We are back from our trip to the south east coast! We had a good time, and got to see lots of new things. Seriously I don't know how we fit in so much on our trips, but we are pros at making the most out of the time we have.

We left on Saturday and stayed with family that was about halfway that night. Sunday we stopped to drop off goats, and then made it to our destination. The lovely family we stayed with made us some classic seafood boil which you eat with your hands, and then we packed up and headed to the beach for the sunset.

Monday we got an early start, before Charleston was "open" and got to see all the outdoor sights like the battery and waterfront park, we also walked a bit through historic downtown but it was nearly 110 degrees, so we didn't spend as much time as I had hoped for. We caught the first boat tour out to Fort Sumter, and learned some history. Then we went to a breakout game which is super fun. They lock you in a room and you have to find clues and keys to help you escape in under an hour. It was kind of weird because we were with 6 other strangers, but I would definitely do it again. It would be a real blast with friends. We drove across the amazing Ravenel bridge and ate lunch at a resort restaurant overlooking the U.S. Yorktown aircraft carrier. Afterwards we headed back to downtown and stopped at the historic city market. I splurged and bought $50 worth of pralines and goodies for myself and our two families which watched our animals while we were away. They make the most delicious pralines you'll ever buy there. (I don't even usually like pralines!) We got a Christmas ornament which is a tradition for our trips, and they were discounted if you buy 3 so we also got one for each of our mothers. That is the only souvenirs we purchased.

Then we headed back to our hosts and they ordered fried seafood to go (the best ever) I had it last time I was there and it was a special request. Then we headed out to a private ritzy island, where some friends of their owned a house and called in a pass for us. They had a guard house and everything, all gated, very expensive. I think some celebrities live there. So we spent another sunset eating seafood on the beach. Some dolphins swam very close to us while we were swimming.

Tuesday we left for Savannah and had planned on spending the day there. But once we got there and ate lunch we decided it was very crowded, and pretty much the same as Charleston only smaller roads and more people walking. So we went ahead to the park at which I had reserved a camping spot for previously. It was only early afternoon when we got there, and still blistering hot so on a whim we decided to keep driving rather than sit around in the heat. I lost out on the $34 I had paid for camping, but I think it was worth it. Wanting to see new places we took the long way home through Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Atlanta was a nightmare, and right in rush hour it started pouring rain. Their roads were horrible, with lots of standing water and hydroplaning. I was so terrified I was on the verge of tears. Worst driving I've ever been in. Thankfully my husband is a very cautious and good driver. And did his best to keep me calm.

We drove another 6 hours to a very secluded park in Alabama. We got there after dark, and we had to put up the tent and light a fire for dinner. The park ranger was very nice, and was surprised we had found them. It was such a secluded park that I couldn't even find a review, picture, or phone number online. Just an address, and the entrance road was very very long. Husband and I were joking that this is how a scary movie starts.

Yesterday we finally made it home. All told we spent:

$173.09 on gas
$122.03 on eating out and groceries
$70.62 on candy and gifts
$89.40 on the boat tour and breakout game
$53 on camping

For a total of $508.14! I had originally budgeted $500 before one of my transports dropped out, and I lost $75 last minute. So if you count that money we were only $8 short. Pretty good considering the extra camping costs, and expensive candy.

I would highly recommend Charleston. The people there are so friendly, and it is one of the most beautiful cities in the US.

Still doing the cash flow juggle.

Thankfully at this moment I only owe $200 on the credit cards. I was hoping to be at $0 before the trip, but it's not going to happen. Not due until September anyway so it doesn't really matter. Still have to pay for the cat spay on Thursday. That will be around $100. We kept my husband's favorite kitten and found a good home for the others. So we are now a 4 cat household. Up from our original 2, but down from our recent 6.

I did add a new expense. I had to purchase a new phone. :/ Mine has been deteriorating for months. First it started randomly shutting off, then it started dropping calls, maps stopped, and then it would take 12 hours to send a text message. It was extremely frustrating, and I knew the end was coming.

We made the decision to go ahead and purchase a new one before the trip since we were traveling across country, and the phone is our sole source of GPS. We didn't want to get lost when my phone died on us. Or not be able to call for help if something happens. My phone even shut off twice when they were trying to switch me to the new phone, so it really was getting to be unusable.

I have to pay full retail price with my phone company. So it was quite expensive, I am appalled and embarrassed at the price, especially since in the past you would get a new free phone every 2 years. Now the monthly bill is cheaper, but you are responsible for the phone purchase. It cost almost as much as my husband's laptop.

Oh well. I sprung for the good one. The price difference wasn't much different for it or a cheapo one, and I figured I might as well get what I want since I do use my phone constantly. I take really good care of them, and they last a long time, so over multiple years it doesn't seem like as much.

They want you to just make payments every month (0% interest), but I went ahead and put down a $200 payment because I'd rather pay up front and avoid monthly bills. The lady said no one EVER does that. Weird. I couldn't pay for the entire amount because of being squeezed from the trip. But I plan on saving up and paying it off in the next couple months. In the mean time I have to pay $20 a month on it. Which is fine since my bill actually just dropped $15 a month or two ago. So really only an additional $5 out of the budget. Not a big deal in the scheme of life, and it certainly is an upgrade. Honestly I am just thrilled that I can send texts again!

