Besides our already crazy remodel in 2017 there is something else happening in 2017 that I haven't shared.

Most likely in the fall I will be undergoing a new and innovative surgery for a possible cure for my very rare lung disease. They only started preforming these in the last year or so, and there is only one hospital and one doctor in the US which performs them. So we will have to travel to the east coast for a week.

Honestly I don't want to get my hopes up that it will even work. But my husband is absolutely ecstatic that I have agreed to go. I've lived with my issues for half my life so I can't even remember what it is like to feel normal anymore. But I know I worry my husband a lot. Poor guy gave himself an ulcer this summer when I had a bad coughing fit and nearly suffocated. He was more scared than I was.

Also, with my condition having children is not a super safe idea since none of my medicines are allowed to be taken while pregnant or nursing. So it's better to get this fixed if I can now, so we can start a family eventually.

My mother has graciously put back a lot of money in her flex spending account, and I won't have any medical bills.

There are still a lot of details to be worked out, but we've been in contact with the doctor. Insurance can take up to 10 weeks to okay the surgery, and then we will have to pick a date, etc.

I really didn't want to be the guinea pig, and I am super anxious about hospitals and needles. So keep me in your thoughts. 2017 is going to be a crazy year, but everything works out it could be life changing!

Christmas was great. Spent time with family, and I got practical gifts such as a nail gun and a vacuum I don't think anyone has every been as excited as me to receive a vacuum. I was nearly dancing with glee as I sucked every piece of furniture and every nook and cranny.

Unfortunately I was not able to complete my goals for 2016. But I am confident that I will have the money for the Roth by the April deadline.

I should have my credit cards from Christmas paid in full by next week. And I can't foresee any other expenses popping up. So that's good news!

I am unsure what goals I should set for 2017. Everything is so much up in the air. I am turning the loan application in for our home addition this afternoon, and then there is no going back. Every extra dollar will spent cash flowing remodel expenses in 2017.

We spent our weekend doing some much needed odd jobs on our house to get ready for the upcoming appraisal. This weekend husband will have 3 1/2 days off again, so hopefully we will get everything finished. It's nice seeing our projects come to a close... just in time to start more projects.

I have really been trying to lose some weight. The problem is, I love to eat. So I can't just eat salad daily like my husband does. My best friend has moved back to the area, and she goes to the gym daily. So I've been tagging along with her for a couple weeks. I am only able to go 2 - 3 times a week, on my work from home days, and on the weekends. Since I have to go at the same time as her so she can let me in, and she goes during the day when I am working.

I am actually really enjoying it! I feel stronger, and not so lazy. But I am beginning to feel guilty sneaking in the gym without paying, especially since I know the owner. I wanted to try it out for a couple weeks to make sure I would even stick with it though before spending a bunch of money.

Anyway, I feel like I need to purchase a membership or quit going. But a membership is $25 a month. :/ I don't know if I can justify the cost, on what I see as a non essential expense...

My mom is also wanting to work out, so she said she would get a membership too so we could go together. Since I know the owner I am going to see if there is any discount he would give me. Occasionally they run specials.

What do you guys think? Is $25 worth better health? Or would I be better off saving that money?

Everything is hitting me all at once.

My credit card has a lot of pending charges on it. Ugh. Nearly $1,000 on there once everything posts.

This includes recent vet bills, Christmas shopping, some utility bills, and necessary home/clothing items. Such as a new pair of coveralls since mine's zipper broke, and a new bathroom vent light since ours went out and we are getting too much condensation in there without it.

My Christmas shopping is all complete except for one small item. So I'm glad that it's all done, and now I can just work on paying everything off.

We are signing the remodel contract this week sometime. Scary and exciting.

My goats will start kidding in two weeks! I am so looking forward to that money coming in. Fingers crossed for lots of babies.

I would like to have some input on our budget after considering my raise in January and our new house payment. Just want to make sure we can afford this.

