Today was my last day working for poverty wages.
Hopefully I will get my first SS check in January.
I will still be living in poverty, but at least I won't be doing back breaking work for said poverty.
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Have a great retirement!! 
My dog disagrees. lol
Thank you so much. , too.
enjoy !
some people who have recently gotten their Social Security. SS gets raves. They still work, and still pay into SS, but get a monthly check.
Re your crafts, I have a story to tell you about a college-level student of mine who has an Etsy store. This student does wood carving, and just before Christmas, he and I had to spend some time waiting together. I was curious about what these sounds were that were going off on his tablet. He seemed to be smiling happily each time that would happen. I asked him, and he told me those were Etsy sales. He was particularly happy that one item sold within two hours of listing it.
Of course, this is Christmas.
My student makes his items out of discarded stuff he finds at the curb. One item he sold that morning was an illuminated lighthouse that he made out of a bedpost. Consequently, he has no overhead other than his time. He told me that is his big thrill--making money off of something that cost him nothing.
I think it's great 'cuz it keeps stuff out of landfills.
Oh--one other story. One day he came into class with the biggest smile on his face. He showed me an antique mitre box he had seen in a window in a secondhand shop near the school. He knew the value of it--around $300--so he told the owner of the store it was worth a lot more than the $25 the shop owner was asking. Long story short, my student took a photo of the item, sold it for the $300, and went back a few days later. The secondhand store owner had not checked out the value like my student had told him to, so he was more than happy to sell the item for the $25. Net profit to my student was $275.
I guess my point is that if you enjoy that sort of thing, there may very well be a way you can turn your new found time into some extra $$.
If you want to see my student's Etsy store, PM me and I'll send you what to put in the search engine.
I'm happy for you, malokvale77. As a school teacher, I do get lower wages than what I'd have gotten in corporate America, but I get a decent amount of time off, for which I am very grateful.
Cher
Take some time off and if you want to return to work to pick up some extra cash I'm sure that something will work out for you. 
Thank you TT.
I cannot express how much you have meant to me here on DU.
Right back at ya
I don't like wishing my life away either but I sure am looking forward to that milestone myself. I have about 5 more years. (Unless some bastard Republicans pull the rug out and up the age before I get there.)
I really hope you are able to get by ok. One of the major wrongs going on in the world right now is the fact that people who are workin their asses off are living in poverty. I hope someday people will look back on this the same way we look back on things like slavery and child labor.
Good luck!
Congratulations on making it!Response to malokvale77 (Original post)