My birthday is coming up, and I am super excited this year. I FINALLY convinced my husband and family to buy me practical things I actually need/want rather than junk that is "more fun." I am getting a new bed and sheets. Just what I want! I also wanted a vacuum, but the price went up. So I have been promised it for Christmas. haha. Not many women can honestly say they want a new vacuum and bed frame for holidays! I am not materialist at all, and I prefer usable things that will improve my quality of life. A comfortable bed, and a way to suck up cat hair sounds pretty good to me.

I still haven't been able to find a single construction company to come out and give us even as estimate.

Which is quite depressing... Really I should keep trying and keep calling, but I'm nearly burn out about the entire situation. Part of me feels like it's time to take a step back and just wait another year.

My car has been having problems again. Also it's time to replace the timing belt as normal maintenance which I was quoted around $800 last year when I inquired.

Husband's car is very old, and it's only a matter of time before it's unfix-able. Both of us are feeling car strained. The conversation of purchasing nused cars and forgoing the remodel for now, has come up several times. It's a very real possibility that both our cars could break down at the same time, and we would be left scrambling for something. We'd like to avoid that and take our time finding a good deal, and selling ours while they still have any value.

Or we could just take a year off from big expenses, pay off the LOC, save, and purchase some smaller quality of life things like some new appliances or a couch. We are squeaking by on 20+ year old appliances, which are quickly deteriorating. For example my stove's screen is going out and I have to beat on it to see the oven temperature, set the timer, etc.

I'm worried if we decide to purchase a car then our stove or washing machine will go out, or if we get the remodel then our car(s) will break down. Ugh. I keep going back and forth, and second guessing myself. How do you ever decide what to focus on?

Busy, busy, busy, around here. We got the roof shingled, and the ridge cap on. All that is left is the headwall flashing, and some roofing caulk in a few places.

Going to fill up the trailer for the dump this weekend, and continue organizing the upstairs. I'm thinking one trip isn't going to be enough... Also have to clean out the goat house and barn again.

It's nice to see some big noticeable projects get done on the house.

Web design is in full steam ahead mode. Which is great, but also exhausting. Really slacking on stuff at home like washing dishes and laundry. lol.

Life is a crazy mess, but good.

Worked on the roof yesterday, got the old shingles off, and the ice shield and tar paper put down. . This evening we are shingling. We ran into a problem though. We couldn't get the very old rusty, holey, metal flashing off. Any ideas? It's really nailed into the walls (under the siding), not the roof like it's supposed to be. And we can't seem to get it off without taking off the siding. Which is old aluminum, and won't come off without completely ruining it.

If we can't get it off we are probably going to just have to cut it with tin snips as close to the house as possible and try to slide the new flashing up under it. Will that cause problems in the future? When we eventually get the remodel the siding will be replaced and we can removed the old flashing, but in the mean time I don't want to have the entire bottom row of siding ripped out and missing.


I got a $5 an hour raise with the web design job! That will certainly help goals get completed, and two more goat kids are getting picked up next week.

Husband is getting really attached to the kittens and is already pleading to keep ALL of them. Oh my goodness we don't need 6 cats. Ugh. We'll have to wait and see what happens. It's going to be hard letting the little boogers go, I knew it would be. Which is why I didn't want kittens in the first place. If we can find them good homes it won't be so bad. But I care too much to just let them go to anyone. I can't understand people who trade and constantly sell/buy pets. I get way too emotionally invested, and once an animal comes here it most likely will never leave. With the exception of the goat kids. Which is hard enough, and I carefully screen all buyers and keep in contact.

All animals deserve love and respect. If I go in the goat pen I literately get mobbed by over a dozen adult goats trying to climb in my lap and fighting for my attention and two hands. My husband was laughing so hard at me yesterday because I sat down and all these 100+ pound animals were clamoring, rubbing, licking, nibbling, and pushing for hugs and kisses, nearly squishing me in the process. They are very intelligent and each have their own quirks, habits, and personalities. I've spent so much time with them that I can recognize their different voices from the house. Yet to most people they are just livestock.

I am so frustrated. We have been wanting to a do home addition for 4 years now. We kept putting it off until we were in a better financial spot, and decided this would be the year. At the beginning of the year I started calling around to contractors and construction companies trying to find someone to do it.

I was only able to get one company to come out and do an inspection for an estimate. Which was okay, they were my favorite anyway. Well they have put me off for months and I had to keep checking back. Yesterday I called again and they said they were too busy and were no longer interested.

Well that stinks. We had hoped to do it this summer, and now I wasted all this time waiting on them. I wish they hadn't led me on.

So I started calling more companies again. I called sixteen... SIXTEEN companies yesterday. No one was interested. No one wants to do home addition, only new construction, or everyone is too busy. :/

I even called the local hardware stores to ask for names and numbers. Then one of my friends messaged me that that they are getting a remodel done, and gave me their person's number. That was nice of them, but it made me feel jealous.

To back track, I've talked about her before, this friend was always low income and we got along great because we were both frugal and did cheap fun activities. Then in the past year she met and married her husband. Who is very wealthy. My frugal friend quickly turned completely opposite. She's living in a very nice house, driving new cars, etc. She is super sweet, but has been extremely busy and hasn't had much to do with me since she met this guy. I've invited her her to do things with me several times and she always turns me down or will say yes and then back out at the last minute. I know it's not intentional, but I just don't feel like I'm good enough anymore.

Add on that my other best friend moved away, and I am feeling rather lonely. I have no one that I can call up and go to the movies or out to lunch with. All of my friends have finished college and moved away, and are being successful in their new jobs. I'm the only one still driving an old car, and living in a half finished house. Sometimes it's hard not to feel jealous.