Note: For the first 3 years our house payment will only be $730 and then go up to around $850. (tax exemption) But I would like to figure on the full amount.

2017 Budget

$1,940 His Wage
$740 My Wage
$320 My Wage #2

$3,000 Total Income

Bills & Utilities
$850 Mortgage/Taxes/Insurance
$50 LOC (might be gone)
$75 Internet
$50 Water
$20 Trash
$150 Electric
$50 Propane
$350 Groceries
$150 Car Fuel
$300 Tithes
$40 Date Night
$80 Lunches
$50 Phone
$75 Car Insurance
$75 Pets
$100 Spending

$2,465 Bill Total

Savings & Debt
$120 Car Savings

$415 Remaining
Retirement, Vacation, House


This is our minimum income budget. Usually I work more at job #2, or a get money from other odd jobs. This also doesn't consider Christmas bonuses, tax refunds, etc. All that extra money is used to fund retirement, or vacations.

I paid off my credit card with the medical bill on it today! My checking account is lower than I like, but I have a pending deposit so I went ahead and pulled the trigger.

Got the goat testing results back, all clear. I've paid most of that. Looking at having $150 in vet bills soon, also I need to get my kitten neutered, and I need to go to the doctor for my yearly physical. Yuck! So still lots of little expenses coming up.

Remodel is a go. Just need to sign the contract and hand over the $2,500 deposit. We will be taking the money from the truck fund and the LOC. We will get our new HELOC in a month or two when the work actually starts, at which time we will pay back the truck fund and pay off our current LOC.

So in the next two months we have a mad push to save/pay down debt, and finish some of the remaining home projects before the appraisal. Thankfully it's mostly small stuff and cheap like patching a hole in the drywall, painting the bathroom, finishing the trim, etc.

The remodel is really going to push our financial limits. But we are going to try our best to cash flow as much as we can. No way we cash flow weekly labor. But we are hoping to pay for some of the materials as we go, and pay cash for the finishes such as light fixtures. Any thing we can do to keep the financing only for the big ticket items.

Once the remodel starts we are on a time limit. The bank says we can't refinance into a 30 yr fixed until everything is complete. That includes finishing our upstairs which currently is only insulation and rough in electricity.

So while the crew is working on the addition, we will be working on the upstairs. We are probably also going to do most of the finish work on the addition. But we will just have to wait and see how our budget is going once we get there. Fingers crossed for no major unexpected expenses.

Exciting and scary!

Okay guys! I'm finally to the point where I am caught up and my checks can now but put towards bigger items. But I am unsure on what order I should fund things. So if I list out all the things that need saved for or paid maybe you guys can give me an order to work towards.

I need $640 for winter animal food / testing. This would be spread out over the next several months.

The LOC still has $4,000 on it. Any amount we pay towards it is less debt for when we do the construction loan.

I would like to contribute $1,500 more towards my Roth IRA before tax season.

We need to come up with a $2,500 deposit for our contractor. (We can either save cash to delay getting the construction loan a little while longer, or we can just go ahead and get the loan.)

I'm thinking maybe get the animal stuff out of the way first since it's the smallest amount. But then what?

Obviously we can't finish all of this in the short term, so I'm just wondering where my money is better spent before we get the construction loan. I want to get us as well off as I can before we take on more debt.

We finally got a revised estimate back from the contractor after he accidentally gave us an estimate for double the square footage before.

We were expecting the number to drop by at least 30-40%... Well it only went down like $10k. What the heck?

For example, concrete for the 940sf was like $13k and his new number for the 470sf was $11.5k. Gr. It is half the materials and labor. I realize some costs aren't going to go down, but I feel it should be less than that.

Anyway we had gotten another bid from a different contractor who we really liked as well, and were having trouble deciding who to go with. So now it made the decision easy.

They are going to start siding and windows in the next two months. Then we will have until spring to decide if we are really ready to take the big leap and get the addition.

