Financial Woes

I had a post started about the water saga at our house, but I can’t even finish it. I’m feeling a little buried financially. This happens periodically, and everything is always completely fine, I just get bouts of anxiety over the choices we have made and where it puts us. So I’m thinking if I blog about it, then my anxiety will pass more quickly. Please dear Lord, my family needs me to be the re-assurer.

First, our shower leaked non-stop so we had it fixed to the tune of $800. That repair caused a leak, which when repaired caused a huge leak—no water at our house for 4 days, plaster falling from the ceiling below the shower, etc. That repair, for the plumbing alone, not to repair the plaster or water damaged floor, is $1,900 and that was after he took a $100 discount to help with the repair of the plaster ceiling.

So since the dining room ceiling is now fallen and torn down in places to get the plumbing repaired, we’re thinking of re-doing it. It’s the ugliest room in the house and is in need of remodeling, but we’ve never made it a priority because before now, it would just have been nice. Now we have to do something! What we want to do is expensive-like probably 10 grand.

We also are trying to put in gates at the end of the driveway, and we don’t know how much that will cost, but we’re looking at $15,000, so maybe no gates if we finish the dining room. After all, our equity line is only so big.

Yesterday Tim said he could get a deal on a furnace for one of the units in a building that we own, and he got a great deal, he is the master at deals (thank God for that!). However to be able to use the furnace, we need to upgrade the electric in the building, which we have been looking into doing, but our first estimate came back at $55,000!!???!!! What have we gotten ourselves into? We obviously had no idea when we bought the building. But again, Tim is working on getting some grant money to do the project, God bless that man!

Today Tim was taking his truck in, he thinks the fuel pump is going bad. He called to tell me he didn’t leave the truck because the mechanic said that he didn’t think it was worth fixing; he thinks it’s just a short matter of time until the engine blows. This truck only has 98,000 miles on it, and it’s a ’91, but still!! Tim is off to buy a truck trader to see what we are up against so we can weigh our options.

We were planning on selling our two cars and getting something with a third row so that Eli can move up from a car seat to a booster. Right now it’s wall to wall car seats in the back of the car or jeep, and we can’t really use his convertible booster as a booster since you can’t get your hands between car seats every time he needs to get in and out so we still use it as a car seat, which is fine, but he’s about to outgrow using it that way.

Okay, I feel better now. Although I’m sure Tim’s mom is having heart failure about right now. She’s a worrier. I am not, but I do get concerned about things at times. Mostly because I want to go part time around next summer if I can pull it off, and I just don’t know how we’ll be able to lose part of my income with all of these financial “set backs”. But God is good and Tim will be at top pay about that time, I’m sure our units will be rented by that time, and it will all work out in God’s timing. For now I need to hurry up and finish our taxes so I can put that refund to use! :-)

**UPDATE** Tim added oil to the truck and the "idiot" lights went off and it's running fine! PTL!!