Some Sort of an Update

The only decision I've made so far is to hold off a little longer. I tend to be too impulsive sometimes when I get an idea to do something. I've realized I have a very emotional connection to my current debt because almost all of it was built up from Chloe's medical bills. I charged her final hospitalization and her cremation. I want very much to be rid of this remaining bit of debt, but I also want to have as large an emergency fund as possible.

Many of you were right, emergencies do happen. My car broke down shortly after writing that. It was a small bill and nothing major to worry about, but it still happened. It was enough to remind me not to be impulsive and give it a longer think. Something else may come up.

Thank you to all who took the time to comment on the previous post. You were all right, and all of your ideas made perfect sense, especially when the car broke down. Those in favor of getting rid of the debt immediately made perfect sense too and I will eventually. There's only a bit left to pay off and then I will be done. I just need to keep enough in savings so I can reach it for those emergencies that do come up.

A Decision

As you know, I've been saving like mad. I want to move. There are no opportunities here. The job market is terrible. I don't have skills or experience to land a dream job elsewhere and the job market is pretty much dreadful everywhere. However, there are areas hiring more often for service type jobs in which I do have experience.

I was planning to move this spring. It may not happen as soon as I thought because we have made other changes. These changes that popped up are quite pleasant indeed. I love spending time with my eldest daughter and grandbaby. We were missing out on a lot being several states away. We were missing out on his spontaneous dancing whenever there is music, his extreme love of blueberries (just hand over the blueberries and nobody gets hurt), and his love/tease relationship with the dog. I'm glad I was still here and able to help my kids when they needed it. I have no regrets.

Here's the decision. I have the emergency fund, and I have my remaining debt. I could cancel my debt in one fell swoop and still have a little bit left over. I could put away much more in savings over the next few months being debt free and build up the savings again and not have to pay any more in interest. I just won't have my instant escape fund if anything pops up, I will be stuck here. We have jobs, we have shelter, we have family. Everything is good, so why am I worried?

I've been able to create this cushion at the same time as paying way more than the minimum amount due on my bills. My husband and I have done this together each with a part time job making little more than minimum wage. It is something to be proud of. I am proud. I also know that I can build up my savings again. I have skills now, so why am I worried over this? I could be done with this and call myself debt free right now. DEBT FREE!

I think what worries me about reducing my savings is that I won't have it there just in case. Just having it sit there gives me imaginary options. If I wanted to I could pay my bills ahead of time and take a month long camping trip through several states. Without the savings I would have to go into more debt for a week long vacation.

I also realize my debt free status could very well be short term because realistically I may have to use credit at some point in the future, although I will consider all other options first. On the other hand I may be able to avoid the credit monster completely.

So here's where I need the help guys. I'm taking this weekend to consider it, and on Tuesday I'm either going to transfer a large chunk of savings to checking and pay off everything and breathe a little easier, or I'm going to keep plugging away as usual and give the credit company even more interest but have a larger emergency fund available just in case.

I'll be honest, I'm leaning sixty percent in favor of being done with it and just forty percent in favor of how I've been doing it. I know I can build it back up, even sooner without the debt payments. I just need some positive energy and comments, lots and lots of comments. Please chime in and tell me what you would do. I know it is my husbands and my decision, I just don't want to rush into it without considering every angle. Give me your thoughts, please really, the dog is sick of me talking it over with her and she doesn't have an opinion one way or the other.

Slim Pickings

I have a theory that due to this never ending recession more and more people are turning to coupon use as a way to save money on their grocery bill. The manufacturers and marketing people are onto us. They know we look for BOGO(Buy one get one free) sales, and match two coupons with our purchase to get the items for a third of the original price or less. There have been less and less usable coupons each week in the Sunday newspaper. I've looked online for coupons as well and haven't found one worth printing for months. With the shorter expiration dates they usually expire before a good sale comes along.

I don't put all my time into chasing sales but I am determined to pay the least amount possible for those items we use in our home every week. If eggs are $2.00 in one store but $1.00 in another, I will pick them up for $1.00 when I go past that store unless it is out of my way. I will stock my pantry with non-perishable items that I use when they go on sale. The money I don't spend on household and grocery items at full price can go towards car repairs when needed, or savings, or debt reduction.