Mortgage is down to $46,179.70

Our LOC expires in a couple days. I stopped into the bank 2 weeks ago to get renewal papers which they said they would mail to us. Well no papers. So now I am going to have to stop in again and bug them. I hate it when people don't follow through with what they say. The story of my life.

My paycheck has apparently got lost in the mail. It was mailed 2 weeks ago and still hasn't arrived. So they are going to have to resend. Arg.

So I'm in a sticky situation and I need advice.

My best friend married a foreigner, and they can't settle anywhere. He can't work here, she can't work there. They are constantly kicked out of each others countries and keep having a move every few months. She is having a baby, so this isn't a good life style.

They are trying to apply for her husband's green card so he can go to work and school in America and they can settle down. But by US law they need a financial sponsor.

Basically the sponsor agrees that if they can't pay their bills, etc, you take full responsibly for them. You would also be required to pay back any government services they get such as food stamps, medicaid, etc.

While I love my friend she is one of the most irresponsible people I have ever met. I do NOT want to be legally bound to her financial situation. She is at her wits end because literally no one in her family makes the income requirements, or they have been in trouble in the past for tax fraud. So she is reaching out to friends.

She is what I would call a gypsy and has never worked or lived any where more than 4 months. All her friends are the same, and as such none of them have made real wages, or they don't pay taxes.

So that leaves me. The boring person who stayed home and works. I barely make enough to meet the income requirements. When she asked me I agreed to sign for her because I thought I was just vouching that her husband is a good person, and not a bum. But my husband made me back out when we found out about all the financial legalities as well.

Has anyone ever done this? Is it a serious manner, that I am right to not want to do? I don't ever want to ruin my credit, or owe the government for something they do or didn't pay. But if it's mostly just a good faith voucher, I would be fine with that...

I just don't know much about it.

Help?

I still owe $750 on the credit card for my medical bills. Not due for another 5 weeks, and I should have checks in the mail coming any time that will cover it! I'll be so glad to have that out of my hair!!

I am so angry at the USPS. They LOST my package containing all my goat lab samples. I had insurance and tracking, and it's just gone. They can't find it. They are saying that priority mail isn't guaranteed so they won't even refund shipping.

They may pay for the cost of the syringes and vials that were in the package if I can come up with a receipt to prove cost. But that does nothing to make up for the 5 hours it took 5 people to catch and draw that many samples.

They have been nothing but rude and snotty to me, And basically said that since the box contains "biohazard" material that from now on when they see us shipping something similar they are purposely going to put it in the slow mail so my package doesn't accidentally contaminate the other mail. The slow mail takes a week, and the samples can only stand being in transport for a couple days. Ugh. I've been shipping these for years and never had a problem with 1 or 2 day mail. I've even double checked with the lab and they said that shipping in the 2 day mail is allowed, and that the post office workers are just being jerks. (I've had problems with this particular post master with other things in the past, and I think she just hates me.)

So now when I ship again I'm going to have to drive to a different post office, so my package isn't automatically marked for slow travel. Seriously I've been shipping these boxes at least once a year for 8 years, and never once has "biohazard" been mentioned, nor has my package taken longer than 2 days to get to the lab. I just shipped a box last month for pete's sake! They have known what was in the boxes the entire time.


Anyway I'm fuming. Mostly over the time lost with having to redo everything again, and the post office's lack of caring or apology at all. They are just like "oops, too bad." How can they just lose a package, and do nothing?

I don't want to go into too many details for privacy's sake. But a very close friend of ours was involved in an accident and indirectly caused the death of one of his co-workers. Our entire community is very shaken up. My mother was also involved and the only witness and although both her and my friend are unharmed they are both pretty upset and traumatized. My friend is feeling a lot of guilt even though it wasn't really his fault. I would appreciate any prayers or good thoughts for him.

It's going to be a hard road of recovery for him. We are doing everything we can, and have been inviting him to our house daily to hang out so he isn't alone while he is temporarily on leave from work. I pray that this doesn't affect his career choice that he loves and has worked so hard for.

