Monday, January 21, 2013

My budget has been a mess since the hurricane. I have lost my source of income (my in home daycare) and have all kinds of new and additional expenses (like expenses to stay in another place and extra gas for the car since I am driving all over everyday.)


By the grace of God all my bills are paid in full. But all my funds are now exhausted. It can be a bit stressful (on top of the stress of being displaced, and trying to rebuild my home.)

Right now I am waiting on insurance settlement so I can finish fixing the house. I have used all the donation money and the advance I got from the insurance company to get started. I have already had  the floor joists fixed and have had most of the walls replaced. I also paid for the furnace, ac unit, and ductwork. I still need to pay for the labor to install it. 

I never knew how expensive home stuff is. The cheapest kitchen cabinets (stock) are $2,500 (for my kitchen space.) Forget about countertops that start at $1,000. Ahhh. It is all making my head spin. I have spent no less than 40 hours at home inprovement stores in the past few weeks. I actually have to go back in the am to get white ceiling paint, and paint rollers. Then in the next few days to get tile for the bathroom. 

I have more debt now than ever and hopefully can pay it back with insurance money, but I have to spend money to fix stuff so I can go home. 

And that is all I want to do, go home. I want to not think about money, or paint, or kitchen cabinets. I want to take a nap on a Sunday afternoon, and read a book. I want to take a hot bath (ok so I never really did that before, but maybe I will in my new regular size tub.)

But until then I am grateful to have all my bills paid, and even today when I had nothing left and an empty gas tank God provided and the tank is full again.

He never ceases to amaze me. 

~Becky


4 comments:

HS @ Our Debt Blog said...

Look, you need to get back in to the house asap, make that your 1 goal right now, even if you don't have kitchen cabinets etc just try to move back in with the bare minimums... after that you need to start your day care business again. We use a in home day care for a little girl and we pay the lady 150 a week, way cheaper than day care, try to get up to 5 kids and you will have some good income coming in. Now, do this the legit way, get the state permits and pay taxes, have all the forms etc.

I want to see you succeed!!

HS

Becky R said...

I can not reopen my daycare until I have a fully functioning kitchen and bathroom plus am up to code on safety stuff. I am licensed by the state of NJ to run in home daycare and pay taxes on all income I receive from it. I have been doing this about ten years now so know the ins and outs of running in home daycare.

Becky R said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Becky R said...

But the plan is once that is all done to reopen my business.