Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Yes, we stayed up and watched the ball drop and said asta la vista to 2007.

I haven’t written in a few days because I have been so busy. Our payroll didn’t go in and I was really scrambling for money to pay the bills. We listed some stuff on Ebay and had some items with the “buy-it-now”option so we get get the $$$ quickly. Yes, someone decided to buy my husbands cellphone quickly but decided not to pay. Why do people do that? Ebay lately is really frustrating me. You gotta jump thru hoops to get your $$$ back in situations like that. I don’t know, I have been a member since ‘98. It is not like it use to be.

 Well luckily some of the bills got paid by luck this month. My husband bought his mother and grandmother some lottery tickets for Christmas and played a quick pick and almost hit the JACKPOT! Well we were so close to having all this debt paid off and being comfortable with enough money to actually breathe-around 250k but we were 1 number off! Luckily though, he won $953.50. Gosh that helped with rent! I was so stressed out. 2 companies my husband did work for did not pay him like we were expecting and it really hurt us. One company finally did January 2nd and the other my husband had to email 100 times and call and keep on top of. He got his $$$ and cut ties with the company. It was great work but he was getting paid 2 months later! That was only after he had to hound them and even then-the pay wasn’t correct. So now he is down to one company. Working for yourself is wonderful. Especially when the kids are out of school and you don’t have to worry about who is gonna watch them. But, to me you gotta have some moola saved up for things like this. We just don’t have it right now. I am up now looking online for a 2nd job for us both. The holidays are over and my overtime is going down too. You know, I get so mad when people say money doesn’t solve problems-well the only problems in my life are money problems or revolve around money problems! Some people just don’t know how to handle their other problems and blame $$$ for it. If we would have won even just that 250k-I would’ve been on here talking about other things like:

Quitting my job. Yes, it pays OK but I hate the commute and time away from the family. It is a very HIGH STRESS position and not at all rewarding. I also could be making a lot more than I do for the amount of crap that I take. The problem is, my pay is considered great for where I live…???

Leads me to my 2nd thing…

 I would move away from South Florida. The cost of living is crazy here. Everyone is moving away because it is just so expensive. Things have really gotten out of hand. I live in a 2 bedroom small apartment and pay $1325 per month. Just 4 hours away in North Fl-the same apartment is around $600 including utilities! My utilities are not included! Oh houses are 1/2 the price there too. It is crazy. Why are we still here? My husbands family is here and are not in great health. He wants to be here with them. My youngest is also doing awesome in her school and we don’t want to pull her out of it yet.

I would like to go back to school. My husband and I have been trying for years. We have had to put it off not by choice but we never had the time or MONEY. If we weren’t working so much-we were dealing with some other hardship or family catastrophe. 2008 we gotta do it.

Last, I would volunteer. I love animals. especially dogs. There is a shelter I became familiar with close to my house. They are in desperate need for help but I can’t do the hours needed because I gotta work. I am going to talk to the woman and see if I can help out maybe on Sundays or something. First I gotta find my 2nd part time job and work around that. I also want to be  a Guardian Ad Litem thru the courts helping abused and neglected children. I started to apply and stopped the process because I knew with working so much, I wouldn’t have the time to commit to these kids and they need it. I know, I was in their situation. That is another story and hopefully one day I can write about. It does though hold a lot of meaning in my heart. I only wish I could do those things. One day…

I almost forgot the most important part-spend more time with my family! I have missed out on so much while working. I really want to take my girls to see snow. They have never seen it. We need a vacation. We can’t even do it cheaply now. Gas prices are insane! I paid $3.25 a gallon yesterday! It is nuts. I come home and my husband is watching CNN. The gas prices are going up more, layoffs are on the rise and the economy is just crap right now. Gosh what is going on in this world?

I only hope it gets better. Well that is enough ranting for now. I am off to finish cleaning out my storage. That is $150 a month payment I can’t afford. I paid 1/2 and they gave me 2 weeks to move out. The clock is ticking and I have nowhere to put any of this stuff!