I am so thankful that neither my mother or my friend was hurt. It could have been a lot worse than it was. A man lost his life by avoiding hurting them, and he has been honored as a hero. Hold your loved ones close, life is short.

We got all the goat's drawn for testing yesterday, now just have to pack and ship. I'm glad that job is over and done with. I'm trying to sell a goat to try and help pay for the cost. Which is around $400.

At a recommendation I called another construction company. They came out and looked the very next day, and then gave me an estimate the following day. I was shocked. I am so used to getting the run around for months and never hearing anything back. So now we are just deciding if we are really ready to do this. Our mortgage/taxes/insurance will go up about $300 a month. Whew. Which is still within most people's mortgages, but we've been used to paying such a small amount it's going to be hard to stomach. So we need to revisit our budget, and think hard about it.

If we are okay, then the bank needs to come out and give our house an appraisal, and after that clears we will be able to get started on building. I am so excited and also nervous. I hope we are not making a huge mistake. We will be more than doubling our home debt. Which sounds scary.

I went and put my medical bill on my credit card yesterday. I had to argue a bit because the lady that had previously offered me 10% off if I paid in full within 30 days wasn't there. The new person said it was only if I had paid that first day. Then she only wanted to give me 10% off what I paid yesterday, instead of off the entire bill. Arg.

Anyway I held strong, and did end up getting the $186 off I was promised. So in the last month I've paid from $1,860 to $1,000. Not bad. I have until Dec. 6th to finish the rest, which is when the credit card will be due.

My animal fund is quickly dwindling from the purchase of winter hay. I'll need to come up with $450 for goat testing within the next 2 weeks, ugh. But I'm expecting to have around 20 kids between December and March. I'm also raising my prices again by $50, so I'm hoping for a nice profit this year. Definitely hope to put more of a buffer in the animal fund so wintertime isn't such a burden.

I went and put my medical bill on my credit card yesterday. I had to argue a bit because the lady that had previously offered me 10% off if I paid in full within 30 days wasn't there. The new person said it was only if I had paid that first day. Then she only wanted to give me 10% off what I paid yesterday, instead of off the entire bill. Arg.

Anyway I held strong, and did end up getting the $186 off I was promised. So in the last month I've paid from $1,860 to $1,000. Not bad. I have until Dec. 6th to finish the rest, which is when the credit card will be due.

My animal fund is quickly dwindling from the purchase of winter hay. I'll need to come up with $450 for goat testing within the next 2 weeks, ugh. But I'm expecting to have around 20 kids between December and March. I'm also raising my prices again by $50, so I'm hoping for a nice profit this year. Definitely hope to put more of a buffer in the animal fund so wintertime isn't such a burden.

Oh my goodness I made a mistake. My mortgage is due on the 10th, and I meant to pay it last night but forgot. When I logged in this morning to pay it, it said my payment was past due... Then I realized Monday is a holiday so my payment won't post until the 11th now. ARG!

I called the bank right away, and they said I was fine. My bank has a 10 day grace period, thank goodness. But I feel so dumb. I'm going to have to be more careful with Holidays in the future. I don't usually wait this close until the payment, but it's just the way paychecks fell. Yikes!

Mortgage is down to $46,355.72

My husband is going camping this weekend with some friends and I'll have the whole house to myself. I'm kind of excited to be able to lay around, clean, catch up on some chores, etc.

I'm sending $500 for estimated taxes today. I am so lost when it comes to being self employed and paying taxes. But since I have my part time job, I think I'm actually withholding as much or more than I did last year. And I believe if you pay at least 90% of your previous years taxes that you don't have to pay estimated taxes? So actually I don't think I need to send any in, but I'd rather be on the safe side. After this year I'll have a better idea about how much I will owe in the future. For now I've been putting back 25% of all my freelance money. I'll hang onto it until tax time and I know if I owe more or not. Would be lovely to get to keep all that though.


