by Hope
I have no debt update this month because frankly it’s bleak and depressing and I just don’t want to think about it right now. We are still on track to close on the sale of the house in less than 10 days and then my parents will arrive for a week long visit with us a week after that…I’m praying that things will go smoothly with this and that there is money available to me from the sale of the house, but no further mention has been made. I continue to have to put little bits of money into the old house with additional small repairs based on the inspection report and the ongoing utility costs until it closes.
I am still driving a rental car from the accident three weeks ago. On two separate occasions they have said it would be done, was done and it was not. It’s really fine, since we do have something that suits our needs to get around, but I do feel like I’m in a holding pattern.
After the wreck, my back was quite sore. I hoped for the first few days that it would calm down on it’s own believing it to be muscle strain and nothing else. But the Tuesday (after the Wednesday wreck,) I broke down and went to the doctor. They did x-rays, etc. and luckily found no degenerative issues which is what they suspected might have been aggravated by the wreck, but as a result I have been at the doctors 3 times a week for a couple of hours at a time. Just this week, I am relatively pain free and today they gave me exercises to do to help continue my recovery. I do not like going to doctors and I do not like having physical limitations…at all!
Needless to say, with these “extra” things added to an already full life…well, it’s left little time for anything else. But I have begun/continued dreaming, considering and thinking about what the next step in our life will be. As great as the idea of small space living is…well, the reality is pretty hard. (I am working on a series for my personal blog on this, I will post some links when I put it up since several have asked about it.) Or maybe our space is just a bit too small for the 9 of us and our lifestyle. If I worked outside the home and/or the kids went to traditional school, well, it might work more easily, but that’s not our reality.
So where do we go from here…as early as May of this year I was pretty certain that I would not move forward with buying the house from my dad. Now don’t go back and say I lied…it was a decision in my head but not something I was ready to set in stone with anyone else and frankly if there had been a way to purchase the house in a timely fashion, I would have pursued it first. But I did start to explore other housing options with an eye on my debt reduction…you can see a post I wrote hinting toward that end here on my personal blog.
Since that time, I have continued to look for a way to stay in this area, but to be able to have housing that costs significantly less than the going rate (this is a very expensive place to live.) So I think I’ve found a solution and to that end, I have a meeting with some architects/designers next week. After that meeting I will post additional details. This is not something that will deter my debt reduction schedule and certainly not something that would happen quickly; although my hope is that we can move from our tiny space at the end of our year lease.
On the flip side of that, and the most effective way to get out of debt is to increase a person’s income. Two things have come up in this regard…1) all the retail stores are hiring for holiday help. I’m considering picking up a part time job with that in mind. With the later hours that retail keeps in comparison to my previous part time job, this might be a viable option for me, but again not a done deal yet. 2) I have decided to begin applying for corporate work again. I’ve been out of the corporate world for 8 years now, and I love my life. And frankly, I’m not sure corporate is the right way to go. But what the big idea is…well, I need to be open, completely open to what is to come next for us.
I feel like a failure. I’ve slid backward with my debt due to this housing debacle. My kids no longer have the “stable” home they had for the past four years. And I’m doubting myself at every single turn. But what I do know is that 1) not buying the house from my dad was the best long term decision financially and 2) God has a plan, and while I seem to really stink at making decisions, if I lean on Him, that plan will come to fruition. (I know this is not a religious blog and I’m sorry if my God references offends anyone, but frankly, right now, I don’t trust myself with the big decisions so I’m really, truly just trying to open my mind and my heart to whatever comes next.)
Blog posts coming soon from me…a new monthly budget (post house sale when I don’t have extra utilities to pay,) medical insurance (someone mentioned this in a comment once and we’re going with something new starting Dec 1 so thought I would share,) small space survival skills (I will post this mostly on my personal blog but will put some posts here with regards to the financial aspects.) Sorry, I missed last week, the bumpy waters have limited my “free” time.
