Friday, October 19, 2012

On Finances

I may have mentioned this a few times, but I am poor.

Actually, not really poor. I don't need social services and I am very fortunate in fact that I have what I need. Food, shelter and health insurance. I can't really afford all the bills I suddenly have thanks to medical stuff or the fact that our dishwasher broke this morning and we have no extras. I know this is unbelievable to some, but we don't have cable. I don't have internet on my phone. I don't drink Starbucks once a day. Or ever. We both drive paid off vehicles. It's just the way we roll.

We have had our house on the market for a few months. We NEED to sell this house before the kids go to school. We live in a small, old house. It doesn't bother me one single bit. The only issue is space, but we can live with what we have and the main issue is the elementary school. Our kids can't go there. End of subject. We decided to put the house on the market before we knew about Baby 3 as a gift to ourselves for never having more children. Then we put it up because we need extra space and storage and for the end goal, not being near the school we are supposed to send our two genius monkey's to.

Well . . . . as our wonderful luck would have it, it was super hot this summer. We have very large trees in our yard that go under out house and they soaked up all the moisture and our foundation shrunk and sunk half of our home into the ground by 3 inches. Do you know how much it costs to fix that? $13,000. Yay! Not.

So our realtor tells us we could just fix it and then it would be an easy sell. I'm wondering how someone who knows we are going to make no money on our house and are just trying to get out what our mortgage plus her services cost, plus the fact that we live the "simple life," could honestly think that we could just write a check for $13,000. Then we could just go ahead and write another $20,000 check for a down payment on the next house. I wonder if she saw a money tree on our lot that I haven't noticed. Or maybe a gold treasure somewhere in our cracked foundation. Or maybe she has just been listening to too much political bullshit about pulling up bootstraps and then MAGIC! Money is everywhere!

Not.

Last week we made a decision. We just took the house off the market. It sucks in a way, because we need more storage area and I would like all the kids sleeping on the same floor as myself and it is time, we have been here for eight years, but it's also sweet relief. I feel like it would be best to let Baby 3 get here and let us see how that goes, before the mortgage payment goes up or if it maybe needs to go down. I don't have to worry about the house being semi clean everyday or haggling with a buyer in this glorious buyer's market or figuring out where we are going to get $13,000 to fix the foundation just so someone else can have it or moving all of our stuff 8 weeks before Baby 3 arrives.

I have no idea where we are going from here, except that we are NOT going from here. I feel pretty okay with it actually. I didn't shed any tears or anything. Life is really strange and unpredictable. I have found that out the hard way. Last Christmas we were so sad about our frostie and this Christmas we are miraculously going to be bringing a new baby home. This year I could be living in this hood where I live that has bad schools and weirdos, next year I might be living next door to Mitt Romney. I'm not going to worry about it today. Maybe in a few months, or a few years right before the twins go to Kindergarten.

Life is weird. What can you do?

My love bugs loving each other, it makes my heart melt!

001

6 comments:

  1. that stinks! i am in the same boat with money and it seems like we never get ahead. just remember that everything will eventually work out in the end, it's just tough getting there sometimes.

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  2. Maaaannnn---foundation work sucks mostly because it's not a DIY job at all, so you have to rely on help and you are at the mercy of the quote.

    Sucks balls.

    But honestly, he stress of selling a house with a baby on the way---how have you lasted this long? I think y'all did the right thing.

    And, is it really 8 weeks away?

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  3. You have a great attitude! We got a surprise with baby #4 due in February, 3 months before we move and take a huge pay cut. Terrible timing, but I've started to get used to the idea. You do what you can to make it work. The school thing would stress me out though; good luck, hope you find a solution!

    P.S. I got rid of cable this past summer too :) I pay $8 a month for netflix now and I love it! I especially love not paying $140 a month on garbage.

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  4. I love your attitude about all of this. You're rolling with the punches and focusing on the important stuff. Good job, mama! And don't worry, God has a plan for you and your family... and it's even better than what you have in mind!

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  5. I sincerely hope you don't end up living next door to near Mitt Romney.

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  6. Love your attitude about all of this. Instead of looking at all the bad and letting it get you down you make it positive.

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