My bank account changed their online portal, and I haven't figured it all out yet. When I tried to submit an extra payment to the LOC I accidentally sent it to the mortgage. Arg. Oh well. It's not worth calling and getting it corrected, it's still paying down debt. Just not the one I was hoping for.

I had written up a long post days ago and it got deleted and I didn't feel like retyping it all again, so here is the short version.

Car maintenance is done. $552 later. Ouch. Thankfully I have $375 put back for this, and I should have the rest when I get paid on Tuesday. So I'm glad it's over and taken care of.

HVAC guy came out to discuss plans for the addition. After some thought he is urging us to purchase a NEW upflow furnace that we can place in the basement rather than move our new downflow furnace to the addition and have to put it in the master closet. What a bummer to have to replace a furnace that is less than a year old. We knew this was going to cause problems when we bought it but we didn't have another choice at the time. Thankfully he has agreed to buy it back (not at full price) or we can try to sell the old "new" one ourselves. We might loose a thousand or two but we will save in labor costs and also gain more square footage in the addition. So I think it's worth it. He is going to run the numbers and see what the price difference is and then we will decide. Honestly the furnace saved us $1,500 in propane bills last year. So it has already paid for half of it's self. lol.

We are having a hard time deciding what we should prioritize with the addition. I REALLY want to replace all the siding. It's going to look funny to only have one side of the house redone and half of the front, and I worry about leaks where the old and new meet. But to redo all of it is going to be nearly $12,000 more. Which we do not have. Might have to think about this some more, and see if there is something we can cut instead. Might be worth it to wait on finishing the interior, to get all of the exterior done. Thoughts?

So the nice contractor got back with me, with an estimate!

It's way over our budget. But then I noticed a number that looked weird and I asked about it, and he realized he had accidentally figured the numbers on a 28' x 30' addition rather than the planned 14' x 30'!

So now I have numbers, but they aren't the right ones... lol. But at least this gives us a starting place. Poor guy, I feel really bad that he has to re-figure everything. The total is not going to drop in half because some costs won't change, but I am hoping the estimate will go down by at least 1/3.

But for now, I will share what numbers he gave me. Keep in mind this is for double the size we are actually wanting.

Concrete - $13,600
Excavation - $900
Framing - $13,879
Roofing - $2,874
Electric - $3,256
Lights/Fans - $600
Plumbing - $2,972
Shower - $4,768
Tub - $1,000
Faucets - $600
Vanity - $450
Insulation - $1,222
Sheetrock - $3424
Taping & Painting - $4,650
Doors & Trim - $2,188
Flooring - $4,800
Closet Shelving - $350
Addition Siding - $6,275
Existing House Siding - $11,528
Stairwell Drywall - $1,250
Repair Sill Plate - $500
New Flat Roofing - $2,010
Waterline- $350

Total $83, 446

This is not counting windows or HVAC which I am guessing to be around $10,000 but I haven't gotten recent estimates yet.

$93,500 ish

This includes doing some other projects on the house such as reroofing our flat roof, running a new water line to the barn, residing the entire house, replacing all the windows, new duct work for entire house, drywalling stairwell, etc.

Obviously we can't afford that, but if we can get it down by 1/3, and not do the siding we are getting pretty close to our target range of $40k-$45k. We can whittle down by doing some of the work ourselves such as the painting, electric, trim, etc and choosing cheaper finishes. (He aimed high)

We are getting excited that this may actually be a reality!

Okay, I'm late but here is my list anyway.

