Coming Together

Things have been coming together for me. 

I was offered a position at the 'New Job' on Thursday.  They are still interviewing people but my test and interview scores were so high that they hired me before the rest of the interviews were done.  I technically had enough time to give 2 weeks notice to my old job but REALLY wanted a break in between. I ended up giving my work 9 days notice instead of 14.

I was nervous that today they would have told me they would accept my resignation early and today would be my last week, but they are allowing me to finish out the week.  While I am bummed not to have almost 2 weeks off, my budget is happy that I want be loosing a full two weeks of income.

I received another letter from the tax advocate's office this morning.  They are successfully advocated my case with the IRS. The IRS should be mailing the check for $2771.00 today.  I am overjoyed and immediately wrote a check to our attorney for $1,500 for DS2's adoption in 2013.  I also wrote a note apologizing for the insane delay in payment. 

We are buying my old sister's car with cash in the next few months but we had to make a decision about a 2nd car.  Our current mini van is a mess and the FIT we purchased brand new 8 years ago is nearly at 100k miles and has some issues.  We needed to decide to invest a bunch of money into repairs or pay a whole lot of money for a new car. As much as I crave a new car,  we decided it made financial sense to just throw a few grand at the FIT to get it in tip top shape and hopefully last us for several more years.  I am going to have Rosie schedule a appointment for a mechanic next week so we can get an estimate on repairs. Rosie softened the blow by stating she would start driving the FIT and I could drive the new Mini Van from my sister. YAY!!

I have adjusted the budget so that we are putting a little additional money aside for a new car.  If we are forced to buy a new car next year, we will have 9k to put down. If we push it to the following year, we can make that 15k. I would love for the mini-van and the Fit to last us for 3 years so we can just buy a car cash.  The fates would really have to be in our favor on that one.  Just to be safe, If both cars are still in good shape come Feb 2017, I will give my dad the 9k I had saved and then another big chunk ever six months so that I don't touch it. I still have trust issues with myself and money.

I was not impressed with myself with how I handled February's budget. We splurged on 3 occasions. I used the excuse that it was our treat for tax season but it ended up being over $540.00. I could enthrall you with a justification why each item was 'needed' but it all boils down to that I have very little self-control when I have money laying around. This is why I ALWAYS struggle with budgeting/savings.   If I have 5k in savings then what is this small $75.00 going to matter...unfortunately $75.00 turns into $750 and within a few months I am broke. I need to stop this cycle.

My goal for March is to not go over on any of my budgetary lines....not even a cent.  This will be tough because I have to budget for DS1's birthday, Easter, down payment on my sisters car and repairs on the FIT. I can do it!!!