I really like a certain brand of stain remover for my laundry. It sells for $2.99 a bottle. I ran out but I knew it goes on a BOGO sale regularly. Sure enough the following week it went BOGO. I also had two store coupons for $1.00 off and one manufacturers coupon for 50 cents off. It would have cost $11.96 for four bottles. The BOGO sale saved me $5.98. I also had $2.50 in coupons. My final price was $3.48 for all four. That's only .87 cents per bottle. That was worth it.

On another note, I gave away all my large cooking pots, thinking I wouldn't need them in my empty nest. My largest pot was three quarts and that was fine for the two of us. On one of my previous trips I stopped by the Le Creuset outlet store in South Carolina and bought one pot to try. It is now my favorite piece of cookware. I've made the best soups and bean dishes ever in my little green pot. I just received a postcard from them advertising my green color on sale for 30% off. I just had to go, I love that store.

My daughter and grandbaby went to visit youngest daughter and my husband and I went to Orlando to find the Le Creuset outlet store. I love the one in South Carolina. It's in a quiet stand alone store with big trees all around and a gas station nearby so I can browse while my husband gases up. The Orlando store is located in the Orlando Premium Outlets on International Drive. It is a bustling metropolis of it's own. There are places for currency exchange everywhere, buses and trolleys, and a train ride and games for children. It took forever to find the store I wanted.

There were people rushing about everywhere with massive amounts of shopping bags from all the upscale boutique outlet stores. Some were dressed in the latest fashions and others were dressed in workout shorts, tennis shoes, and fanny packs ready for a full day of it. I noticed one major thing. We were the minority. I heard lots of voices, and heard many snippets of conversations but very very few were in English. I can't imagine shopping on holiday. I hate shopping. There were large groups of people from France and Brazil and Japan but very few from America. Is this a sign of our continuing recession or just a coincidence?

I returned home with a five quart oval pot in blue. It had a bigger discount than the green and my husband liked it. When my daughter saw the receipt she gasped. I said, "Hey, we're older and we can afford to splurge occasionally on items we really like and these pots will last forever. We'll probably pass them on to the grandbaby one day."

All Squished In

Daughter and grandbaby have arrived and son is almost completely moved in. So far so good, it's actually working out. We had space for most of the stuff, and we have a little storage available in the garage thanks to our decluttering and donation frenzy. Of course, there wasn't much because what she couldn't squeeze into that one car she left behind.

Grandbaby arrived cursing like a drunken sailor on shore leave after a year at sea. (Thanks baby daddy.) He's only two so the phase won't last. As soon as we are over our sporadic fits of giggles we'll correct him.

We didn't know how dog and baby would get along. This was a concern because in this small house there are no extra rooms to separate the two. There were a few minutes of sniffing and how-de-do and then baby brought out his play balls and the dog brought out her bone and her favorite squeaky toy. They are instant best friends. Grandbaby grabbed the dogs favorite squeaky toy (a blue football) held it out and said, "Mine!" and then jumped on the bed with it and said, "Ha ha." He held onto that ball all day and went to sleep clutching it that night. She only just got it back today. They are going to be just fine.

With all of this going on, my husband and I haven't much time to ponder anything else. We were excited because I managed to get a Sunday off and were planning to go on a long overdue day out but my brother left a day early and Sunday was the day when they arrived at our house. That's okay, I'm not complaining. It was still a good day. A few days ago, however, my husband called me at work and said, "Hey, guess what we both forgot?" For the life of me I couldn't think of a thing. He then said, "Happy late anniversary!" Oh well, there's always next year.

Funny How Things Work Out

Still busy, but I'm able to see things falling into place around here. The mold has lost the battle and the dust is slowly subsiding. The library is busy sorting the two carload donation and the local thrift shop is busy pricing their new items. Soon I will be able to sit and write in my home with no distractions, um well, that was until I received a phone call today. Things are changing again.

I was doing all of this extra cleaning and organizing, first because I let some of the regular chores go too long, and second because I knew there were changes ahead for me. We have an empty nest and the economy is bad. I was looking forward to a move and a new job. I wanted a new state and new opportunities.

My son asked to come home for a few months so he cold save towards getting his own apartment. We told him we'd be glad to have him and he has been dropping by before or after work to clean and move his stuff into the extra bedroom little by little. He bought new curtains yesterday, and tomorrow he will help me clean the carpets.

