting unpaid for last month (~$150) on top of my car payment mentioned above. My credit lines need to be paid down as well, but the minimum payments are very low and manageable.

I am actively working to supplement my income and to take care of my mental health, so that I might be able to keep going. I have gotten quotes from insurance companies for my car insurance and $192/mo is the lowest I can find (something about Texas and disasters). I have looked into reducing my car payment and no one will refinance it right now. I am just asking for help, any help, to keep me afloat right now.