Debt. Damn you.

So, I have debt.

A LOT of debt.

I'm taking advantage of a rare day off and reading stupid articles about rich people taking "only 7 months" to pay off their loans from their Harvard MBA programs and having to stop payments to their multiple retirement funds to do it.

Yech.

In the spirit of Newlyweds...on a Budget, I'm just going to lay it all down here. I'd say brace yourself, but I'm too busy bracing myself.

$2,500 (Credit Card)
$6,500 (C Car Loan)
$8,000 (J Car Loan)
$2,000 (J Previous Car Loan on a Lemon- so no car, but still got the payment)
$1,000 (J Personal Loan)
$3,000 (J Gov't Loan)

Take a deep breath.

I'm warning you.


$94,000 (C School Loans)

Gaaahhhhhh!

TOTAL: $117,000

 

The plus side is, we've paid off  a lot of the debt he brought, and now we're getting into mine. The down side is, this is a lot of freakin' debt.

Here's how I figure it- they say marriages can really suffer under financial strain, but we're still good. In fact, we've been broke and in love since day one. We are trial by fire, and we are totally winning.

Well, this was fun. Let's check in on those numbers again sometime next month.

Heroin Chic

You know what?

I think there's a big part of me that kinda liked being poor. It feels like something to do, not really something I am.

For example, well-off people don't really have to think about money. They like something, they want it, they generally get it. It's very simple, really. Now, us poor people? It's always a battle of wits: you vs. the fridge, you vs. the gas tank, you vs. basic hygiene. You open that fridge and you see French's mustard, weeks-old macaroni and cheese in Tupperware and a shriveled lime: who will win? Will I scrounge up enough money to put more crap in there, thereby winning? Or will it be the florescent-lit empty fridge, smugly sitting there giving me the evil eye?

See? It's a game! I don't always win, but I feel like I'm getting better at it; getting smarter. I handle cash better now than I ever have and I think ahead because if that gas tank thinks it's gonna win by getting so empty I can't get to work, it has another thing coming. I will push that motherf*cking car if it comes down to it.

Am I really poor? I don't think so, not now. Poor, like Oliver Twist-type poor, is when you literally don't have anywhere to turn and there's no way to get more money. When I first moved down to Oklahoma with J, we were extremely low on funds, but we loved each other and had supportive family members give us a few bucks here and there when they knew we were sinking. After a couple months I got a job and things eased up considerably. Now, we're....eh, so-so but a heck of a lot better than where we were at. I mean, seriously.

This was our apartment at the beginning (and then the end) of our year in Oklahoma:

One of J's friends told us we lived "heroin chic". 

Look at that poor boy, snuggling with his dog for love/warmth. I mean, this picture was taken a day or two before he shipped out and we had sold EVERYTHING because I had suddenly decided to move back in with my parents, but still. I'd say this is a fair representation of what it looked like in the beginning.

I know money is a taboo subject and I'm sorry if it makes people uncomfortable; it's just that, I actually really miss that beginning. I miss dinners on the floor, talking and laughing and J telling me that everything I made was delicious. I miss laughing while he tickled me on the floor because, hey, we didn't have TV so we had to make our own fun.

And we did have fun; we laughed, played, talked, planned, giggled, raced, kissed, and loved each other completely. Money was the only thing we didn't have. But honestly? It didn't matter.

Life was a love song.

Hurricanes and Credit Reports

Two things that seem to be on everyone's minds today.

So, I had the day off because "all the rich schools" (Mum's words) are on vacation because many of them usually head out to Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard for their Labor Day clambakes and whatnot.

I, personally, have only been to Nantucket, and only once. It was for a basketball game in high school and the cheerleaders went as well. So we're standing off to the side stretching before we do any stunts and suddenly find insults being hurled at us FROM THE PARENTS OF THE OTHER TEAM. Not only was it just a bad display of poor sports-parent-ship, they called us "dirty chowder". I mean, I knew from the tone I was supposed to be offended, but I'm not really sure what that means. I did give props for regionalized creativity, though.

Anyway, now they're the dirty chowder (or whatever) because they're apparently going to get hit with Hurricane Earl. I do feel bad for the TONS of weddings that are supposed to be going on this week, but then I hear things like this woman who called into the radio during my morning commute, complaining that she'll have to fly out on her private plane earlier than expected.

Rich people. Ugh.

On the other end of the spectrum, we are dealing, AGAIN, with J's security clearance issue. J has some old debt that needs to be taken care of, and while he and I have been working on it, his paperwork is constantly getting "misplaced" in S shop (clerical office). It has been a constant battle and they have threatened a thousand times that they are going to chapter him out because he "hasn't been working on it" even though A. we can only afford what we can afford, and B. THEY keep losing his d*mn paperwork!

Anyway, so the big update today? We are down to only 2 (2!) accounts that need to be worked out. It's still going to be a good chunk of change, but he will have all bad debt cleaned up by Christmas! The good thing is, besides the fact it will be finished, is that he constantly tells me how amazing I am because I am the craziest budgeter ever. (I kind of have to be because otherwise my student loans would be the death of us, so you know. It's really forced amazingness.)

So I guess today's little entry was about the weather and finances. If that doesn't whip you into a frenzy of enthusiasm....