Dejunkify Update

I forgot to mention that we also returned one eBay item and one Walmart purchase that have been sitting in our house unopened for awhile. Less stuff and money back... oh yeah! Plus, today I sold Bee's tummy time mat on craigslist making my profit for the last two days a grand total of $80. The person interested in the swing was a no show so that one's at a standstill for now. I also listed the cosleeper we didn't really use and it has potentially sold as well. Wheeeeeee for extra cash!
Now of course I have a conundrum to deal with. Do I throw this cash at debt or put it aside for the inevitable car repairs? I would love to make a chunky payment toward AmEx but I don't want to put the repairs on a credit card. I think I just answered my own question. I'll hold onto it and get the car into the shop. *sigh* Such is life.
Out of nowhere today Hubby decided he wanted to go thru the storage boxes we've had piled in the garage since we moved in and we made pretty decent progress in weeding out things to sell and trash. This worked out great since I wanted to set a personal deadline to get through it all. I'm looking at June 13 for planning a garage sale forcing us to plow through it in two months or less. Hopefully less.

Dejunkify

I'm desperately trying to dejunkify our house and in turn our lives. ^_^
In the last week I have...
Dumped a box of magazines at the library
Recycled three big bags of grocery bags
Recycled five bags of aluminum cans
Thrown away about a shoebox worth of junk from the garage
Listed three things on eBay, two of which have already sold
Listed three things on craigslist, one of which has already sold and two of which are going to be looked at tomorrow

In the mean time, I did buy one Easter chick stuffie for Baby Bee's basket which did benefit the March of Dimes... and a shirt for her to wear under her dress for my grandparents' 50th anniversary party next week. So a bunch of stuff out, one tiny stuffie and one tiny shirt in. Not too bad plus I made $70, potentially $127 if everything else sells.

WOOT!

No Better, No Worse

This week has brought new stresses but nothing too bad hopefully. Billy is leaving his job to take a new position in the family business. I'm wary of putting my family back together in the business world yet again but his current position is eating him alive. It potentially could pay more but it could potentially pay less as well. So we'll see. *sigh*
Billy is learning reluctantly to stop pestering me about his "needs" that are really "wants". Yes, I too WANT new couches but there's just no way. Unfortunately, after three and a half months of not using credit cards, I'm starting to worry that we will actually have to put some genuine needs on what little credit we have left. We rearranged our livng room to make more space for Baby Bee and she took that as her cue to truly learn to crawl. I thought for sure she was going to skip crawling and just want to walk which would require us as balance for another month at least. But no, she's officially mobile now. So somehow we have to come up with the scratch to buy babyproofing paraphenalia. Just the baby gates alone will put us back quite a bit. I've been looking on craigslist to no avail. Also, we still desperately need to get our SUV looked at as it's overheating every time it's driven. If we don't get it taken care of soon, it will become an even bigger problem... I don't know what to do.
Well, we didn't add to cards but we could only pay the minimums for the most part yet again. Any extra little bits get put on Priority #1 Card, the American Express. We barely paid off anything this month. And the medical bills are becoming more and more of nightmare. Tomorrow, I have to call the devil's insurance for the umpteenth time about Billy's ER visit from last July. Pain in the butt. I'm getting ridiculously good at it though. Grrr. I'm debating about calling Countrywide about the whole "Making Home Affordable" movement that's going into effect as of late. I'm wondering if it will be better to bide my time until it gets more established. Either way I have to call them about getting proof that we paid off our Fernley mortgage so I can try to get a refund from HUD.
Enough about money, As an aside, we're also digging out of our horrendous stash of clutter. I guess you could look at it like our debt. We got into that mess and this mess because of medical emergencies hitting us left and right for the last two years. Last Wednesday, I shredded a medium size box of papers from 2006 and 2007. Which means they've moved with us TWICE. How horrible is that? Yesterday, I took a big box of magazines dating back to 2007 to the library. I refuse to get stuck under that pile again. It felt really good to get a whole box of clutter out of my house. it also felt great to rearange to living room and completely ditch our coffee table, forcing us to go through mail, take dishes to the sink, clean up our mess!! Tomorrow, my goal is to start the immense purging of our closet. Billy is a clothes freak - if it's on sale and it's his size it comes home. I know for a fact that's at least five shirts hanging in the closet taking up valuable real estate in our tiny closet that he hasn't worn in over a year if not longer. We also have souvenirs from our anniversary trip a year and half ago that are in boxes and bags that have never been opened. It's a travesty since they just barely got paid off. I don't even think they've been paid off in their entirety. Bleh, we are sick sick people. What a hole we've dug.
To round out my thoughts about clutter I leave with this: It takes just as long to put something in the wrong place as it does to put it in the right place. I read this recently and didn't think much of it until today when I found that Kevin took a paper plate that needed to be thrown away from breakfast past the trash can and into the kitchen which he proceeded to place on the counter. It would've taken less time just to throw it away! So yes. As soon as I find the right place for everything and ditch all our junk, it will indeed be easier to put everything in it's place.

Fabulous Failings!

