Before we adopted the boys, we became debt free, other than our house. Now, the debt free lasted about a week because that was what we were waiting for to send in our dossier. It was very hard to wait until we had no debt, but I am glad we did.
We moved into this house about 15 months ago and oh the repairs we have had to do.
*Cleaned out septic tank
*Replaced collapsed sewage lines to septic tank.
*Replaced plumbing for downstairs clear to septic tank (because it was leaking into the garage)
*Replaced upstairs AC when it died
*Replaced section of ceiling in boys room, when leaking AC caused it to collapse (day after we moved in)
*Replaced dead microwave with cheapest one we could find
*Replaced fridge that died the day after we moved in (went to look at refrigerators at Lowes with the kids when we came home, Hannah telling me the boys ceiling was in the floor...not a good day)
*Had to buy a lawn mower for new yard (our 15 yr. old one died)
*Bought a new bed because our mattresses were so old that Aaron and I could barely move every morning, our backs hurt so bad.
*Still have not replaced our dishwasher that stopped working about 4 months ago
*And one of the biggest expenses a few weeks ago, had to spend many, many thousands to replace the AC downstairs.
* $1,600 to our social worker and USCIS for our new adoption.
Needless to say, we still owe on a few adoption loans, have to pay for the AC, have to pay off the rest of our van, plus some credit card debt. UGH! I am too ashamed to say what our total owed is.
Truthfully, I was a little irritated that Aaron was wanting to wait again for us to be debt free. Well, he said other than the house and car. So pretty much we will get our fingerprints for USCIS this week, but plan on sitting on our home study and adoption paperwork for a LONG time, or perhaps a SHORT time if some miracle happens.
I have always felt the burden of paying off the debt myself, since, most of the time, the amount of hours I work, is how much we can pay to debt. So I had to schedule time to work around everything else I do and truthfully, it was overwhelming, depressing, and stressful. It seemed impossible to pay off debt when after a few month of paying it down, an expense would come that would shoot it right back up to where it was and now with our new AC, almost increase our debt by 1/3.
However, Aaron is working on the budget with me. We are setting goals of how much to spend on certain things. It is a challenge to try to spend the least amount as possible. It is a challenge to only buy what you need, not what you want. But since we are working on it together and I don't feel like it is all up to me (who was failing miserably), I am actually excited about getting rid of this awful debt. I am excited to think about how much money it will free up each month. I am excited to think that when we do adopt again, I won't have to work all the time.
Perhaps Aaron will get to go on a detail. When he goes he is normally gone for 16 days. We miss him, but it is a blessing because he usually brings home 4-5 x his normal pay with all the over
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