Vet

This always seems to happen to me. Right when I feel like I am getting on track I get a surprise. 

I had to take our big dog to the vet.  We were unable to get ride of a ear infection with the cleaning solutions and dietary changes that had worked in the past.  I had budgeted $150.00 dollars which should have covered the cost of a office visit and proper medication.  My final bill was $494.81. OUCH!!!

I had explained to the vet about Big Dog's chronic ear infections and how they were incredibly difficult to get ride of.  Our previous vet had tried so many different medications and it would take months to clear up.  The vet said we should have a special culture done to figure out exactly what bacteria and yeasts we are dealing with which would help better prescribe a medication. 

Then I realized that she was due for her kennel cough vaccination and her Bordatella (SPL?) and rabies were up in July so I decided to add those.

Then I had the doctor take a look at three lumps on her side. One lump she has had for along time and the previous vet told us it was a fatty deposit.  In recent months it has grown substantially plus 2 more had popped up and I was getting concerned. He recommended a biopsy

Also, our poor girl has extreme arthritis in her back legs and major allergy issues which both need special medications.

I have three prescriptions in my purse. Two for the ear infection and one for the arthritis.  He hinted that one of the prescriptions was very expensive so he only had them give e a 5 day supply so we could see if it was effective.  God knows how much those are going to cost me.

While the bill was enough to make my stomach churn the worst part is the our baby is getting old.  Her breed, like most large breeds, have a life expectancy of 6-8 years so that means our 4 year old baby is in middle age. 

We will find out early next week if the lumps are benign or are malignant melanoma.  I have no idea what our next steps will be if the latter is true. 

On a happier note,  DW and I had dinner with DD1 tonight.  I felt DD1 did an amazing job on verbalizing her apology and feelings to DW. DW was also very respectful and it was a wonderful evening.....until......we had to flee Baskin Robbins.

The restaurant we went to didn't have our favorite dessert (curse them) so we decided to get dessert elsewhere.  I had to order a birthday cake for DD2 so we decided to go to Baskin Robbins to order the cake and get some ice cream for dessert. 

It was late so it was just us, the employee and a man with his early tweenish daughter.  We were sitting at a table towards the entrance.  DD1 and I were talking about how she should get back on birth control but were keeping our voices low as to be respectful of the other people in the store.  Do you know that rare moment in a public place where everything gets quiet for a moment.  Where every person, piece of machinery and everyday ambient sounds just go quiet for a few seconds.  Well we had one of those and DW chose this moment to say in a very loud voice "Just have Anal Sex." 

Please understand, DW is not usually this crude or vulgar, especially around our daughter..  Put I think with the stress of Big Dog's possible cancer and the anxiety of dinner with DD1 her sanity temporarily broke. 

DD1 and I looked at DW in absolute horror. I looked up and father or the younger girl had physically stiffened.  Before he had a chance to turn round and look at us, DD1 and I simultaneously picked up our purses and walked out the door, leaving DW to chase after us.  SO EMBARRASSING.

Late Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

I know I am a little late.  Life is moving way to fast.

My Mother's Day weekend was good.  I had a 7 hour training for my foster care license that took up most of Saturday. Once the kids were in bed Saturday evening I went to my little sister's house for a birthday party for a mutual friend.  I had only planned to stay an hour or so but got dragged into a few shots early on so I had ended up staying for almost 4 hours so I was okay to drive. It was so much fun just to hang out and be silly for a few hours. 

