That’s basically what it was.
So, after I had Casey and it became evident I would not be returning to my job, partly due to my medical problems leftover from pregnancy, and partly because the paycheck I would have been getting would go all to shitty daycare, my parents agreed to send us $200 a month for the foreseeable future, to secure my status as “stay at home mom,” at least until he went to school.
Well, a few weeks ago my mom said they would be sending us $5,000 via PayPal instead of the $200 a month, and then we’d be left to make our own way, which would result in becoming homeless at some point I’m sure. I wasn’t a happy camper. My thinking is, this arrangement was supposed to be until Casey went to school… $5,000 doesn’t equal $200 a month for 3 or 4 years. Which meant the money would run out by the end of 2014 and we’d be fucked. During a phone conversation, I only narrowly avoided a “situation” with my mom when I told her it made absolutely no difference whether they sent the money all at once, or broke it into monthly payments, it still would be gone by the end of 2014. She seemed to think that was acceptable. She was under the impression they were giving us a significant amount EXTRA by doing it this way instead of monthly. Oh, no no no. She also somehow got the impression we were only needing her help for a couple years. I have NO idea where she got that impression.
Why would she cut us off when he was only 2? Did she think that we would be done needing their help? I don’t want him to EVER have to go to daycare. One in hoe daycare around here turned out to be an active meth lab! Not to mention sick kids (despite precautions) and you just don’t know how they’re treating your child… what’s the difference if he goes no or later if that’s what it’s going to result in anyway?
So, she basically asked for a detailed accounting of our finances. She said something along the lines about “I know you don’t want me asking” or some such. Which was her way of asking, of course. So, I told her.
“Since you basically asked, here’s a rough accounting of our finances… As it is right now, we have $10,283 in unpaid medical bills, most of which is in collections, and hardly any of it is even being paid on ($84.86 per month) because we can’t afford to. We have total credit card debt of $13,143.39 ($286.50 per month), the student loan has $13,711.89 currently left on it ($104.17 per month), and $13,879.59 left on my car ($289 per month). And our mortgage of course, $95,157.00 ($687.79 per month). Coming in each month about $2,500 ($1,000 every 2 weeks plus $327.94 for drill pay 10+ times a year, all estimates after taxes) and going out each month $2,726.67. Coming in each year is $29,237.80 estimated after taxes, going out each year $32,720.04. And that’s only paying $1,018.32 a year towards the medical expenses, while consistently incurring new ones as well. The $5,000 will run out by January 1, 2015, provided we don’t have any further unexpected expenses. Of course, Dave’s main paycheck is estimated at 60 hours per pay period, so if he gets more it goes first toward debt, until 2015 of course when we’ll have to apply any extra to our monthly bills. There isn’t anything we can pay in full and it help us at this point. Any time I factor in us paying something off, it seems to hurt us more than it helps. And we have home repairs we really need to have done but can’t because we can’t afford to take on any more monthly payments. I’m sure we’ll also get extra deductions on our future taxes, but I’m not sure how much that equates to.”
So, about a week went by and I got a “thanks for sharing” type of email somewhere in there… then one day, a random phone call from my dad! My dad hardly ever calls, it’s almost always my mom. He called to tell me they were going to send me more than the $5,000 as an early inheritance (which was what they were calling the $5,000). He said quite a bit more. I’m sitting there saying “umm, ok…” and then I said thank you and all that and my dad says something about me not asking how much they were sending. I said anything extra is helpful. He said, “Well, we’re sending you $35,000.” *jaw drop* Really? Seriously? So the medical bills and credit cards will all get paid off, and if we leave it at that until the car is paid off in 2017 then we have another extra $289 a month and rollin in it. I just can’t believe it! I was certainly not expecting this.
So, today I was working in getting these medical bills taken care of, and come to find out It’s roughly $4,000 less than I thought! One was due to an error on my part, I had an older statement blocking my view of a newer one. But another bill was actually still insurance pending and I owe nothing at this point. And I am getting discounts on others. I’m waiting to hear on one that’s in collections to see if they’ll accept 50%, or what they will accept.
At this point, I never HAVE to work again. I want to start working on the book I started when I was 14… maybe start some classes to slowly work towards that PhD I’ve been dreaming of since around that same time. All in all it was the best news of my life!
Comments