Anyway, she told me they are getting a 1,200 sq foot addition, with a 3 car garage. They already have a 4 car garage, and a big 4 bedroom house. It's just the two of them.

We've been waiting, planning, and looking forward to this small addition for years. And it's just disheartening that they are getting one 3 times bigger than ours, and have already started on it. I can't even get a builder to call me back. Ugh.

I'll try recalling a few people who didn't answer. But it's not looking promising that a remodel will happen this year.

We tried to push ourselves to be productive this weekend and overall we were. I got the goat house and barn cleaned out, and sold a kid. We cleaned the house, mowed the grass, tidied outside, and even started cleaning out the boxes of junk that have been upstairs since we got married... Nearly 4 years ago.

Right now all three upstairs bedrooms are full of boxes of our old kid stuff, gifts/junk people gave us when we got married, random items we have no idea how they got there, and lots of building supplies, drywall, boards, etc.

Everything needs gone through, sorted, trashed, and organized. So it's a very large job.

It was kind of fun going through our old childhood things and sharing memories with each other. We moved everything into rubbermaid tubs to prevent future damage from the sun, mice, water, etc. We threw away two large trash bags worth of stuff, and only got about half way through one room. (The worst room)

Smidge the runt kitten is doing a lot better. I started using the sponge like several of you suggested, and it worked great! Thanks! After a couple days he stopped accepting the goat milk I was giving him, and seems to be eating well from mama now.

We are really fighting with the runt kitten to get it to survive. It seems... dumb. It wants to eat, but it can't seem to latch on correctly. It sucks in the wrong spot, or keeps letting go. It also won't latch onto a bottle. So I've been syringe feeding it. It is skin and bones, poor thing. It seems to be a little perkier today, so hoping it will eventually become strong enough to eat on it's own or take a bottle. My husband has named it Smidge.

Last night he nonchalantly said, "It is sure going to be sad to give away Smidge..." I said "NO, don't even think about it!" "Aww. But when you bottle feed you get attached to it."

Sigh. We do not need ANOTHER cat. 3 is enough. I told him if he wants to keep it then we have to find a home for Scrump. Which he doesn't want to do either. And I thought I was the animal enabler. lol.

My favorite goat had a bad hoof problem. I treated it for weeks as per vet instructions, but it wasn't healing properly, so I finally insisted and took her to the vet yesterday. They did minor surgery on it, and she already seems to be feeling better. Thank goodness. I was expecting to spend a couple hundred dollars, but was shocked when the bill was only $50. And that included a full bottle of antibiotic, and a jar of medicine which I can use later. Well worth it!

Got an appointment for the other dog to get her shots on Thursday, just in time to still get the discount. Then hopefully I will be done with vet bills for a while! At least until I have to take Scrump in and get her fixed. Ugh.

Another goat will be going home this weekend. Rather than put the money in the animal fund, I will probably use it to cover some of the vet costs from the past month. That is what the animal fund is for anyway. I still have 6 more kids left to be paid for and picked up, which will more than finish out the animal fund.


These animals are killing me this month. But I have been pretty fortunate really, not had many vet bills at all in several years besides the heart worm treatment, and regular vaccinations. Which is amazing considering I have over 30 pets.

I joke that my spending budget is 90% animals, and 10% junk food... That's probably pretty accurate. lol.

I got horribly sick again as an after effect of my sickness earlier in the year. I had still not coughed up any of the pneumonia so I knew it was only a matter of time. Well that time came.

Since Saturday I've been coughing or puking almost completely non stop. Severe pain in my lung, fevers, chills, sweats, and of course every muscle in tired and sore from coughing. No sleep to be had for several days for either of us. I had a round of antibiotics on hand because they expected me to get sick again, and I took them as soon as I felt myself going down hill on Saturday. I was barely able to avoid going back into the hospital.

If that wasn't enough, husband had some weird stomach pains which made him feel poorly, and we nearly had to take him to the hospital, but he is feeling better so we will wait and see. We think it is probably a stress ulcer, because he worries deeply about me, and his symptoms started a couple days after mine.

I'm happy to say that last night was the first night that I didn't puke, and we finally got some sleep. So I think I'm past the worst of it. Now that some of that junk is out of there, hopefully I can heal and feel better.

I am completely wiped out though. My throat is so sore and irritated from coughing that I lost my voice. And I haven't eaten much of anything since Friday so I've lost about 5 pounds.

I only worked a couple hours this week, but I don't care.

As a side note, the cats are all getting along pretty well now. But unfortunately I think the little kitten is pregnant. Hard to believe since she was SO thin when I got her, but her belly has ballooned up pretty big. Arg. So it looks like I will be finding homes for kittens. Poor thing is so tiny, hopefully she only has a couple in there.

Husband and I have been toying around with the idea of starting a blog.

I'm a web designer, and he is a photography enthusiast. Seems like a good fit. We are remodeling a house, and live on a farm. So we have content.

But I think I am mostly worried about remaining partly anonymous.

I already have a successful goat business and website, with my contact information on it. If I make a blog which ties to that, I worry about peopling linking this savingadvice blog to the new blog, or to my goat business. I'm not sure if I am comfortable with everyone knowing my name, address, income, etc. How can I prevent this? I'm not sure how much should be kept private.

I'd love to share the new blog with you guys. But at the same time. I feel like I don't want this more private area of my life attached to my name, etc. Thoughts? Ideas on how I should go about this?

