Returning to work was almost a relief. The holiday wasn't much to talk about. The Son received money and he got it in November. CC is in Florida and was on call. He worked about 16 hours over the weekend. My mother and grandmother are pretty low key. I visited on Sunday. So... For family, that about does it. Not much to speak of. No rushing from family member to family member here.
Reality has struck. After months of paying on two houses, the bills from the homes and the extra the Son has caused over the past several months is about to do me in. Money has been going out faster than we can keep up with. I currently will have zero dollars in the bank until January 6. Don't get me wrong.. I have heat, food, etc. But all of the Son's hospital and car bills and basically just funding him on top of all of the travel back and forth has really put a strain on our budget. Well... non-existent budget. It's hard to maintain a budget the way things have been going.
So, I need to sit down and figure out just what I have going where. I guess wrapping up the end of the year with an inventory of what is what isn't such a bad thing. Everything has been such a whirlwind as of late that I don't even know what I owe and to who anymore. Is that not the saddest thing? It's hard to talk to the Son about budgeting money and here I am, totally overwhelmed.
I need to take a step back, evaluate everything, determine where it is going, what can be cut out, etc. I have already cut out most of my "maintenance". Waxes, nails, pedi's, that kind of thing. I still get my hair colored. I don't want to give that up. I will age about 10 years in 6 months with all of the gray everyone would be able to see. We have basic cable as reception without it is non-existent. We do have Internet access. That is needed for schoolwork and my sanity. Also, in case of snow I work from home and would need it. We stopped the newspaper a long time ago. I have stopped buying soda as the Son and his friends go through it if it is here. I just make tea. If they are thirsty, they will drink it. I have been cutting out the housekeeper seeing as I don't do anything on the weekends anyway. Thank goodness we still aren't having to have someone cut the grass now that it's winter.
I talked to my realtor today. I asked if they were any closer with their property management business line at her company and she said no. She said she is getting very frustrated with them. She is interviewing with other places. I will probably FSBO the house, and also advertise to rent. First one to get here wins. We can't keep this up. I have posted the house on CraigsList hoping to catch someone who is just out there browsing. If I FSBO I can drop the price some. I'm sure that will help immensely.
I plan on spending next Monday preparing everything for my taxes. I will have it together and sorted so at the end of January I can go straight to the accountant. Hopefully I will have my refund by the end of Feb/first of Mar. I should also get my bonus in mid March. We just need to hold on that long.
The job hunt has really slowed down. I have applied for several positions and according to their websites I am still in the running but the issue is the time of year. Everyone stops the hiring process during the holidays. I am hopeful it will begin to pick up again in a week or two.
I can tell it is beginning to bother CC about all of this debt. It bothers me too. He is just usually very financially "together". Me too actually. This is throwing us both off a bit but we will make it work.
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