I have been totally stressing over the budget situation lately and today only made it worse. I got word of a snag in the real estate deals I have been working on. If this one deal falls through, then the other one will fall through as well, as my sellers need to close this deal in order to have the money to buy their new home. I am so bummed. I know I should not be counting this money before it gets to me, but we could really, really use it. I had plans to pay DH's tuition with the commission checks, and have enough left over to nearly pay of DH's car. If it doesn't work out, I will be saddled with this debt even longer.
And then there's the whole issue of paying off $900 in bills with only a $526 paycheck. Anyone know how I can do that?? I have to pay a credit card bill of $653 (remainder of DH's $1443 tuition) and pay my mom living expenses for the past two months. I know she will wait for this, but I hate to ask. They have done so much for us, that I really want to get them the cash, even though I know they don't need it. I was planning to charge DH's tuition this semester too, since we would have the commission checks to cover it, but now I don't dare. That means he will have to scramble to get a new loan for it. I guess if the commission checks come through, we can put them toward the loan (which will be at 6 or 7% interest now that they have raised the student loan rates).
Of course, this is on top of all my other expenses (monthly: $184 car, $100 sutdent loan, $90 cell - needed for business, $300 groceries, etc).
Here's the plan: I get paid $526 on Wednesday. This has to last two weeks. We can cut way back on the grocery budget and use our stockpile. The car payment has already been made, and the student loan is paid out of savings. So, I can give my mom $240 and that will catch her up. Then I can throw $100 at the cc and wait until my next paycheck to do more. I haven't even gotten the statement yet, so I have at least a few weeks before interest kicks in. And if it gets to that point, I'll pay if out of the emergency fund before I'll pay interest.
Which brings up another point - the emergency fund. We have been slowly chipping away at it. It was $10k when DH lost his job last year and went back to school. Now it is $8700. But it's there for emergencies, right? So why do I feel so incredibly guilty about touching it?? And how low can I take it before I really start to feel uncomfortable? Ugh. I need to get my head on straight and figure this out.
My brother is having a garage sale this weekend - we have taken over some stuff to sell. We really don't have much, though, having jumped on the frugal bandwagon some years ago. But DH has some duplicate records that usually sell well, and I am going to try to sell my Readers' Digest collection (some date back to 1917) which really has brought me little pleasure and takes up space. So maybe we'll get a little extra from that.
Ok, just rambling now...had to vent. I appreciate anyone who took the time to read this and any feedback they might have. I'm just so stressed over this, but I know that I shouldn't be. We have plenty to eat, a place to live, healthcare, and clothes on our back. What else do we need, right?
Bummed out
July 4th, 2006 at 01:39 am
July 4th, 2006 at 01:44 am 1151977484
July 4th, 2006 at 04:10 am 1151986252
You should'nt beat yourself up over the EF either. $1300 in a year isn't anything! There are a million other "emergencies" you could have come up with and did'nt. Great job!!!
July 4th, 2006 at 04:20 am 1151986808
It might make you feel better if you used your emergency fund for a specific bill or for a single line on your budget, instead of a vague, mindless "geez I'm running low". It'll feel like you have more control.
July 4th, 2006 at 01:51 pm 1152021102
July 5th, 2006 at 02:26 am 1152066382