My boss gave me a $100 bonus for being a hard worker.

I've figured out that on Friday's payday I will be able to pay off the credit cards and have about $200 to send to the computer. Hurray! It seems like forever since I've been able to put money towards something besides our monthly bills.

We have also been productive around the house. The vegetable garden and the flower garden are both done, our closet trim is ready to hang today, and we deep cleaned the bedroom and living room.

We now have a new cat. Someone dumped a very very thin kitten off at my parents. I didn't really need another cat, but she is so sweet, and I felt so bad for her. She obviously needs food and care. Poor thing has ate and ate and ate since I've brought her home. She purs very loudly every time you touch her or feed her. It's so cute compared to my grumpy Momo.

She seems to be settling in well. But the other two cats are not at all happy about the new addition. Especially since she has taken over the outdoor cat's bed. lol.

We named her Zazzles, or "Zazzy." Which is from The Big Bang Theory. She is grey with a white face and feet. My husband is so good about enabling my animal habit. Within reason of course. He didn't even put up a fight, he just rolled his eyes when I asked and said "bring her over." lol.

Unfortunately she is long haired. I'm about at my wits end with brushing long haired cats. I've never had so much grooming to do. The two current cats rough house and play so much that they tangle their hair up in giant knots. I am brushing and cutting out mats daily. It's a constant battle with the indoor cat to keep fur off everything. Yuck. My old short haired cat didn't shed half as much. I have all hard wood floors and I still can't keep the hair down, I can't even imagine how it would be with carpet.

I will be scheduling an appointment to get her spayed ASAP and vaccinated. But I want to get her a little healthier before surgery, plus she is very small yet. I'll go ahead and pick up some wormer for her, and the other cats.

Momo the ragdoll has been acting off the last few days. He has a rare gum disease which hurts so I take him to get steroid shots every few months. He hasn't been eating well lately, so I was worried he is sick again but it hasn't been that long since the last shot. It's best to delay it as long as possible since he is so young and long term steroids can cause permanent damage. I looked at his gums and they don't look that bad right now. I am wondering if he is just stressed because of the new cat. I will keep a close eye on him for a couple days before I decide if he needs to go in or not. The vet is swamped right now with only one vet, and very few workers.

Well it finally happened. I have started receiving medical bills for my long stay in the hospital in January.

My mom had graciously agreed to pay all the bills for me. She just wanted me to get better, and not worry about the money issues.

But in the past week we have already received over $1,200 in bills. And the doctor hasn't sent his bill yet.

Originally we thought I wouldn't have much to pay, because in-patient care is sometimes covered 100%.

I have good insurance, with a deductible of only $635. So I'm not sure why the amount is so much. We will have to look into it some more. But I don't feel comfortable letting my mom pay it all, so it's definitely going to affect our budget. Just not sure how much yet.


Garden boxes were filled in, but it's been getting below freezing at night, and it has been raining all day yesterday, last night, and still raining today. Planting will have to wait a little while longer. Until then the plants will do fine in our sun room.

I'm so excited! The construction company came out to look at the house and create a bid for our addition we've been wanting to do for years.

Of course they are going to take a few weeks for the actual numbers, but they gave me a rough estimate based on their other jobs of $105ish a sq foot. Or $45,000 completely finished!

We are wanting to shoot for $35,000. But they were so nice, and will let us DIY anything we want to do. Saving us a considerable amount of money. A lot of general contractors won't let you work in "their space" but these guys said they will do or let us do anything we want. So I can hire out my own electrician (who is a friend and gives me a discount), and husband and I can paint, hang insulation, etc.

Of course I don't want to get too excited until I see the real contract.

I don't even mind if we just have to get the shell put up, and then we can save and pay cash for finishing the interior if we need to. We were just praying that the exterior would be under $35k.

I can't believe this may actually become a reality this year.

We got husband's profit sharing statement from his work. They contributed $3,855 to his account this year! Making his total $6,409 at 40% vested. Sweet! Free money.

I paid the house payment bringing our mortgage down to $47,280.96.

I got my federal tax refund and sent the $100 to the Roth.

Lots of little progress on our goals.

Baby goats are being born. The weather is warm and we are gearing up to start working on projects again.

I finally submitted my taxes. At the last minute I decided to input a $1,000 for husband's Roth, so I would get back $100 for the savers credit. I'll have to make sure to send the money to his account before the April deadline. I'll definitely send the $100 from the taxes, and there is an extra paycheck coming up next month so I'll send $350 then. Just have to come up with another $450 which should be easy enough.

Should know about the new job within the next day or two.

Really feeling the itch to get projects done, or some deep cleaning. But I just don't even know where to start. I'm sick of our house looking unfinished and dirty. No matter how much cleaning I do, it still looks yucky with the old scratched floors and missing trim. I so want it to be finished this year, but the amount of money to complete just seems impossible.

Design work is picking up, and I've got a couple vet checks left. Really going to try to use my paychecks wisely to knock out as much debt as I can. I've been very good about spending lately except the occasional fast food or snack.

Husband actually had extra money left in his paycheck this month after bills, spending, and paying his credit card off. I can't remember the last time we had a positive balance. I never do because every single dollar I have (besides my buffer of course) gets put towards something on payday. I don't leave extra money sitting in my account, it instantly gets sent to savings or debt.

I put in my two weeks notice today at the vet.

I am sad for my co-workers, but happy to soon be rid of the stress. My last day will be the 25th which is great because I have goats due starting on the 29th and now I will get to be home.

