We've been dealing with a severe lack of money for a month now. It's caused us to cancel a lot of things- including a school field trip for The Big One. I know that he won't remember it. He won't remember not going to the zoo on August 3, 2018. He's only 3. He won't remember. but I will. I grew up being made fun of and being bullied because we had no money and I routinely was left out of "extra" school activities. I never went to birthday parties because we couldn't afford to bring a gift. I never had the latest toys or clothes or anything because it wasn't in the budget. It kills me that this is something The Big One has experienced now.
In order to save money and rebuild our savings, Hubs and I have instated some pretty strict rules for the rest of the year:
- No gyms we have to pay for
- No vending machines
- No restaurants
- No Perrin Tradition pre-church Dunkin runs
- No buying alcohol or soda
- No non-essential food (desserts, snacks)
- No extraneous or unnecessary driving
- No non-essential shopping (the kids have plenty of clothes, both mine and Hubs' clothes are in good condition)
- Increase thermostat setting in the summer, lower in the winter
- No birthday/Christmas/anniversary/etc gifts for anyone for anything until next summer at the earliest.
And, you know that if you're having some type of financial problem, something important will break. For example, our upstairs air conditioner. It broke. And Hubs' car needs some minor repairs.
Puppy had some abnormal senior exam results.
My best friend, G.E., had a miscarriage at 8 weeks pregnant.
My good friends' sister had a late miscarriage at 22 weeks.
An old coworker who had beaten cancer 4 times in the 5 years I've known him received new scans that show the cancer has metastasized and is scattered through his body. He's 45 years old and has 6 children- the youngest is 5. They are going to stop treating the cancer and start treating the pain.
My sister-in-law is battling several health issues, including a 1" mass on her thyroid. It's being biopsied tomorrow. The mass was only found after she received more scans due to abnormal results on some brain imaging.
We had to cancel a trip to visit Hubs' brother and his wife in West Virginia because we can't afford to drive there, rent a hotel, feed our family, and drive back over the span of 4 days.
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I would be lying if I didn't say that in this time we have also been blessed. Both of our families have taken excellent care of us, and have asked nothing in return. My mom had a double sleepover with the kids so we could get the upstairs AC repaired.
Hubs' parents have stocked our fridge and have lent us money to get us through those first few weeks.
We've also been blessed by strong friendships with people who are not judgmental when we've had to cancel plans (or trips), by generally good health all around, and by jobs at good companies.
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It's been a hard month, and will continue to be hard months while we rebuild, but we will come through on the other side unscathed.
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Also, I changed our tithing from physical checks to automatic direct deposit so this can't happen again.
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Also, you haven't met Charlotte, aka, The Little One, aka TLO, yet. Here she is on her first birthday, which she almost shares with me. (12 more hours and we would've shared!). She is the definition of a loving and sweet baby. She's full of joy and belly laughs and tacos. She's almost walking (any day now, really). This child has brought so much joy to our house.
The Big One (TBO) now has a "Baman Mobile" (his words).
