Things just aren't getting better
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| Tue, 10-04-2005 - 5:30pm |
Things are not good. Our debt has grown in the last year by about $10,000, how in the heck does that happen? Definitely poor money management, being deprived for so long and going out and splurging, and not putting away the credit cards like we should have. Some of it was definitely necessary, like having to do some things to our house we still own out of state, being able to go home to visit (without the credit cards we would not have been able to (and this is not an option to not go here cuz dh is military and will be deploying soon so any time at home for him is needed-and we always drive so we are not spending it on plane tickets)), and some of it to just live b/c we can't make ends meet. It's like things always come up that either dh doesn't tell me about that he needs, and yes these are needs, or now things are happening to our house that we are trying to sell. I don't work, mainly b/c I take care of the kids. Dd was home with me last year, but now both of them are in school this year, however we only have one vehicle and dh usually takes it to work. Transportation will not be as bad once dh deploys which will be around the end of Nov. beginning of Dec. I am looking into possibly getting a job at the school my kids go to which is in walking distance but I have to wait for my transcript to get here before I apply. Our house is a big issue. We decided when we went home in September that we would put it on the market. We love the house but we can't manage the rental properly since we are 700 miles away and not to mention we don't have the funds to always fix things that need to be fixed. We are having problems with the basement flooding. In the last 4 wks it's rained alot there and either the sump pump has quit working or runs and runs (never happened before this) and one of the windows we thought was fixed is still leaking. We've had a family friend get over there twice to fix both sump pumps, but it seems the 2nd pump is still having problems so I think we'll have to replace it. We NEED this house to sell....fast. I have no idea if there have been many showings of it, I'm guessing there have b/c the realtor has seemed to be there quite a bit and emails me each time there's a problem. Right now the only way we are able to pay the mortgage is by using our credit cards. Which is hurting us even more.
I talked with dh about this yesterday and asked him how much trouble he would get in if we filed bankruptcy. He said he would get in alot of trouble and then they manage his money for him. We do not want that to happen, but I don't know what to do anymore. I talked to him about selling our Blazer and hopefully able to get what we owe on it and get a smaller car, but he says NO, keep the Blazer and just deal with the $350 a month payment. I'm thinking if we can get something for around $200 a month and cheaper on gas it would be better for us in the long run. Ack, this whole thing is driving me crazy. I'm worried and stressed out about it. Dh doesn't see all the bills all the time like I do, but I know he does get stressed out about it when I talk to him about it, like I did yesterday. Any money we have coming in for the rest of the month is already marked for our debt payments/auto payment. We literally have about $10 in cash that we can choose to use for gas/food/etc.
All this and then we have the holidays to look forward to and our son's bday next month. I'm trying to come up with ideas, like selling everything we own, but how in the heck do you get rid of everything and start all over? I can't seem to part with some of these things, and I know they are things, but they are things we use all the time. I don't know. I'm rambling at this point, but at least it is nice to get it out into the open.
Thanks for listening.
Michelle


I'm so sorry to hear that things aren't looking up. I hope that your house sells quickly so you can get some relief. I don't have much advice-I did wonder if flying might actually be cheaper with the cost of gas (I don't know what the gas mileage is on a Blazer). If just your DH went and flew that might be the cheapest option.
Taleyna
Actually it's cheaper for us to drive than for one person to fly. We only have 700 miles to go and it costs us a little bit less than it would for one person to fly. Besides, when we go home we all go home.
Thanks for your input though, I appreciate it.
Michelle
Been there, and the feeling of waiting is interminable. I hate feeling like things are out of my control. My suggestion to to make a plan. With a plan you gain a little control back.
You have to find a plan to get some control. In my case that was absolutely no credit card spending. I started putting tiny amount of money away, $ 20 every two week, into my emergency fund. It got drained several times, but it enabled me not to acquire any more debt. I also talked to my kids and my family and we found other ways to make things work. I explained to our kids that we didn't have alot of extra money, and that we had to be really careful what we bought. For example, for my son's birhtday I gave him the choices of his two favorite make at home dinners, and we made and decorated cupcakes. I also took the day off work and spent it with him. We went tobogganning, and public swimming. Total cost for the day: dinner, free, cupcakes and decorations, $ 4, and public swimming admission $ 2.50 X 2. He had a blast, and didn't miss any of the more expensive gift we normally would of bought him.
Also see if there is any help available, maybe there is a food ank you can access, or other ways that you can save..
Hope things start to look up.