My old/new job interview is Thursday. I'm still not sure how I completely feel about going back but I am cautiously hopeful that it will be better.

Almost caught back up from the low paychecks. Another $350 to go before I can earnestly start working towards my goals again.


Really need to submit my taxes, but I'm only getting $100 back and it just depresses me.

I will admit. I gave in. Dell would not quit calling me every couple weeks trying to talk me into getting a warranty on the top of the line desktop I bought. I kept telling them no no no.

Well yesterday I got tired of dealing with it and said yes. >.< I told them it was too much money and in the end I talked them down to $100 for a 3 year in home full service warranty. Which is quite cheap compared to the $250 a YEAR warranty that they try to sell you when you buy the computer. Patience and persistence is rewarded.

Part of the reason I gave in was because for the past month I have been considering getting a warranty. Just because it was so expensive, I would hate to think of something happening. I've never bought a warranty before, but I've also never gotten a $3,000 computer before either. $100 isn't a big deal if it removes worry for 3 years, especially since I use the computer for work.

Then they of course tried to talk me into getting the warranty for husband's laptop he bought at the same time. Ha. We hate the laptop, and have had numerous problems. We will probably trade it in eventually. The warranty for that was $290, ridiculous since we only paid about twice that to buy it. No thank you.

Anyway, I received an unexpected check and have $100 to pay for it, so no big deal.

Vet job is still getting worse. 2 out of the 3 vets are quitting in March. Including my favorite vet. I thought the workers who have been there for several years where making pretty good money, but I talked to one yesterday who said she was barely making above minimum wage. What the heck. Why do they put up with all that for minimum wage? She was lamenting that she should have went back to her old job... Yeah this is a sinking ship. I'm getting off before it all goes down. Hoping to be gone before March when the vets leave. It's going to be such a mess. They are already so so busy. I don't know what's going to happen.

My favorite vet is leaving because her family is 6 hours away, and she only gets one day off every other week so she never has enough time off to go visit them. Really? Why couldn't they just give her another day off? They would rather lose her than give her anything. Just shows what kind of people they are. Everyone is replaceable to them, if you don't follow their ridiculous rules.

I'm tired of being scolded and yelled at. At my old job people loved me, they respected me, and I was good at it. Here I just feel like an idiot, constantly told I can't do anything right. I got yelled at yesterday because I pushed down too hard when I was writing with a marker... Okay then.

With the recent sickness, and job instability I've really gotten cautious with our budget. I've realized with our current spending, we would be about $500 short a month if we had to rely on just husband's income. That frightens me.

I need advice on what to do with any extra income. Right now I am paying $200 a month on my 0% interest computer loan. Which will get it paid off before the financing runs out. We are also paying $30 interest only on the LOC.

Should I work on getting the computer paid off to free up that $200 a month in the budget. OR should I be paying down the LOC, which does not help the budget but makes the most sense on paper since it's charging interest and has the highest balance?

Part of me thinks it's silly to payoff a 0% loan early, but it would free up the budget and I think the quick win will give me an emotional boost over the LOC which will take quite some time to pay.

Which would you do?

** Job Update **

My interview with my old job is next Sunday.

I almost got fired at the vet on Wednesday. I accidentally missed a meeting which I did not know about. I was really expecting to get fired. But I did talk with husband and decided that if the owner was rude or disrespectful that I would quit and not tolerate her terror anymore. She ended up not coming in to have a "talk" with me, so her husband sat down with me instead. He is much nicer and more chill. He said just said to be careful and not do it again. So I got off easy.

I will admit I will feel bad for the other workers when I quit at the vet. The other new morning girl got fired for being late. (The 5th person to quit or get fired in my 90 days...) So they are so so short staffed. Actually I am picking up an extra day a week for now. Figure I might as well make as much money as I can just in case. I am going to miss the animals and the knowledge I am learning, but I won't miss the stress and instability.

Well after 6 days in the hospital they finally let me go home. But only because my mother is the nursing supervisor and she has been taking care of me.

I'm still in a lot of pain, having trouble keeping food down, trouble breathing, and just generally weak and sick. I don't know if I've ever felt so bad, even after heart surgery.

My husband has been so good to me and is waiting on me hand and foot. My mom stays here during the day while he is working. I really just want to start feeling better. I'm so bored, and stiff from laying around. Sleeping and eating is a huge problem.

Keep me in your thoughts. I just want to feel better.

Well in a bad turn of events I had to go to the ER on Sunday night after battling with severe chest pain for several days, and fighting with my lung disease for the past couple months. The night before we had to leave husband's work party early which I had looked forward to all year.

I was in so much pain I thought I collapsed my lung (I've done it a couple times before) but was surprised to find that I was very very sick with pneumonia, caused by my lung disease. They couldn't believe I was up walking, going shopping, and pretty functional.

I thought I had coughed out my lung disease last week, but apparently that was just a small part of it and I had been building up a large infection for who knows how long, which is probably why I've been feeling so poorly for a while now.

My white blood count was over 30,000. And 4 days later, I'm still here and really no progress. I have a huge phobia of needles and hospitals, and I am still in a lot of pain. I get lab work everyday, and my mother has been coming to hold my hand at 4:30am every morning while they do it. I have terrible veins besides that and they are running out of places to stick. Husband has been sleeping in a chair next to me, and then leaving for work daily and I am extremely bored and lonely.

