Saturday, September 27, 2008

Mortgage, money, debt, credit cards, LIFE

About this time last year, Erik and I put an offer on our current home. Financially, we were okay. Actually, better than okay. We were doing good. We were buying a home we could afford, keeping up with our bills and not racking up any more debt. Even with the impending arrival of Sadie, we knew we would still be able to stash some money here and there.

Fast-forward to now. Gas goes on the credit card which is payed with Erik's expense check - which used to be a large source of income for us each month. We keep the lights off, turn the air/heat down, recycle, eat our leftovers, conserve water, etc.

Yet our bills are higher than ever when we're conserving constantly. I started making Sadie's baby food from scratch as an effort to keep her healthy - now, it's primarily for financial reasons. There is no way we could spare the extra cash for store-bought baby food.

The economy is on the verge of collapse and big business is falling in on all of us. Erik's job is big business. His company is already on the second round of layoffs in less than two months. We're nervous.

I'm kinda glad I'm already just about done with Sadie's Christmas shopping. In Erik's family, they always go a little buckwild at Christmas with the presents - but this year, we can only afford to get one gift per person. And it won't be an expensive gift either. Same goes for my family.

I'm really glad, however, that we bought our house when we did and for the price we paid. It's just what we need and what we can afford (as long as Erik still has a job).

Hell, at least I have good insurance. We'd easily be over $150K in debt if we didn't. Thank's Aetna. We're really milking the crap out of our monthly payment.

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