Sunday, DW and the kids surprised me with Chai Latte and doughnuts (my two favortite things) for breakfast.   They also got me a gift card for a game I play on my phone (Game of War rocks!!) and a nice set of wireless headphones.   That afternoon I went out with DD1 for coffee and to chat.  We have only spoken once since the theft incident and it was nice.  She bought me some fun socks, a hair straightner (to replace the one she stole) and a beautiful drawing she made of the entire family.  We talked for several hours and their were tears and laughter.  She seemed very remorseful and said she wanted her family back.  I SOOO want to believe her but this cycle has happened so many times.  She is a master manipulator and will do and say anything to get what she wants.  This time, all she seemed to be asking was to spend time with us which makes me hopeful that she is being honest.  I agreed to set up a dinner so that DD1 can relay what she said to me to DW.  DW and DD1 do not communicate well at all.  DW sees the world very black and white which is hard view to have when working with kids with so much trauma and mental health issues.  I am hoping with me being there as translator they can begin to understand each other.  

Overall a pretty awesome Mother's Day.  

I am off to the bank and to take DD2 to therapy.  When I get home I need to make DS3's room more presentable just in case we get a new foster child this weekend.  

Have a great Thursday!!! 

Life is Full of Changes

One of my biggest life fears is becoming stagnant.  I need change and new opportunities to keep me going or I get anxious. Well I definitely picked the right life.  The last thing my life will EVER be is borrowing.

I am a little stressed about finances in June.   Since I quit SJ1 (sidejob 1), I knew things were going to be tighter but I was able to make the budget work.  Then I get a call from SJ2 stating that because of contract renewals they won't have any work for me for a couple weeks.  I normally wouldn't be that worried as it is only a couple hundred dollars but then I remembered that SJ3 doesn't pay ANY invoices in June (some fiscal budget thing) so I won't see any of that money until July. I had already budgeted for the SJ1 & SJ3 financial hit but that took me to the edge of our financial resources.  I am going to have to pull the lost income from SJ2 out of savings :-(. 

Speaking of side jobs, I think I found another.  I know I JUST quite SJ1 to relieve stress but this new side job is small and commission based.  I get to work with my little sister and she will be doing most of the work.  I am not sure if I will make much money as I am not much of a sales woman but any new source of revenue I can get, I will take. 

Spoke with MIL on Mother's Day and it looks like she is seriously thinking about letting us take over her house. I have blogged about it previously but then it was just hypothetical but the way MIL was talking it may become more of a reality.  DW and I have decided to start savings for home repairs that would have to happen before we moved in and if MIL still hasn't made a decision this time next year will we use that money to move elsewhere as I really don't like our current house.

On a final note.  We maybe getting another foster child or two.  I received a call about a sibling group (boy and girl).  I told them until DS2 moved-in with her father we only had room for the boy (6) and the girl (4) could move in mid-July.  I received a call from the social worker asking questions and wondering if we could make it so we could take the girl first, which we can make work.  They have to staff the decision and I should hear from them on Friday.  It is still up in the air as they REALLY want to place the kids together initially but the social worker has heard raving reviews about us from others within the department and would prefer working with us.  Apparently I have made a name for myself within the department other than raving b!tch!!  I get mama bear protective of the kids in my care and can get mean if I need to so that my kids get what they deserve.

Have a great Wednesday!!!!

Fun Times

It's been a fun day working from home.  Due to another lice outbreak both boys had to stay home from school & daycare and DD3 has been home sick for the 5th day in a row.  DW stayed home as well as she has sprained her ankle once again so it hasn't been a very productive day. 

All I can say is TGIF. 

I have a dentist appointment in a few and I am hoping I won't need to get any work done.  I haven't been as good with flossing as I should be and that always comes to bite me in the butt.

Financially things are on track.  Paid rent yesterday and have to deposit Roommate's rent to cover the check I will write for daycare on Monday. 

I have been trying to put a little money aside for NG as she will be spending the entire summer with us.  We asked NG's mom if she would provide a little cash so we could get NG involved in some activities during the summer.  All the other kids will be at daycare or summer camp and we didn't want NG trapped in the house alone for 3 months.  NG's mom says she can't afford to send any money which I am equally sympathetic (single mom of 2) and frustrated (has money for alcohol and we practically raise her daughter for her).  NG's mom DID give us $10.00 last week so I put that in a secret hiding place along with $40.00 of our own.  I will keep adding whatever we can get out of her mom and whatever we can spare so NG has funds to go to the local swimming pool, movies with friends, and whatever local cheap activities I can find.

