Before it gets better.....

UGH!!!!

Have you ever heard people say that "it always gets worse before it gets better"? Well, if you haven't, you have now. And this applies to my situation.

Here is a rundown:

More car repairs
Getting informed that interest rate is being increased

Need I say more? UGH!!!

Well, to all of this I say "I will not give up! I am determined and I will prevail!"

Now I just need to find a way to bring in some extra income. I have been scouring Craigslist and do you realize how many scams are out there. They are just lurking around waiting for someone to take the bait. They place a very promising add to get you hooked, and then they want you to pay them!!!! Well, this "cookie" is too smart to fall for that! But what I would like to know is where are all of the legitimate telecommuting jobs? Are they out there? Anyone? Help!

My positive note for the day is that I have been finding more ways to be frugal. My newest thing is that I have set my thermostat 2 degrees lower than usual. My family has not noticed at all. They use blankets a lot, but they have said nothing! People coming over to my house on the other hand is another story! They think my house is cold. Not unbearable, but cold! To that I say to myself "they are only visiting, they can go to their own toasty home soon!" I also remind myself that our grandparents and great grandparents lived in colder draftier houses than we do, so I will not complain. Not sure yet how much this will save, but I will let you know when I compare the heating bill from last year to this one.

One other thing I have been doing is putting leftovers in the freezer. We rarely eat the leftovers before they go bad. This way we will have a smorgasborg a couple of nights a month and the choices will be wonderful!!!

What are you doing?

Just when I thought it was ok.........

Have you ever found yourself thinking that everything is going to work out ok when, WHAMO!!!!....out of the blue something else comes your way?

Car repairs, need I say more?

The little windfall that I mentioned earlier could not have come at a better time than it did, but CAR REPAIRS!!! Really?

I know I should be more grateful. And I am really, really, grateful. I just wish it didn't have to get spent on something other than the debt I already have.....

On a more positive note though, I have really been getting the spending/budget thing under control. It is amazing what you can cut out and not really miss. So my message today is....Take heart!! You can do it!

Doors of Heaven......

I am not going to go into very much detail, but I am going to say that I often feel like I am being watched over. Today we got a very unexpected windfall from somewhere that we would never have dreamed of. The amount was very small and will only put a dent in my "problem", but I am so grateful. I am amazed that sometimes when I feel like giving up, help comes around the corner just when I need it most. This has been the case so many times in my life.

I hope that I will never seem or act ungrateful for this.

I also hope that someday I will be able to help someone else when they least expect it.

Not just one someone, many someones.....

This is my good message for today!

Income.....

I have been searching for something I can do from home to bring in an small income to help pay for my *cough*cough* mistake........

Most of what I have found is some sort of a scam. I have been looking on Craigs List and searching local listings. There really isn't anything out there. It is amazing how many posts one fake company puts on Craigs List. This "company" lists the "job" in so many different ways that I have looked at it who knows how many times. My favorite part is that they want you to pay them for the job! I may not be very smart (my debt load is evidence of this), but I am not that dumb!!!

I have not found any promising leads yet, but I am undeterred. I did offer to go and get a job, but my husband (saint that he is) doesn't want me to. He wants me to continue at home with our kids and "managing" the house. (did he not notice that I have blundered in the management part?) He is willing to work through this little by little, year by year until the debt is gone. He figures with being very careful and a hopeful raise here and there we should be in the clear in several years.

He is a patient man.

Even though he is not expecting it, I still want to do my part. I will find something. When I do I will let you know! There has to be a legitimate work from home position out there somewhere!

Now, something positive...............my kids said they love me!!!! I love them too! Those silly squirts!

Here's the situation....

I had the brilliant idea that we would be able to qualify for the mortgage loan modification program. I had birds singing on my shoulder as I thought of the relief that it would bring us. Then someone took their shotgun and blasted a hole through that bird.

We don't qualify.

We are saddled in debt (my fault), stuck at a higher interest rate on our home, and we don't qualify.

We have never missed a payment and I have absolutely no intention to whatsoever. But here is the deal....We will be stuck with our interest rate that we currently have until the real estate market in our area recovers enough for us to refinance. (So maybe in ten years from now?) We put a very HUGE amount of money down on our home and we have since watched that dwindle away with all of the foreclosures surrounding us.

We are stuck.

We are stuck owing more on our home than it is worth because we were unfortunate enough to buy at the very top of the market. ***Sigh***

Now what....

I don't really have an answer for that. The very nice guy I talked to at the bank that owns our mortgage said "You just need to cut back your expenses."

Well DUH!!! I am working on that. And no I don't blame anyone but myself for this problem, but still! Isn't there something that I can do?

On a more positive note I have decided that with every post I make I will share something positive. I don't want to be negative Nelly all of the time! So my positive thing for the day is ........At least I don't have it as bad as the people who do qualify for the loan modification program!!!

Sorry, that was a little uncalled for. Let's see, something positive........Oh,Oh,Oh! I have something!

I have really great hair today! You should see it!

Ideas...

I hate plunging toilets.

I hate plunging toilets that are several days old because my kids never told me about it and I had to find it on my own while I was cleaning bathrooms. I hate plunging other people's poop. I'll bet Oprah never has to plunge other people's poop.

While facing this task of disgusting proportions, a thought popped into my head. Why can't someone invent a new toilet that has a much less chance of getting plugged!

Then another idea popped into my head....

Why doesn't this newly invented toilet have some sort of a function on it much like our garbage disposals, where the thing that just won't go down gets ground up and then sent on its merry way!

Gross, I know, but wouldn't that be wonderful! Maybe it could guarantee to cut clogging issues down by 78%!

I would dream of one of these beauties!

I know this has nothing to do with my financial situation......but that is where my mind is today!

Sleep.....

I have noticed something very strange. It didn't even dawn on me until this morning....

Since I confessed everything to my husband I have been sleeping like a rock. I am usually a very light sleeper, tossing and turning and waking up with the slightest noise. For the last week though, I haven't even heard my husbands alarm go off in the morning! This is very weird!

Now I just need to figure out how to relax during the day. The stress of it all is really eating away at me when I am awake. I am wound up so tight that sometimes I want to hide in a little corner so I don't have to talk to anyone. I am consumed with thoughts of how to get myself out of this mess (nothing ingenious yet, but I am working on it!). I answer people with short, sometimes sharp sentences and I feel irritated and agitated. This is no way to live!

I really need to get myself under control.

Maybe I should pick up yoga.

I know you can get instructional videos on you tube for FREE!!! And right now for me that is the best price!

I guess my advice for today would be to tell the one you love what you are struggling with. Don't hide it inside because it will really do you in. Maybe then you will be able to sleep.