It stinks because my lung disease is basically a plug which I can't cough up, and it's trapped the infection down below it. So I'm not going to get better until I cough it up, which can take me weeks or months to do. So right now it's a waiting game. I'm getting around the clock breathing treatments which aren't working, and there really isn't much they can do at this time besides hope by some miracle I can dislodge it. Of course my lungs are already so sore and tired. Feeling very discouraged. Even if I do cough it up it will just come back in a couple weeks. I'm just tired of dealing with the constant pain, breathing problems, and coughing.

They are now mentioning removing part of my lung, to possibly keep it from coming back. But not enough cases on it to know if it would even work or just make it worse.

Keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I'm not sure how money is going to go, since I'm not really able to work at this time. Just trying to make it through each day.

I posted this in the comments, but I figured I should just start a new post.

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

I do live in a rural community, and job choices are limited to fast food, retail, or full-time. Or I can drive an hour plus away to a bigger city, which is not worth it at this point. Especially with snow coming soon. I guess I'm looking at the old job because it's easy. I don't have to relearn anything. I'm good at it, and I know what to expect. Also, I can quit the vet job ASAP and not have to wait until I can find something else.

I did approach my previous boss and said I might be interested. I laid down my demands, that I would only work 3 days a week instead of 5 or 6, and I wouldn't being doing split shifts anymore. I also said I wouldn't be staying over to finish things up due to missed deadlines by other people. Before that he actually offered that the person who is handling things now would be willing to pick up any work that I don't have time to finish.

He told me to think about it some more before I decided. I felt no pressure. He did tell me he has mellowed down some, which I do believe and have seen in the last year. It sounds like we have come to a good compromise, but I guess there is no way of telling if it would stick or not without giving it a try.

To be clear the old boss was never mean, or belittled me like the current boss. He would loose his temper, but he would always apologize.

He WAS very demanding, things had to be just so, lots of last minute changes, working weekends, staying late, etc.

It just wasn't cohesive to having a 2nd job. So when I had the opportunity to go full time in web design I jumped. Now business has slowed down to part time, and I NEED a 2nd job.

He loves me like a daughter. Heck I used to babysit his kids. (Now they are old enough to drive, scary) He respects me as a human. Unlike the new boss who thinks I'm good for nothing, and really couldn't care less about me. So there's that. His heart was good. He just asked for too much.

I am hoping going in with clear boundaries, that if things start to fall back how they were I can point out our agreement, or quit.

Both husband and my mother are encouraging me to go back. They agree I was happier there, even with the frustrations.

One thing that is a hold up is wage. I would get $1.75 instant raise to what I am getting now. But really I was hoping for more, and the boss isn't against it. The problem is that since it's a non-profit the budget is set before the beginning of the year, and to change it is a slow and painful process with committees and meetings. Blah.

Lots to think about.

I am seriously considering going back to my old job and ditching the vet job. Am I crazy? I've only been working 11 weeks.

I felt stressed at my last job. But it pales in comparison to the new job. At the old job I had a lot of responsibilities, and they constantly stretched me thin. I felt overworked and undervalued, but they were nice to me and I had a lot of privileges.

The new job, the boss is literately crazy and down right mean. It's constant eggshells of worrying about making a mistake and getting fired. I like working with animals, but the coworkers on my shift are short with me, and don't like to chat or really have anything to do with me. I pretty much just try to stay out of the way, and keep my mouth shut. I am a super sensitive person, and do NOT take well to harsh criticism.

It's tough learning a new job, I know that sounds kind of petty but at the vet I am constantly scolded and made to feel like I am stupid. I am quite intelligent, and really I was VERY good at my last job. So it's a hard pill to swallow going from the top to the bottom.

Maybe I didn't have it as bad as I thought previously. I wonder if I would truly be happy anywhere, or if I'm always going to want something else. Maybe it's me who sabotages my work because I take things too personally, and because I try too hard to please everyone.

My current way of thinking is that it has been over a year now that I quit. They would happily take me back, and I feel like I've grown and matured enough that I could stand up for myself, and not let people take advantage of me anymore. I could pick how much I'm willing to work, and how many duties I would take on, and I believe they would agree to anything at this point. I think they have realized how valuable I was, now that they are over a barrel. I think I could handle the stress better, because now I can actually see that I was worth something, and I don't feel like I have to make everyone happy or owe them anything.

But I am worried I am looking at it with rose colored glasses, because it has been a while and I am forgetting the things that made me crazy.

At the old job, I was mostly frustrated and overworked. At the new job, I am treated like crap. If I can make it through a day without being yelled at, and feeling hurt and upset then it's a success. I wasn't excited to go to my old work (it was boring and tedious), but at least I didn't feel anxious about making mistakes. Frustrated is starting to sound better than upset. The vet owner has actually told me and the rest of the workers that she is our master and that we have to do anything she says because we are nothing. She took away our breaks, and then said we could have them back if we begged and groveled. I mean really, who says that?

The other issue is that my web design business just lost our biggest client. And I am beginning to worry about the future of the company. That combined with the fact that I could get fired at a moments notice at the vet it beginning to make me feel unstable. Especially since we couldn't live on husband's income alone, and we are wanting to take on more payments.

I am making minimum wage at the vet. They promised I would get a raise after my 90 days. But after seeing how stingy and self centered the owner is, I'm not counting on much. I'm starting to wonder if minimum wage is worth being constantly anxious and treated poorly.

On the other hand, if I stuck it out and learned more and got better maybe I would feel more relaxed and not make as many mistakes.

