I was trying to put up holiday decorations this weekend and I just got so grumpy and down. The house we live in now is 1600 sq ft and I bought most of my decorations for my old 2600 square foot house. I have about 3 boxes of decorations I am either going to throw out or give to charity. I also have 3-4 big storage boxes that have nowhere to go and they used to look so nice in my past homes. Every room in this house needs work, from mildew shower, to beaten faded carpet in all bedrooms, to a basement that is a mess and a garage that is messy. I try to do a room a year, but I just can't seem to keep up, it is not an open format and it is on a dirt road, which makes keeping things clean so hard. And redoing rooms is so expensive, I just do the minimum. Yes, we are healthy, kids are getting an education, but we just did our healthcare selections and the same levels of this year will run us $130 a month more. Our taxes will also go up with this fiscal cliff issue on the table. My gosh, DH makes six figures but only brings home less than $2400 a pay now! Taxes, healthcare premiums and not having a pension has us drowning. DH got a raise of 5% last year, but it all went to healthcare and increased auto insurance. I am working really hard, over 50 hours a week, and this month is so tight. We cut way back for the holidays, but college tuition is due for both kids- $14k. I have most of it saved, but it is going up each year and we need to make some up. Sorry, just venting here. Want to go out and have a festive time, but scared to spend anything. We have done well at paying down a lot of debt and I don't want to go backward. Wine at home is about it for me, cheap wine! -M