Well I better go, DD2 doesn't want to be out done by her lice infest brothers or sick sister and is currently making god awful whining noises from her room because I told her the Ipad she wanted to play is being charged for someone else. I am really beginning to miss the office.  

Credit Cards and There Many Uses

I am doing an experiment which will probably make many of you cringe.  I am using the credit card to pay daily expenses with the plan to pay off at the end of the month.

With the loss of income I usual expect at the beginning of the month, are income is loaded on the backend.  The majority of our discretionary money doesn't become available until the second part of the month.  Instead of pulling the money from savings to put back come May 20th, I decided to put all those expenses on a credit card and pay it off at the end of the month.

I admit this plan has failed in the past but I thought to give it one final try.  If I find I spent way to much on card then I have budgeted to pay, I will use monies I had planned to put into savings and call this experiment a failure.  Thoughts?

MAY

Here is my May budget.



With the loss of DS2's subsidy and the decision for me to quit one of my side job, we have lost a bit of income.  DS2's subsidy is a wash as I can now work 40 hours a week and we are down the cost of raising one child.   The side-job income will hit us the hardest as it will severly limit how quickly we can pay of debt but I was slowly losing my sanity and I really need to focus on my family.

We have a small payment due to Capital One due to interest that hadn't posted when I paid it off.  It is a 3 paycheck month so I was able to put another big chunk in savings as well as almost double my car payment.  DW checked the balance on our car when she made the last payment and we are just shy of being under $4,000.  If I keep on track with out budget, we could have the car paid off by December!!!!

I have increased our food and other budget categories to be more realistic for our needs. I will probably adjust the food budget down a bit with DS2 being gone and Roommate being on vacation for 2 weeks. They are the two biggest eaters in the house so our grocery should go down.

I am trying to get ahold of my emotionally spending.  DS2 spend a few days with us and after a explosive episode where punched the social worker in the stomach and eye we decided to call the cops for a 2nd time in two days.  He is now at the hospital waiting for an opening at Children's for a psychological evaluation.  I went to visit him last night and he was in pretty bad shape.  I wanted to get some retail therapy so badly but was able to resist the urge.  I WILL STAY ON TRACK!! 

I'm Alive

I AM BACK!!!

What a mess April has been.  As I posted earlier DS2 was removed from our home due to really unsafe behavior.  Then I took a few weeks break to really focus on family as the whole situation was really a trauma. 

As of Wednesday DS2 is back temporarily.  They found a residential inpatient that would take him on Monday but after blowing out of 9 other foster homes in a few weeks they begged us to take him until then.  For the safety of our family we told them it was only possible if they had a professional here in the evenings and weekends to help when he blows out.  So I have had a series of random social workers chilling at my house. It is weird but totally motivates me to keep the house clean. J

On to financial news.....

I can’t even begin to explain how it feels to have a fully funded emergency fund.  It is such a relief.  We also funded our ‘savings’ which is money set aside for birthdays, holidays, and family events.  It was really nice to be able to order DD2’s birthday presents and know I already had the money set aside.

Other than the large deposit I made when I got our tax return, yesterday was the first time I transferred money into savings for our regular budget.  It was scary and empowering to transfer over the $300.00 into savings.  I felt like a grown-up. 

I have to admit we did a lot of extra spending this month.  While we didn’t go into any debt we blew through the account buffer I had put into place.  It was emotional spending.  Those evens when you just say “F*&^ it” and order Pizza for dinner and a Swiffer wet jet off of Amazon because you feel like you deserve it. 

I told DW now that May was here we need to tighten the belt again and stay on track.  I don’t want a repeat of previous years where I put money in savings and then we blew through it by August. 

I hope to be able to post our May budget for you to see today.  With a wedding this morning I am behind at work so we will see.

Have a great weekend everyone!!