I'm just not sure anymore. For some reason I am feeling the pull back to my old job. Not because anyone is forcing me to. (They have stopped asking) But just looking at the pros and cons. I can take off whenever, come in late if I have an emergency, stay home if I'm sick, etc. As compared to being fired if I'm over 5 minutes later for any reason. (weather, flat tire, anything)

I would miss getting to talk to people, and I am learning a lot of animal stuff. But I've been super sick lately and I am wondering if it isn't stress related from the job.

Please, knock some sense into me.

Prayers for my area would be appreciated. It's been raining nonstop and they are predicting the worst flood in a 100 years. I live right along a river, and several towns are expected to be underwater this week. People are getting evacuated, including some of my family. They have two days to pack up and get out, before the levee is predicted to fail. I can't imagine how sad it would be to know you'll be loosing your house in a couple days and there is nothing to stop it.

Still hoping this rain will stop before anymore damage is done.

I added the $350 from husband's bonus to the Roth. Still waiting on him to decide how much to send to the truck fund. Hoping we can finish it and the Roth off before the new year.


We actually completed the workbench! It took just a few hours.



Although it doesn't look like much it's quite large. It's 4.5' long, and 3' high. Which is the maximum size that could fit in the space. It gives us just enough room to hold the saw which has been laying in my dining room floor for over a year, and the new toolbox I got husband for Christmas.

I'm in an organization kick, so it was nice to be able to pick up all the random tools that were spread throughout the house and give them a home. Also the bottom shelf gave us room to stack all our bigger items, rather than just piled up on the floor. I'm thinking of adding a cute curtain to the front, just to hide the clutter better.

Husband got me an office chair for Christmas. It's bright orange which adds a pop of color, and matches perfectly with my fox themed office/dining room. I have orange art all over the walls. Several people have asked what the finished desk looks like.



I wish I had taken a picture of the front of the chair. It has a pretty quilted pattern on it, and it's very comfortable. So much better than sitting in a wooden chair for hours a day. (Yes I do use 2 computers at once. lol)

I haven't built the wall mounted shelves I had planned on. I'm still undecided if that would be too cluttered, or if the desk will even stay here permanently. So for now, we are considering just getting one of those cube shelves for the dining room, which can hold some of our books, decor, and excess stuff.

Despite seemingly slow progress on our house, I thought it would be fun to post what my husband and I have accomplished or replaced since we purchased it 3 years ago.

Outdoor

Patched and painted goat house
2 platforms for goat house
Window in goat house
3 raised garden boxes
18'x21' animal shelter
3.5 acres of fencing
Raised stone flower box
New 200amp electric to the house
Cut down 2 trees
Painted wood windows
Roof
7 windows

Indoor
All electrical
Hot water heater
Hot water plumbing
Insulation
Drywall
Furnace
Storm door
Bathroom door
Sun room door
Painted interior
Toilet, shower, vanity, mirror, shelving
Kitchen and bathroom flooring
Refrigerator
Window and door trim
Lighting fixtures & ceiling fans
Desk
Various furniture

Considering all that, it's amazing just how much we have accomplished while remaining debt free. (Until this month. lol)

Upcoming or In Progress Projects
Invisible Dog Fencing
Workbench
Finish kitchen and bathroom trim
Refinishing hardwood
Baseboards

That seems like such a short list comparatively. Of course there is a lot of other little things like recaulking the tub that need done as well. But I'd say we are getting close to the finish line!

Eventual Large Projects
Master suite addition
Reside house
Replace remaining windows

Husband and I are both working extra shifts to help cover recent expenses. Also husband gets an annual yearly Christmas bonus, which is due anytime. So that should help boost our goals.

After the credit cards are paid for the statement, we will start working on the LOC.

Furnace is installed, I love heat.

Fence is mostly up. Husband and I are working on the underground dog fencing. My Christmas shopping is nearly done.

Hopefully that is the end of the big expenses. We've spent over $7,000 in the past 2 months on home improvements. Yikes!

My cold is starting to clear up, but now it's a chain reaction to my lungs. Two nights ago I stayed up all night coughing. Then had a bridal shower to host. Ugh.

Anyway, lots of happenings here, and LOTS of spending. Goodness. The fence is half up! It poured rain here for 3 days straight, and they still came out and did it in the rain. I was surprised. Hopefully will be finished this weekend.

Purchased the last bit of hay for the winter, $280. Ouch.

Had to pay for stuff for the bridal shower. I did some minor online black Friday shopping. Only spent $20. I just ordered the invisible fence for the dog. Another $300 outgo.

Furnace has finally been decided. The mini splits were going to be $7k which we couldn't swing, so after a lot of deliberation with the HVAC guy we purchased a new 2 stage propane furnace. The ducts are still horrible, but once we build the addition we will move the furnace and it will be a lot easier to put in new ducts. So we are going to leave them for now and in the mean time we will have some heat. Price is around $2,800. We have paid a $1,500 deposit.

It's going to take quite a while to dig myself out of all the recent expenses. But I am very excited about all the projects getting completed. Just wish it wasn't all at once. lol.

I feel so run down. I've had several bad days at the new job. I've made some mistakes, due to just not knowing everything yet. And several of the people have been short with me. I'm very sensitive, and do not take raised voices, or harsh criticism well. Especially when it's due to misunderstanding, or just not knowing something. After work I went and bought a soda, came home and had a good cry and a nap.

Besides that, I've been sick for nearly a month now. My lungs were giving me fits, then I started a new medicine which made me feel absolutely horrible, now I've got a bad head cold. Sigh. I just want to feel like myself again.