1. I'm younger than 25.
2. I've been married for 4 years next month, started dating nearly 9 years ago.
3. My husband is the only person I dated and vice versa. Regardless of common stereotypes we have a very happy marriage, and do everything together. (Honestly in 9 years we have rarely/if ever fought about anything, and never raised voices.)
4. I have had 5 heart surgeries and 2 lung surgeries.
5. I have a pacemaker.
6. I have a rare lung disease called Plastic Bronchitis, which has a nearly 50% mortality rate.
7. I'm a web designer.
8. I love animals a LOT.
9. I always ask for power tools for holidays.
10. I love to build things.
11. I play a lot of video games.
12. I have a ridiculous attachment to my pets.
13. I really don't have any close friends.
14. I never clean my car.
15. I'm the world's cheapest traveler.
16. I don't own any makeup or jewelry except my wedding ring.
17. I don't really like kids.
18. I'm a worrier and a busybee.
19. I've never got anything but A's throughout school including college.
20. I was homeschooled 6th - 12th grade.

Here are some very random facts for you.

Well I have pneumonia yet again. I was gradually declining for a past month or so. But then it just dropped, I felt so sick for several days including during sister in laws shower. Ugh. But thankfully I can read the signs and started on antibiotics as soon as I felt it turning for the worse. It's always a struggle to take antibiotics. I'm getting resistant to them, so I really try to not take them if I can. But when I'm running a high fever, very weak, and have severe chest pain it's not safe it go without anymore. Thankfully my doctor is a family friend who I can talk to, and she can call in medicine for me on the weekends if she thinks it's important.

Slowly starting to feel better. So glad I didn't have to go to the hospital again.

Hoping to set up the appointment for my car next week. Want to get it done.

I seen everyone's list. How fun! I think it's too late for mine though. But I enjoyed reading everyone else's.

Well I got the washer all paid off, and 6 months worth of car insurance. All caught up! Whew.

And then I went to the hospital to inquire about the bill I received 9 months after my hospital visit. They told me there was some mixups with the insurance company that just now got ironed out so that is why the bill was so late. Yes I do owe it, and no I do not quality for a bill reduction or assistance.

Sooo now I have a $1,860 debt. Hiss. They only do payment plans up to 6 months, so that is $300 a month. I went ahead and put $300 on my credit card for the first payment.

BUT, if I pay the bill in full within 30 days they will take off 10%. So if I can scrounge up $1,374 this month that will save me $186. Hmm.

I will probably just put back as much cash as I can, then before the 30 days is up I will charge it all to my credit card. Then I will have until the statement balance is due to pay. No way I will be able to come up with the full amount, so I will just take from our savings and pay it off, and then I'll have to spend the next several months paying myself back. I hate that. That is all money that could be paying off the LOC instead. Oh well. I wouldn't have went if it wasn't life or death, and you can't put a price on that.

Also, I've got an estimate for changing the timing belt on my car. $514. Ouch. That also needs done this month. It's going to be a super tight budget for a while.

I've requested to go home early today from my office job. I worked a very hard and long week, and I have so much work with my design job to catch up on it's unreal.

The second guy came out to look at the house. He was very rude! He talked down to me because I was a woman, and only wanted to speak/listen to husband. He also set up an appointment which husband and I asked off work for, and then he didn't show up. When he finally called me back 1.5 hours later he said he had stopped by earlier in the day and we weren't home. Uh yeah. Because we work, and we had set a specific time when he was coming. He ended up coming out after some huffing and puffing, and then every thing we told him we would like done he whined about. He is a contractor, isn't he supposed to do the work we want, and then we pay him? It was very odd. I doubt we will ever hear from him again. At least I hope not. No way would I let him work on my house. Oh well. We really liked the other guy and can't wait to hear his estimate.

We did end up buying a washer. The heavy duty, basic Whirlpool model. It had 4.5 star reviews out of close to 7,000 so it seems like a good choice. We specifically looked for one with knobs rather than buttons. So far I am REALLY happy with it. It cleans so much better, wastes less water, and no stinky smell. Only had to come up with $200 after my bonus, so it seems like a steal. Especially if we can sell our old one in the yard sale this weekend. .

I bought the last of the boards for our downstairs window trim. We cut, sanded, painted, and installed the kitchen window last night. It was a lot of work, but it looks great and every project I do I wonder why it took me years to do it. Only have the bathroom window left and we will be done with windows!