My eldest daughter has asked before if she could stay with us but has always changed her mind. This time her lease was up and she hadn't found work and she finally had enough. Ten minutes after I spoke with her my brother called me for a recipe. When I told him the news he immediately volunteered to drive up to get her. He was able to take a few days off on short notice and leaves in four days.

Now on top of completing all of my cleaning projects I have to get the house baby proofed in a few days. My daughter has to pick through an entire house of belongings and pick just a few bags and boxes of the most important bits that she can shove in the back of a small hatchback car and leave all the rest. We have our work cut out for us.

I have to rearrange my house and my thinking. I just bought two big office chairs. I was going to just keep them at the kitchen table since I usually do my writing there. Sticky fingers however, will ruin them, so I have to move them to the bedroom if I can fit them. I also have to clear the bottom book shelves, place the knife block out of reach, and make sure no cleaning supplies are on lower shelves anywhere.

Goodbye empty nest and hello recession style living. There will soon be four adults and a baby in a two bedroom home. There is a possibility that the youngest may have to come back as well. We can make it work, we just have to be organized and thrifty. We also have to communicate often and well.

Stuck in Scrubbing Mode

I'm tackling all those big chores that have piled up. To be honest at the end of the day I just can't think of anything to write. Work, come home and scrub, or, wake up then scrub and then get ready for work. They wanted me to work a sixth day again this week and I asked them to please find someone else. I'm exhausted.

Today is closet scrubbing day. It's really gross but mold collects along one wall of our closet. I removed all the clothes the other day. In a few minutes I will scrub the entire closet clean. Tomorrow I will wash the clothes and put them back when everything is dry. This is one of the big annoying chores that I put off for too long. I did convince my husband to get rid of a lot of clothing, so there will be a lot less to put back. I got rid of a huge pile of shirts and skirts that I haven't worn in a long time too.

We made forty dollars by recycling some aluminum that had been taking up space in our garage. We still have a few more bags as we couldn't fit everything into the car. Next time we drive that way we can make another ten to twenty dollars.

In the midst of my cleaning a few days ago I received a phone call from an old friend. She had called me the month before to offer me a part time job in the store where she works. It is in the next county so I declined for the time being but I did consider moving and working there if my husband could find employment. She called me this time to vent her frustrations because she just found out her store will be closing and April will be her last month. She told me it was the hardest thing to gather her employees and tell them they would not have jobs after April. It's still very difficult to find employment here. I'm glad I didn't rush to move now. I'm saving for a bigger move this Spring or Summer. I still have no idea where, but not knowing is half the fun.

On technical notes, there is a lot I need to learn about blogging. I plan to get the pesky household chores out of the way, so I don't think about them all the time. I must quiet my guilt over the extreme dust in the bookshelves, the stained carpeting, and the pile of laundry. I want to fix the blog, learn a bit more about how to do things properly, and buy a camera that will work well with it so I can glam it up a bit. To be honest, I just slapped it together without learning much and ran with it. I hear others are patient and have a cue of articles waiting so they never have a long silence. I want to put more into it. I enjoy being here.

Now your turn. What big projects are you working on? And, are jobs still just as hard to find in your area?

Back on Track?

Add a six day workweek, family drama, one messy house full of incomplete chores, work horror stories, and one frazzled blogger and you get no posts for a loooong time. Sorry about that. I am continually behind.

I owe two bloggers an award acceptance post. I am working on that and it will be coming soon. Michele and Connie, please be patient. It will hopefully be done this weekend.

I haven't checked my e-mail or logged into my site for a week. I've missed reading some terrific posts at the blogs I usually read. As I've said before, it's why I don't have a blog list. If I don't keep up with everything regularly I feel intense guilt. Silly, I know, but that is how my mind works.

Thank you to all of you who stop and read and comment, or lurk, or follow, or subscribe. I am thankful for each and every one of you. Sometimes I am amazed by the number of comments on a post that I didn't see the value in myself. Occasionally I will moan to myself over a teeny typo, making much too big a deal out of it. No-one has popped in yet with a scathing correction, and for that I am grateful too.

This is my first effort at getting back on track today. Hopefully, there won't be as long an absence in the near future but you never know what life throws at you.