Surviving the month, things cracking apart
It has been yet another rough month with some unexpected expenses. All the bills at least got paid, including the dreaded car insurance bill. Some extra money had to come in from the EF and other sources (my birthday) to cover things this month. Part of the problem is things became due early in the month when the money is not available. I also hate playing the catch up game from the previous month. There was way too much month for the money to go around.
I also need to come clean on something. My wife and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary and we started out the month in the red. I ended up using my credit card to buy her gift and go to a fancy restaurant. The damage is about $400 and this month’s payment pretty much covers the finance charges but does not do much to the principle balance. She also used her credit card to buy my gift, something I needed, and another smaller one, something I did not. I at least convinced her that the other thing was not necessary, so it could be returned. Resorting to a credit card when we didn’t have the money is not something I’m proud of anymore. I feel guilty and embarrassed, but did not want to ruin our first anniversary because the money wasn’t available for that moment.
Last big chunk of news is my teeth are breaking down from a lack of responsibility in my early years. I never had much of a problem taking care of my teeth as a kid, but when I got braces it became complicated to try to keep everything clean. A lot of the problems could have been addressed if they were caught early. I also was not the best at going to the dentist during my college years to even have the opportunity. At my dentist appointment this past weekend, I need to have about 3-4 molars crowned at about 1k each out of pocket because I have maxed my insurance for the current year. There is not much of a time frame for how long my chompers will last before they start break down. So far I have had prep work done on 2 of them just to hold me over for now. The good news to all of this (yeah what good news) is I have no problems with the nerves or roots and won’t need any root canals done. The dentist offered me a payment plan system where I could borrow what would be needed to cover the cost, and then make monthly payments over a predefined term. I really don’t want to borrow money, but at the same time I don’t want to lose my teeth trying to avoid debt.
I’m not sure if this is the best time to be selling the house. There is no money on hand to do it right now, which my wife hates to hear. She has been drooling over apartments lately, some of which the rent is higher than our current mortgage payment. That is not a direction I will even let her pretend to justify to me. We’re going to lose money on the house in closing costs because the house is not going to sell for much more than we bought it. The market is soft and slow, there are 26 other houses in our area on the market, and only 1 has a contract. The realtor says we should jump in quickly and get on the market if we want to have a chance to sell. I’m not completely on board 100% about selling anymore which pisses off my wife to no end. We are not in a very good position right now to sell and at the same time get an apartment. She currently has a summer job, but I’m not sure what job she will do later this year if she delays student teaching. I would like her to finish her master’s degree and be officially done with school so she can focus next year on getting a job as an actual teacher. Part of me feels she is not happy about everything is that she has been in college for the past 6 years and is having trouble finding the end. I’m not sure what I’m going to do anymore. It feels like my foundation is coming apart beneath me.
Try another dentist, especially since you don’t have a dentist that you have been going to for years. My wife takes good care of her teeth and when she went to a dentist other than her regular one, he told her she needed all kinds of big $$$ work that wasn’t really necessary.
Good luck with your teeth, dude… I’m blessed with great fangs that need very little maintenance, but I know just how expensive dental work can be!
Since it’s your anniversary, perhaps start putting away $8 a week now, so that next year you’ll have your $400 to spend without feeling guilty. Even better put a little more… maybe $15 a week if you can afford it, and make it your “gift fund” so whenever an anniversary or birthday or christmas comes up, you’ve got the money ready.
Try and remember though, it’s not about the gift… it’s about the person. The most wonderful gift I was ever given cost less than $100 - it was a painting, that my boyfriend spent months preparing.
When you first start working on becoming financially fit, it will feel like there are all these roadblocks. Everything seems to come up at the same time.
In some ways it’s no different than before except the credit card always came to the rescue. Since you’ve discovered that you dont want to be a slave to the credit card companies, it can be kind of depressing to imagine how you’ll get through but you will.
You’re doing better than you think. At least you were able to pay all of your bills, albeit you probably have new gray hairs! LOL.
Keep plugging away and you’ll see that things will lighten up in the next little while.
Dude, go overseas and have your dental work done there. I had all my wisdom teeth pulled in South Korea for less than a hundred dollars. A solid gold tooth for nearly four hundred. Yeah, Vietnam would have been cheaper but oh well!