This week has brought nothing but trouble. I completely miscalculated the amount I needed to set aside for health insurance and was left grasping at nothing when I had to come up with an extra $260. I went ahead and paid it since health insurance is on the top of the priority list as far as where our funds go. Unfortunately that meant dipping into the money set aside for our mortgage, another bill high on the priority list. We drained savings last week for groceries and granted, we did get a little too much take out. Baby Bee was in the ER last week with RSV and well... nothing else much mattered. All financial gumption goes out the window in an emergency.
I also got denied for unemployment since I can't seek a full time job right now. That is a load of BS. I also got denied cuz they didn't like my reason for quitting my last job. I think I could successfully appeal that one but there's just no way to have a full time job right now. There's no good daycare here (not like we could afford it anyway) and my only caregivers could be Nana or Mom both of whom have busy schedules themselves. It seems our only options are a part time job that's hours could piggyback Billy's off time and supplemented by my mom's off time or both of us getting decent paying part time jobs. Both options would be big fat juggling acts but I don't know how much longer we can make it on one income. Grrr. Also, Billy's car is mere days away from kicking the bucket. And Kevin can't find a job so he's depressed and that has Billy asking if we can help him out... Uh, no. We can barely help ourselves. He's living here rent free and we feed him. He's a HUGE help with the Bee and will do any household chore asked of him so I'm not really complaining there but we can't make his car payment or his phone bill. No can do. Not in the situation we're in. In the span of a week, two credit cards lowered our credit limit one for the second time. We're baby steps away from them shutting us off completely.
The only ups of this down week were the fact that Billy canceled a game reservation he had at Game Stop (that he made by trading in old games) and they gave him straight up cash. They weren't supposed to do that but thank God they did. We got $47 that bought dog food, cat food, formula, a little gas for ye' olde SUV and it mailed birthday presents for 2 nephews. Presents that I got for free at Walgreens ^_^! Woot! And the other up... is a pending up really. Billy got a letter from his dad's former employer informing us that he had a long lost retirement plan and pension sitting there. Nobody has a clue how much it's worth (probably far less that it was before now) but we might (and it's a big MIGHT) get a little bit of money that way. I'm not holding my breath but it could happen.
So pretty much it's just been freak out after freak out this week. Hopefully April will prove to be a fiscally happy month. Fingers... crossed... XXXX. Yah.

Where We Are

This little family is so far in debt it's not even funny. Granted, I did make the decision to be a stay-at-home mom in our absolute WORST financial state EVER (personally and nationally). This decision is, of course, not as crazy as it sounds. The Bee will be our only biological baby for reasons outside our control and to miss my only chance at this would be a sin in of itself. Nevertheless, the joy that little girl puts in our life seems to be overshadowed sometimes by those flashing numbers above our heads: $23,021.12 in credit card debt! $3500 and counting in medical bills! A mortgage we can barely pay because of our other debt! Student loans racking up!
The student loans make an easy and dreadable deadline for CREDIT CARD PAYOFF. We have until mid-2011 to pay it all off so we can afford to start paying on the loans. BLAH! Ya know, before I had a medical emergency without health insurance (a sin punishable by death in a lot of cases) we never had a lick of debt. At all. Ah, but one surgery and a week in the hospital later there we were. I got fired and we signed the papers on our mortgage. Then I got pregnant. Yup, swipe here swipe there, pay that bill off with another swipe, figure we'll pay it off later swipe swipe swipe and here we sit in a big fat hole. Then it became worse and worse as I went through postpartum depression and well, we just kept buying STUFF. When the money would run out, we'd fill in the gaps with credit cards. I don't even want to think about how many grocery trips and diapers I'm paying off now. Stuff that's been eaten, thrown away and it's still not paid for. Not to mention furniture that's falling apart and trips that are mere memories in a scrapbook - not paid for. Not the trip OR the scrapbook.
But! So far in 2009, except for 2 occasions where I left my debit card in my back pocket after buying gas (a bad habit of mine) and one occasion where I could only get the sale if I used my card, we haven't used a credit card for anything. The 2 "oops" moments were paid for out of the account immediately and the sale charge was only 69 cents and was for six items of clothing one of which I returned making my purchases totally free!
My moment came in January during Oprah's Best Life week. (sidenote* stay-at-home moms are pretty much drawn to Oprah for no apparent reason. It just is...) The show came on on a Thursday and I recorded it and watched it over the weekend. (Our DVR is free thanks to some programming mistakes that DirecTV made and I made Billy sit on the phone with customer service until they compenstated us fully ^_^) Anyway, Suze Orman was on and she asked the viewers to make a pledge to not spend for a day, not use credit cards for a week, and not eat out for a month. Well, I started on a Sunday and it took nothing not to spend that day. Then we stopped using credit cards. And then we never starting using them again. Now here it is, the end of March and we've made leaps in paying off our debt. Granted we've had quite a bit of extra income. We sold a car, Billy got his cost of living grant from school (which I should probably flip over to paying off his loan but there's more pressing debts at hand), and we got our first tax refund as parents. Now, we get to see how well we can do it on Billy's income alone.
My goal is to get under $20000 in debt by 25. That gives me four months to pay off just over $3000. I'm crossing my fingers that I qualify for unemployment so we can put aside a little emergency cash, get Hubby's car fixed, and throw the rest at debt. The only for sure lump of cash I know is coming is the "extra" paycheck in May. I have to talk with Billy about if he wants to charge any rent to Kevin who is currently our Roomie. We're not charging him anything now as he doesn't have a job and he helped us like crazy when we first got out on our own. He's a huge help around the house and it doesn't seem to be costing us too much more for him to be living here. But if Billy is OK with charging him a little, we can have that too. Also, I want to have a garage sale and all of that will go to debt. So we'll see.

