More on those 2012 Goals

I apparently missed some emails or something because I did not realize I had so many comments on my Goals for 2012 post, a couple posts back.  I appreciate y'all so much and am touched that people out there in blog land are concerned I may have too much on my plate.  Lord I don't know if I'd know how to act if I didn't have too much on my plate. It's just kind of what life is like around here.

So, earlier tonight I posted about the weightloss goal.  That goes along with the treadmill and getting Christopher in shape too.  I don't even know if we'll get to the point that we can move on to the P90x thing this year, but I'd like to.  These are just goals... well more like dreams?  I don't actually imagine I'll be able to accomplish them all.  that's insane.

The house repairs ones are good and bad for me...  well ok, the ones that have to do with decorating - those are all cool.  I know we'll be able to get the walls primed and painted, then we'll do the floors (after we paint so we don't get paint on the floors), then we'll get the baseboard molding stuff.  I was thinking of renting a nailgun, but they're dangerous and plywood nails easily enough. A good day of shopping can get Faelyn's mattress, a used dresser or sideboard for the hallway entry area, towels, sheets, etc. Our tax refund will be a bit less than previous years, but still enough to get stuff done and get new stuff for the house that is needed.
The part that worries me is the actual repair stuff. Usually this stuff is up the man of the house to either do himself or find the right people for the job...  well my man of the house is not the normal man.  He hates talking on phones, and dislikes having to deal with people at all, especially other men. It's made being the woman of the house a much harder job than it should be, but there ya go.  Anyway, I'll have to have him ask his coworkers for recommendations on fix-it people to come out and look at it. We don't have any homeowner's insurance to cover that stuff, so it'll all be out of pocket.  If we can use around $1000 of the refund to at least get repairs started and get the smaller stuff done, then maybe we can get estimates on the bigger stuff and do little bits at a time or save up for it as the year progresses.

Now that brings us to finances. When we get the cash advances paid off which will be by the middle to end of February, we'll have all that money free each month. Those were costing us $310 a month. Plus, we'll be better able to keep the bank account in the positive range and not get overdraft fees anymore, which will also save us a ton.  So, we'll finally be able to use the money we make instead of it being snatched away by fees with nothing to show for it. Also, with the tax refund, we're paying off the two small loans which will save us another $200 a month. So, just by paying off loans I wish we'd never had to get in the first place, we'll have an extra $500 each month for the things we NEED to be putting money towards, like healthier groceries, clothes for the girls and Christopher, getting them shoes that don't have holes in them, etc, even his prescriptions - and well better health care in general. We have been putting off dental visits because they require money up front.  So a couple of months of not having those bills anymore can get us a nice chunk of money in a savings account for health stuff and get the girls and Christopher taken care of.  Maybe even later on I'll be able to get the bottom dentures I have been needing for a Looong time.

Oh we'll still have some medical bills, but we can pay on those monthly and get them whittled down. As we get more stuff paid off, we should have more and more to put towards health stuff.  I truly long for the day when I can get a medical bill in the mail and just sit down, write a check for it, and put it right into the mail the next day. I reckon that's how normal people do it.  I don't think I've ever been able to do that.  But I see it on the horizon.  We'll make it. GOD WILLING.

I know things can happen.  Oh boy do I know.  In Jan 2006 Christopher was laid off from his job of 14 years. So that was a year of unemployment checks and trying to find a job and waiting and looking. A year later after he'd finally found a new job making a lot less than his old one, he had a heart attack while we had no real health insurance. So, there was another few months of worry and stress and he finally quit the job that stressed him into a heart attack, and our income was cut to almost nothing. In fact we had to file for bankruptcy. But just over a year after that heart attack, he was in his old job again, but in an even better position and just a few months later was made manager. In fact the same month his promotion went through is when I went to full time in my job online. Two and a half years after the day he came home and said he didn't have a job anymore, we were making more money than we ever dreamed we'd be making, and both doing a job we actually enjoyed (though he'll swear he hates retail, he really does enjoy being the boss LOL).

So, yeah I know stuff happens.  I know we've been horrible stewards of the amazing blessing God has given us.  We have to stop living like we've been living, grow up and get a handle on things.  But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Things aren't nearly as dark as they have been or as they could be again.  We both know that, and are ready to do this grown up thing right.

Thanks again to all of you who posted and even those who just read my blog and think about us for a moment, or even pray for us (woohoo love that!).