One of the things that led up to our CH7 decision was the series of layoffs we both experienced.
However, the most recent layoff was one of the best things that could have happened to us.
I was pregnant and two weeks away from my due date when my husband got laid off. We spent those weeks playing cribbage, finalizing stuff around the house, cuddling, and really enjoying our time together. It was at the end of the year and there weren't many companies to send resumes to or temp jobs to apply for. So, we decided to enjoy the time.
Part of the reason we were able to do this was because the layoff before that one resulted in a small severance package. Between that, my hubby's disability, and unemployment, we were okay for three months.
Hubby resolved to start looking in earnest in mid-January and we settled in to wait.
I had my baby. A homebirth, in case anyone's interested. My daughter was born just before Christmas.
The next ten weeks were amazing. My husband fell in love with our baby and became a doting father. He helped me recover from the birth, held my hand through the difficulties I had with breastfeeding (moderate-to-severe mastitis in both breasts!), became a whiz at changing diapers (pun intended), and bonded like crazy with her.
He got a job offer right before our savings ran out.
Notice that there is not a "regrets" label on this post. We are so thankful for this time. Yes, we would be in a financially better place if we could have used our savings to pay off debt or put a bigger down payment on our home, but in hindsight the time together was far more valuable. Not all layoffs are bad things. Sometimes they're a gift.
Showing posts with label reasons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reasons. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Coming to conclusions
In June my husband's student loans will no longer be in forbearance. We have one more year that we can put them off if necessary. He owes $60,000 and his payment will be about $320.00.
In October my student loans (about $10,000) will also come out of deferment. I can also defer another year. Payment will be around $100.
Right now we're making it. Just. I can pay every bill we have on time. I can make minimum payments on my credit cards.
We're making it. We can go out to eat about once a month and afford Netflix. We each have $20.00 a month we can use to buy little things for ourselves or maybe visit a Starbucks.
We're making it. Because we're ignoring a lot of things we need.
I have a spreadsheet with our budget. It has tabs for each month. I have month-specific expenses and income in one section and then regular expenses and income in another. This allows me to mark what's been paid, what's been scheduled to be paid (we use BOA's Bill Pay feature), how much is budgeted vs. how much is spent, and so forth.
One category is FSA. That stands for "Freedom Savings Account". In this account I (need to) put money for all the things that are occasional expenses. An example would be our yearly HOA fee, renewing my license, getting our teeth cleaned, car repairs, etc.
I need to put at least $236.00 in a month just to cover the bare basics of "we're SOL if we don't pay this". In order to hit all the necessities I need $475. In order to meet other goals, such as vacations, I need even more.
I've been putting in exactly $0. There's no room.
And it's frustrating. I've cut down my expenses tremendously but something always comes up. When business slowed and I decided to be a mostly stay at home mom I canceled my disability insurance. We canceled AT&T and went with Net10. I found a much cheaper web host for my business website. We used our tax credit to pay off the car loan. I started using coupons. And on, and on. And still we're not doing better than making it.
What happens with the water heater (original with the 1987 house) gives up the ghost? Or when the A/C (10 years old, horrible efficiency rating, and no longer serviceable) stops working? We're screwed.
And when the student loans can't be put off anymore?
I can make all of $75 more room in the budget by cutting out every nonessential we have.
We'll be making hard choices. Hard, hard choices.
We talked a lot and decided that it's silly to spend the next year struggling and stressed when we're going to end up filing bankruptcy at that point anyway.
If we file bankruptcy now we'll have a year to get caught up and put some money in the bank. We'll be able to pay off hubby's student loans in the next ten years. We'll be able to get our teeth cleaned and cavities filled and replace the water heater.
In October my student loans (about $10,000) will also come out of deferment. I can also defer another year. Payment will be around $100.
Right now we're making it. Just. I can pay every bill we have on time. I can make minimum payments on my credit cards.
We're making it. We can go out to eat about once a month and afford Netflix. We each have $20.00 a month we can use to buy little things for ourselves or maybe visit a Starbucks.
We're making it. Because we're ignoring a lot of things we need.
I have a spreadsheet with our budget. It has tabs for each month. I have month-specific expenses and income in one section and then regular expenses and income in another. This allows me to mark what's been paid, what's been scheduled to be paid (we use BOA's Bill Pay feature), how much is budgeted vs. how much is spent, and so forth.
One category is FSA. That stands for "Freedom Savings Account". In this account I (need to) put money for all the things that are occasional expenses. An example would be our yearly HOA fee, renewing my license, getting our teeth cleaned, car repairs, etc.
I need to put at least $236.00 in a month just to cover the bare basics of "we're SOL if we don't pay this". In order to hit all the necessities I need $475. In order to meet other goals, such as vacations, I need even more.
I've been putting in exactly $0. There's no room.
And it's frustrating. I've cut down my expenses tremendously but something always comes up. When business slowed and I decided to be a mostly stay at home mom I canceled my disability insurance. We canceled AT&T and went with Net10. I found a much cheaper web host for my business website. We used our tax credit to pay off the car loan. I started using coupons. And on, and on. And still we're not doing better than making it.
What happens with the water heater (original with the 1987 house) gives up the ghost? Or when the A/C (10 years old, horrible efficiency rating, and no longer serviceable) stops working? We're screwed.
And when the student loans can't be put off anymore?
I can make all of $75 more room in the budget by cutting out every nonessential we have.
We'll be making hard choices. Hard, hard choices.
We talked a lot and decided that it's silly to spend the next year struggling and stressed when we're going to end up filing bankruptcy at that point anyway.
If we file bankruptcy now we'll have a year to get caught up and put some money in the bank. We'll be able to pay off hubby's student loans in the next ten years. We'll be able to get our teeth cleaned and cavities filled and replace the water heater.
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