Bathroom has a LOT of projects left. Patch the drywall, re-paint, fix the broken vent, re-caulk tub, paint door and install hardware, and trim window and door.

We cleaned for hours upstairs. We threw away at least a dozen black trash bags worth of stuff! It feels great. Everything we kept was put in tubs and stacked. One room left upstairs to clean.


Everything we get done it one step closer to a finished house.

Work is busy and I'm tired but so far this week is going much better!

We FINALLY have a construction company coming out to give us an estimate about the addition. We are so excited. Wish we luck that it stays within our budget!

Now that the goat craziness is over I can focus more on continuing home projects, and hopefully relax and spend more time with family and friends.

I sent a test in for the sick goat and am awaiting results. Fingers crossed that it is nothing serious or I will be devastated. Vet was optimistic, but don't want to count on anything until the test comes back clean. May not have results until next Friday unfortunately.

Whew! What a whirlwind weekend.

Thursday - Goats to the vet for health check
Friday - Work a half day then drive all evening to goat show
Saturday & Sunday - At goat show, arrived home after 11.30pm on Sunday
Monday - Drive goat I borrowed 9 hours back home
Tuesday - Wake up and take different goat to the vet

Now I'm back at work, and I'm tired. Have a ton of work from both jobs to do. We did very well at the show.

While I was gone our plumbing backed up, but husband managed to take it all apart and get it going again. Thank goodness.

He also took apart the washer, and worked on his car. And both are working again, for now. What good news!


We will still probably keep saving and purchase a washer or stove soon. Just because I know they are going to go out sooner rather than later. But at least we don't have to rush quite as much. I'll be keeping my eye on the Labor Day sale ads and see if we can get a bargain.

In a turn of events yesterday, when I opened the mail I received a $200 random bonus from my boss.

So now we have $200 to put towards a new washer. Things always have a way of working out.

So after the shocking hospital bill yesterday. (Which I think is actually more of receipt and we don't actually owe, thank goodness) Not 100% sure yet.

The washer broke, dead, gone.

The stove has been dying for several months now, but I think it's finally about to the end. I had to wiggle and beat it for several minutes to turn on the oven yesterday. (Stove still works.)

Husband and I had been "arguing" over which to purchase first. A new stove or a new washer. He wanted a new washer because this one had been staining clothes and ruining them. I would have to run it several times to get something clean, and there was always a smell even after cleaning it several times. Well it looks like it is decided for us.

In addition, husband's power steering in his 21 year old vehicle has gone out while driving 3 times in the last two days. Super scary and unsafe. I think it is really time to call it quits and get a new jeep.

So that means we are looking for a new car, a new washer, and a new stove. (I'm hoping I can go without an oven for a bit to delay that purchase.)

Also my timing belt is due to be changed in the next 2,000 miles on my car. Which will be over $500. Yikes!

Really. Yesterday I finally get caught up for the first time in months, and all this happens in one day. It's almost funny... But not quite.

This is on top of my very favorite pet being really sick. So I am stressed and worried to the max. I'm trying to keep calm, but I'm not good at it. I didn't get more than an hour or two of sleep last night.

Ugh. I know it will be okay though. We can cash flow a washer, and will take out a temporary loan for a car. Thankfully we are not living check to check. So while this is an inconvenience, it's not the end of the world.

Thanks guys for all the encouragement about my burnout!

I just never seem to find time to be able to do the things I want to do or need to do, like clean the house and spend time with my animals. Working gets overwhelming and I feel like I will never be able to get caught up on everything else.

Financial things have been at a stand still. :/ No progress in a month. But it's okay because we didn't lose progress either. Just had to cash flow a lot of expenses like the last of the vet bills, the vacation, another bridal dress, etc. I know it happens. We've got that all weeded through now, so I'm hoping that means we can start moving forward on the big goals.