The fencing guy did come out. He can't start until two weekends from now. And then it takes at least a week to finish. So it won't be done until December. Also he raised his prices a bit, so now I need to come up with another $500. Which is really going to push my goals back even farther.

I get easily stressed and flustered, so all these things that have come up are really dragging me down. Today I need to be working on my web design clients, but I would much rather just lay around and relax on my "day off." It's been hard to get motivated, or focused to get anything done.

It's cold! Being without a furnace is no fun!

After talking it over with husband, and reading all of your thoughtful opinions I believe we will be going with the new mini splits.

Still waiting on an exact price, but it looks like mini splits will be around $3k and a new propane furnace would be about $2.5k not counting the fact that we would have to hire someone to dig out our tiny crawlspace, and then also pay for all new duct work. Looking at several thousand for that.

So mini splits is the easy choice. I'm a little wary, just because they aren't as common, but the HVAC guy and some friends that use them have encouraged me.

Debt is no fun, but heat is a necessity.

Fencing guy is hoping to start working on it this weekend! So that is good news. My horse is going to live at a friends house on a semi permanent loan. One of their two passed away, and the remaining horse is lonely. My horse used to live together with him, and they were buddies (a decade ago). I haven't ridden in years, and I think my old guy would be happier there with a friend and pasture in his old age. Not sure how I feel about it yet. I'm happy for him, but sad for me. I will miss him, even though I don't give him the attention he deserves. Trying not to be selfish. He will remain my horse, and I can go visit, or bring him back whenever I want. But he's been a part of me so long, it's hard to imagine him not here. We'll see what happens. It will save me a LOT of money on food costs over the winter, and will cut down on my work.

Banker tried to call me yesterday but I missed it, and they are closed today. I will try calling back tomorrow. Fingers crossed it's good news on the LOC and I can get the money for the windows and furnace ASAP.

Besides that I'm just going to try to be frugal and pay stuff off as fast as I can. Picking up some extra shifts at the new job already, but need to be careful not to let myself get overwhelmed. Christmas seems so close, and I feel like I will never catch up on finances.

So our furnace didn't want to start up again for the 4th year in a row. So we called the contractor out to come take a look. It only took him a couple minutes to pin point the broken part and he said he would try to find one for us.

He calls back today, after more than a week of searching he has found the last remaining part in the US for our furnace. It's $500...

Well the furnace is 30-40 years old, and a piece of junk. It's sooo inefficient, and we have rusty, leaky old ducts which we can not even get to. Every year we cross our fingers, that it's going to work. We turn the heat down to 55-60 and use space heaters. The propane alone is $1,500 - $2,000 every winter, on top of our electric bill which can soar up to $300 a month with space heaters. Ouch. All to be at a still chilly 65 degrees.

We have been wanting to get mini splits since we moved in. Which is a ductless heating and cooling system. (Because the crawl space is too small for ducts) But kept putting it off. Well the time may have finally come...

We can buy mini splits in sections. So for now we are looking at getting 2. One for the bedroom, and one for the living room/dining room/kitchen. We would still have to use one space heater in the bathroom like we normally do. (No central heat there currently, broken duct)

Off the top of his head he estimated they would cost around $3k to install. And later on when we had the cash we could add more for the bathroom and upstairs. He is going to sit down and give me real figures on Monday.

Honestly, with the $1,500 from the propane savings, and the $500 it would cost to fix our current furnace, we are looking at only a $1,000 difference. They are suppose to be super cheap to run in our area, and the thought of having air conditioning as well is quite appealing!

We knew this was coming, but didn't want it to be so soon. Now we have to make a quick decision. Not happy to have to take on debt. But at least I'm getting extra income from my new job.

We would have to add it to the LOC with the $1,000 for the windows. Of course we could instantly put our propane account credit towards it ($500 ish), and also the $120 monthly propane payment.

Not to mention the electric bill savings.

We are stuck between a rock and a hard place. He's been trying to talk us into replacing for several years now. And he really doesn't want us to throw more money on the old one.

What do you guys think?

The windows and doors are in! They all look fabulous. They had to cut some drywall to install the pocket door which I expected. Will just have to repair it.

The storm door works great, and the cat has already figured out how to use it. No more drafts.

The mortgage payment has hit bringing our total down to $47,920.23! Yay, finally got to the 47s!

In other news, I was recently put on a a round of new medicine for a week. It made me terribly sick. Joint pain, shivering, sweating, metallic taste, constant headaches and nausea. I haven't been able to eat much and have lost 4 pounds in 3 days. Not sleeping. I'm also vomiting, which I haven't done in over 10 years. I've been hurting so much that I've spent the last several days crying, sitting by the toilet, and trying to make it through work.

The taste of the pills themselves are so horrible that I had to wrap them in bread or candy to swallow them without them coming back up.

Yesterday was the last straw and I decided I couldn't do it anymore. I stopped taking it at the halfway point. I called the doctor this morning and they said they don't think they have a substitute, and that I need to tough it out. But they are going to call me back. I'm sorry, but it is literally poison to my body. I don't think I've ever felt so sick, and as a person with heart and lung problems that is saying something. I'm not a weakling, but this is ridiculous. Sorry, not taking it. (I've taken a lot of medications in my life time, and NEVER get side effects)

After 24 hours I feel a lot better, and was able to hold down some breakfast this morning. My taste is still messed up, but apparently the side effects can last a couple months. Hopefully not.