It has been just over 2 weeks since my last update here, and shortly after I updated…things just went haywire.
Where do I even begin?
My husband no longer has a job with the company he was working for. That was brief, huh? The sale of the company was going through, then it wasn’t going through. It was a mess.
They then started bouncing checks and going on a COD only basis with many vendors my husband would encounter on a day-to-day basis. Not only was this embarrassing but it had my husband worrying when his paycheck was going to start bouncing.
He made a couple of calls and sent some emails out and secured some work doing what he does best. One of the companies that ended up having a lot of work for him was the one he had to cut the cord with a few months back.
I am glad he did not burn his bridges with them but let them go nicely. They are not the easiest to deal with at all, but when they pay, they pay, and the checks never bounce. He just knows he needs more than that egg in his basket.
It is good he is back doing what he likes doing and has a flexible schedule doing it. Our youngest starts school again in a few weeks and we were worried about who would care for her while we both worked. We looked at after-school childcare options…wow have prices gone up!
My work schedule…well, it has been interesting. A long-time coworker was fired and I was asked to cover some really wild hours…including overnights, weekends, and a few very long days covering for my bosses while they were out of town.
I figured that even though it totally screwed up the family’s schedule, I would be getting paid overtime to do it. Nope. It turned out that I did not get overtime at all. In fact, I was asked to stay home for a few days after busting my tail so that I wouldn’t get the extra money.
Well, I guess that was their way of saying thanks.
I really don’t think I am going to have to quit this job. It looks like financially, this company is not doing so well either. Luckily, I have my writing on the side which I have always wanted to make my full-time source of income anyway. Looks like it may just be happening soon.
Yes, I know I have been complaining about this job forever. The truth is, I have been so scared to quit because of the job security and the steady paycheck—even though I am currently hired on with some pretty good writing companies.
But now with everything going on, it doesn’t look there is so much job security there anymore either. Why can’t I just bail? I get so nervous. Look at how many companies my husband has gone through in the last few years? It is scary out there!
As I write this, we are totally flat broke. You would think with all the working and writing that I do that we would be caught up. Nope, but I am working on it.
Besides the normal stuff, a few things happened over these past few weeks that emotionally and financially drained us…
Our family dog got sick and our oldest daughter dropped a bombshell on us.
Not having money in savings for either, I ended up having to sell my engagement ring for quick cash. Something I thought I would never do.
Well, our dog ended up dying—crushed the whole family. He was sick and he was getting up there in age. A few days later, our oldest daughter moved out of state. Our family has totally done a 360 in a matter of a few weeks.
There is so much more to add but I have already written so much, and really don’t want to turn this post into more of a somber post than I have to. Isn’t this a financial blog anyway???
I think I have cried and made myself sicker than I ever thought possible. For what? There are just some things in life we just can not change. So why flip out about them?
My daughter is doing well in her new hometown, and my dog is in heaven wagging his tail and probably eating everything in sight like he always did. That makes me happy.
All of these things that happened, would have happened whether we were the richest family around or a family that had zero in the bank(yup, that’s us!). That’s life.
However, the process with my dog especially, would have been a lot less stressful if we had the money in-hand to pay the vet fees and not have to worry about finding a way to get the money up to treat him.
If I had a credit card when all of this was happening, would I have used it? You betcha. Now, if I had the right emergency fund up, I wouldn’t have needed credit. Which is just a strong reminder that emergencies can and will happen…so be prepared. Have that emergency fund up…because you just never know.
Did I know any of this was coming when I last posted July 15th? Nope.
You are so right about the emergency fund. Lack of one has certainly bitten me several times.
When you own a car, a pet or a home you are bound to have sudden large repair or vet bills. If you don’t have an emergency fund you’re likely to use credit for these. If you have neither an emergency fund nor credit you’re pretty much screwed.
You are so right. If you have an emergency but don’t have an emergency fund or credit, you are totally screwed! Since I don’t have credit and no emergency fund, I am finding myself there now.
I am working hard to save money and hope to have that fund built up quickly.
I stopped by your site. You give great advice and you are very knowledgeable when it comes to credit and debt.
I especially loved your recipe for Pasta Fazul. The ingredients are very inexpensive, the meal is filling, and it tastes soooo good! Thanks for passing that great recipe along!