I'm still torn between if I should finish the Roth first or if I should pay down the LOC. I may just do a little of both. I had planned on doing the Roth first just to make sure it is finished by tax season since we get the savers credit. But that LOC is really starting to bug me and I want it gone.

Still feeling the burnout blues. The more I think about how it will be years before I am able to work less the more depressing it gets. :/

Husband is having a hard time at his job too. In the past week or so nearly everyone he is friends with quit for various reasons. He's suddenly lonely and also feeling like it's a dead end job. It pays pretty good, but it's not fulfilling work. Jobs are so limited where we live though, he can't seem to find anything he is interested in. He says he wants his job to make a difference, or help people.

I know everyone gets tired of working occasionally, but It's hard right now. Especially since it is hitting both of us at the same time. Ugh.

Mortgage payment hit, bringing the total down to $46,593.39.

That seems like a huge amount that will never be paid and I'll be a slave to the work force forever.

How do you guys get through burnout?

This week has been a whirlwind. My office boss came back from a two week vacation, so had a huge list of stuff to be done.

My web design boss has a TON of work for me right now as well, all on a short time frame.

Besides double my workload, it's also VBS week at church. Which both husband and I volunteered for. So we have literately been going there 15 minutes after we get off work, and not getting home until 9pm every day this week. Tonight is the last night, thank goodness. We've had about 24 kids in our class, and they are wild.

I've had terrible sinus pressure and headaches for the past several weeks. Well it's finally came to a peak, and now I'm sniffling, sneezing, and sick. Hopefully that means it will clear up soon though.

Tomorrow we have tickets to a play for my birthday, which is Monday. Our house is a disaster, so we'll be spending the rest of the day cleaning, and I'll be catching up on work over my birthday weekend.

I am worn out. I just want a nap. Feeling so behind on work, chores, animals, everything.

I have a more personal question. Is there any good way to discuss/teach finances with a friend?

My husband's best friend is bad with money. His family is bad with money. He was never taught, and I worry he is going to struggle his entire life.

In the past we talked a little about money with him. His credit was bad because of him putting his name on a phone bill with a friend when he was about 16 and his friend stopped paying. Doh. We talked to him about credit cards, and helped him open his first one so he could have some "good credit" history. Telling him how interest works and how he should only use it for regular bills and pay it in full each month. Things seemed to be going well.

To sum things up as best as I can. He makes about $30,000 a year, and also goes to school full time. He purchased a $12,000 car a little more than a year ago. 1st mistake. In order to save money he moved back in with his parents. That was a major mistake. His parents are super bad with money, can't hold down real jobs, etc. He has online classes and they couldn't pay their bills, so he has to keep paying their electric and internet bills to do his school. Shortly after him moving in with them, they somehow convinced him to let them put close to $5,000 on his credit card. :O With the promise they would pay it back.

He purchased a new laptop last year, financed. Now he just purchased a desktop. He also financed his school. This parents of course could not pay the credit cards, and he couldn’t make the huge payments, so he just took out a personal loan of $8,000 to condense everything. He is $20,000 in debt with not much to show for it. :/

Even scarier is that he recently talked about buying a house. He went to the bank and they approved him for $150,000!!! He literately almost bought a house for that much. (His parents encouraging him of course.) When we asked him about it he couldn’t even tell us the term or the interest rate. Thankfully he changed his mind last minute.

I’m seriously scared for his well being. It’s going to take him years to dig himself out of this debt. He can’t say no to anyone, and I bet his parents are going to continue to have him pay their bills and tack on more debt. He has no idea that this is bad debt, doesn’t understand interest, etc. He just follows whatever the banks and his parents tell him. He is already struggling paying his bills, and I don’t see how he will ever be able to move out of his parents house, get married, etc.

Husband and I joke that we need to sit down with a powerpoint and teach him finances. But seriously. How can we help him? I try to stay out of people's business, but he’s a good guy, and honestly just doesn’t know.