Financial Pressure

I will turn 30-years-old in a couple of months and until a few weeks ago, my name might as well have been Scarlet O'Hara! My attitude was I will worry and start saving tomorrow.

Now I don't want to come across as some credit card weilding, spend like crazy, don't think twice shopaholic, because I am not. In fact I am quite the opposite! But while I may not of gone about spending like crazy and getting into deep deep debt, I also didn't really think about putting anything away for a rainy day! If the money was there, I spent it. My husband and I went into our marriage with virtually no savings. Both earning but neither thinking about tomorrow.

We bought a house and then one short year later my husband was miserable in his job so, we made the decision to move to another town. And then as our luck would have it, the economy crashed and along with it the housing market. Selling our house was not going to happen but thankfully we were lucky enough to get it rented out, but not for an amount that would cover the total mortgage payment. So every month for the past two years we have had to shell out an extra $300 on our rent house and into the financial hole we went!

It was hurting but we both had decent jobs and we were managing. Then we decided to have a child. The pregnancy we planned...the twins we did not! Also financially scary...two of everything at the same time! But still we felt it would be possible! But then just to make things really interesting, I went into pre-term labor and delivered the twins at 29 weeks gestation!  Since I don't want to make anyone physically ill (most importantly myself!), I will refrain from putting into print the grand total of my two weeks stay in the hospital combined with the twins six week stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit!  Let's just say our total medical bills were more than my husband and I made in a year!

Even after insurance paid their part our portion of the medical bills were still pretty astronomical. And yes, we could pay $10 or $20 on each, the situation was made worse when we realized that to put 3 children in daycare would cost us more monthly than I made! So, rather than working just to loose money, we made the decision that I would stay at home.

We have been able to survive for a year...and I mean just barely scrape by each month and most of the time we are delequent in payments. I have felt an enormous growing pressure this whole time just waiting for the bottom to drop out. So I have decided to take action and rather just sit around and worry about when it will happen, I am starting to get serious about saving and cutting back. This will be a challange because I would prefer to be gazelle intense, but I can not get my husband to jump on the back of that gazelle!

So how will it work with only one of us being committed? Honestly, I don't know but I am at least going to try and try to maintain a happy healthy marriage at the same time. Will it work? Only time will tell!