Tuesday, June 16, 2009

SAHM do, SAHM don't

We're coming to a point where the idea of going back to work is buzzing around the edges of my mind. I know I've been hopelessly blessed to have been home with Bee this last year and I would desperately like to stay right where I am. Nearly every working mom I've ever met really just wants to be home with their babies. (All but one!) But... money.
Ultimately, we're only falling behind on medical bills at the moment but every time I check the mail, it feels like they're leaping out at me to eat my soul.
We're not behind on our mortgage. Or utilities.
I have no idea where we're going to come up with the $440 we're short to pay our health insurance premium that comes due July 4.
Pretty much... I can't contstitute going back to work. Yet. But one more medical bill or small(ish) emergency is going to set us over the edge. So thus, the returning to work idea is just a buzzing in the brain and not yet an all consuming thought.
I think I might be throwing ALL my goals out the window pretty quickly here... I think I'm going to put all my efforts into saying "Buh-bye!" to our medical debt.
Every financial adviser in the world would let out a collective scream at that idea - the credit card debt is collecting about $250 in interest every month and the medical debt is interest free. Why in the world would I try to pay it off first???
Because:
  1. I'm fairly emotionally detached from the credit card debt. Yeah we hate the stupid couches we bought for WAY too much money and we definitely should've shopped around before sinking $5000 into a water filtration system. BUT we use the couches and the water everyday. We had fun on vacation. Eating out made us happy.
  2. On the other hand, every medical bill is a bad memory. I hate being reminded of the horrors of the hospital that we've had to face. I hate that I had to fight on a daily basis for the first 9 months of my daughter's life to get the stupid insurance to pay even a fraction of those bills. When I pay for her birth, I'm reminded that I'm paying so much because my body almost killed my baby and it cost an awful lot to keep her alive. When I pay for her stay in the nursery, I'm reminded that I couldn't take care of her at first, I was too weak. I should be able to detach myself from it like I did the credit card debt but I'm still reeling from it. Post traumatic stress is a bitch.

I don't know what to do. Financially and emotionally torn... What a mess.

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