RetroPost: And the years go by...

{Saved from Xanga} And here I am again a year and a little bit later. So much has happened. Last July, I almost died. Three years earlier, my appendix ruptured and nobody caught it. My body retaliated by creating a tumor around it that spread to my colon and small intestine. That tumor saved my life when my appendix finally burst. I spent almost a week in intense pain, going from doctor to doctor until we convinced someone to run some bigger tests that blood and urine (which weren't showing anything). After an emergency CT scan, I had extensive surgery and lost a good part of my digestive system. I spent my 23rd birthday in the hospital, learning how to walk again. HOWEVER! This experience was not ALL bad (even after going into shock from the pain and suffering post traumatic stress...). I learned three very important things: 1- Billy and I are soulmates 2- Life is NOT to be taken for granted EVER and 3- You can heal from pretty much anything in six weeks. The six week thing is still with me at this very moment and will be for the rest of my life. Six weeks after surgery, I got pregnant!!! Our little miracle baby, Keiren, will be born anytime between now and June 4. I'm scheduled for an induction on the 4th and I can't wait to meet her. Or him, I guess. They say "girl" but you never know. This little one was very very meant to be. Everything aligned exactly to have her come about. 1. It all started last May actually when we scheduled our anniversary trip to Disney World. I ever so briefly held a job where someone else was taking a vacation in September and I procrastinated in booking the trip until I knew for sure we could take it. By the time I got the OK, our actual anniversary date was filled and we had to take the trip earlier in the month. 2. After six years on the same birth control pills, the health nurse was issued a different brand by the state. Because of this they had a shortage and could only give me two packs. I made an appointment for July 26 to get a refill. I never got to that appointment because I was dying. 3. I almost died. When you look death in the face and your doctor is saying he's almost positive you have cancer, you start to think about what's really important. Billy sat by my bedside, stroking my hair with tears in his eyes talking about how I had to pull through because of all the things we still needed to do together. I remember him saying, "We have to start a family together" and me murmuring "sooner than later" 4. I was told I would be as healed as I was going to get in six weeks. This lined up EXACTLY with the planned Disney World trip. We asked if that would be OK and we got the go-ahead. Since recovery really really sucked, getting more birth control was the last thing on our mind. By the time our trip rolled around and we started to want to make love again, it was too late to make an appointment. We got some condoms and went on our merry way. 5. The first day in the Magic Kingdom, we snuggled at the base of the castle watching the fireworks as they played music and talked about magic and dreams coming true. When the show was over, we turned to each other and saw that we both had tears running down our faces. Afterwards, we went to the Hall of Presidents and just held each other for a long long time, both knowing our lives were about to change forever. When we got back to the hotel Billy was the one to say "I want to start a family with you" but we were both in agreement. We made sweet sweet love through the night and then staying up giggling. Little did we know... Trying to start a family was not a tough thing for us. We got it done on the first try. ^_^ So now I sit here with my big pregnant belly waiting not so patiently for our baby to arrive. I'm scared to death about being induced and giving birth and being a mom but I know this is the exact right thing for us. I will indeed miss being just us. I can't believe my pregnancy went so quickly. I'm so in love with this little person inside me.

RetroPost: Life is a Shiny Shiny Monsoon

{Saved from MySpace}

The whole cliche about "when it rains, it pours" is no frickin' joke. Somewhere to the tune of two months ago, I sat in our car talking with Keizo as we often do and (like AN IDIOT) I said something along the lines of "I have a GREAT feeling about 23. This year is going to be a flipping riverdance of JOY. When I look out towards 23, all I see is leprachauns and baby pandas eating candy JOY JOY JOY!" Yeah, big mistake. As soon as I voiced that little snot bubble of misinformed wisdom, all hell broke loose. Just to make it's point, life let me in on a real monsoon in Florida. The imagery was great, Mr. Life. Shiny shiny life in the form of FREAKIN' DISNEY WORLD (which totally rocks) then you're just walking down the street going "is that a rain drop?" And the sky says "DAMN STRAIGHT IT'S A RAINDROP!!!!" SPLOOOOOSH! Yes thank you I get the point. I've learned my lesson. I shall never challenge you again... *sigh*In other news, our new house is fantastical. At every turn, a lightswitch- as it should be. As there is so little chance of darkness, the shadows retreat. For now. ~FIN~