Getting Our Crap Together

So we have been on a very loooooooooooooooooooooong process (life). And we seem to be doing OK. Medical bills paid off, paid off van, have a small savings, saving cash for a truck. We are getting there, slowly but surely.

Although we got 700 dollars worth of medical bills in last week. Tiring to have insurance and they pay for Nothing! I don't understand why we pay weekly for insurance and have to pay all bills?

Saving cash for a newer truck for hubby as we are still down to one car. Math wise should have his money by November (don't tell him it's that far out!) although with November then we have Christmas and probably need more in savings. But come Jan. we plan on paying down the house. Oh boy those will be exciting times around here.

We can only do this because we are now living far below our means. Last year nope, living well above our means, and it wasn't to our doing, we needed gas, and this and that. So you shell it out. The 401k loan we had to take out for gas back when the in laws were so very sick. That will hit the half way mark this upcoming Friday. That is exciting. I'm hoping to move that money from re-paying a loan to just putting it into the 401k. With it being a company match, hoping to build a retirement. We are really, really far behind, but something is better then nothing right? In November we have plans to stop building an emergency fund and put that money into a Roth IRA. More exciting times. I just can't believe we have to hand our money over to someone to save it. (it's with a money person relax)

On top of that our paycheck took a 50 dollar a week hit. Between the payroll tax, life insurance and many other things. It's tiring to see others can just touch your paycheck like that. 50 dollars is a lot of money here. Heck we were fighting a company over 4 dollars last week. Because we work hard for every single penny and that four dollars should not have been removed from the paycheck. Tiring.

What is even more tiring is my parents. After 37 years of marriage, they don't talk to each other, they have never sat down and done a budget. They don't know what they have coming in verses going out. If there is money there, mom takes it and spends it. Now they have double what we have coming in, but yet they didn't pay their mortgage for 3 years. So starting to pay rent really took a hit on them this past summer. Just wait until that tax bill comes in. They still don't get it. Once their house does finally close, the amount written off by the bank, the IRS will tax it as earned income and come after them for the money owed. My mother thinks the bank pays that. Nope, they go after you. At this moment that bill will be over 47k. You would think that would be enough to freak them out? Nope. Why do I have a feeling they won't be doing their taxes this year? or next? Why? Tell ya through if you owe someone 47k plus they will go looking for ya. And then what? Don't call on me.

You add in an accident my father had last week that left the car really un-usable, but lots of phone calls to insurance and such, because they HAVE to have a second car, they can not live without that car. Seriously my father shouldn't be driving, he is facing surgery because accident jarred a past surgery. But yeah lets get that car fixed ASAP.

They don't make sense to me. I left their house last week, needing a shower, because of all the crap and clutter everywhere. Why do people need so much stuff? Tell ya when we moved them last summer, hubby and I come home and declutted the house. We are to live without crap. Tell ya I really enjoy it now. It takes 5-10 minutes to clean the kitchen. The boys can clean their room in just a few minutes. The playroom is an easy clean up. We don't need crap. But I do realize my mother has a shopping problem, and it's probably from her past of never having anything and now that she can afford crap she is going to buy anything and everything. She isn't to the hoard stage yet, but we will need to watch things.

But seeing their mess, and all their crap, and papers everywhere and I know if something happened to my father today, the nightmare it would be to bury him. To find docs, to find money. I take my parents day to day. I often tell my parents no. Because honestly I need to keep myself on track. We are right on that edge, where we are not great, but we are not bad. Everyday I think more and more on how can we live below our means. Do we really need that, how can I get that for free. We don't need that. It has allowed us to keep money in the bank. It allows us to save for the truck and upcoming events. Tell ya it's nice at the end of the week to put a 20 away and that is 20 more dollars we have for gas to get us to the camp ground this summer.

We have also decided it's time to get our crap in order. We finally got life insurance what a battle as hubby's labs are never normal. This was suppose to be a non medical life insurance, it turned into a medical insurance. As they were telling us hubby is in kidney failure. Hum no he isn't. So that was a lovely battle, but in the end we finally won out. So one box checked. Many more to check.

So I saw the Suze Orman box on Qvc. I never watch that channel. Toyed many days with buying that box. It has everything you need in it to get your crap together. But boy it hurt to spend that money, but I caved, because caller after caller talked about OMG my parents had their stuff together and within a week the estate was settled. It was easier to bury this person we had all her docs in one spot. My family is passing this from person to person and we are all getting our crap in order. So the box is on it's way and we will soon sit down and get our crap in order. Won't be exciting but a relief when it's done.

Any thoughts on if I can get my parents to get their crap together? HA. They don't even open most of their mail these days. Get their crap together, what a laugh!

So our next steps is to work on getting our crap together, keep living well below our means. To keep saving for the truck and just to have a savings. To pay off the medical I have here. When the 401k loan is done to move that money to the 401k and adding the money we have going to it now. Open Roth IRA's soon, probably November.

So our crap is coming together. It's a nice feeling. Just wish those in the family talked to each other. I wish my parents were open, but they are so closed down. Again...Tiring.

Off to find Spring. I need Spring. I need to get in the garden and play in the dirt and plant something and not think about crap! OH wait we are moving horse poop in about 3 weeks, can't get away from crap if I tried.

Is your crap in order? Your wills, and living trust, You NEED a living trust, so things don't go to probate and costs lots of money. Do you have enough for retirement? Do you have enough socked away if something happened today? If something happened today I wouldn't have to have a panic attack and that is a very nice feeling. What about you?