The kinda stuff that’s been on my mind

What’s been on my mind lately

Well, it’s money. Pure and simply put, Laureen and I are deeply in debt, much deeper than I’ve ever been before, and I hate it.

I’ve often wondered why I worry about money so much. Laureen has a much different view about money, and she seems to be OK for the most part about things. Me? Yikes.

A large part of our money woes result from two things: one a choice, the other not a choice.
1. My being a contractor. (The “not a choice,” in case you were wondering.)
2. Laureen’s not working.

The combination of these two events leads to the following:
1. Catastrophic coverage for health insurance. That in turn leads to
2. Paying full price for doctor’s visits, medicines, etc.
3. Regular visits to dentists, etc., are more and more expensive.

Apparently, credit card companies know that approximately every 3 months or so, you’re going to have an event occur in your life that will require a larger than normal outlay of money. This could be a car repair or accident, or a sick child, or Christmas, or goodness knows what. The effect of it is that even if you establish a budget and begin to dig out of that hole you’re in, here comes the emergency, and there you go, back dependent on a credit card.

Right now, I’m shuffling debts between four credit cards with “low” or “no” interest. Our long-term solution is a home-equity loan to consolidate the debt. Again, that leaves a really bad taste in my craw, but what else am I going to do?

The other side of the coin, the one where Laureen and I have to work a lot harder, is the budgeting aspect. And again, I’m stymied. I think I make a decent amount of money, certainly more than my parents make (and that’s a crying shame, because they’re both smart, intelligent, and talented people), but when I look at any proposed budget for us, I can’t help but hate it, because it means that I’ll have to change some part of my lifestyle, and frankly, I don’t want to do that. I like my cable modem and my satellite dish recorder. But there are cheaper options, especially on the broadband internet side.

I just want to know if this discipline and sacrifice is going to be worth it. If it lowers my stress level, if it keeps me from panicking in the night, if it keeps me from the constant, dull ache of worry that I feel, then it’ll be worth it. It’ll just take a lot of getting used to.

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3 Responses to The kinda stuff that’s been on my mind

  1. Laureen says:

    Yes, Kevin, the discipline and sacrifice WILL be worth it. Kind of like the discipline and sacrifice in getting Jacob to sleep better. And me to eat better and exercise. It’s all just sooooooo hard at first; but once it’s a habit, you reap all the rewards of not having to think about it anymore. Hang in there, Love!

  2. Penguin says:

    I’m in debt, too. Financing your own publishing for no profit would do that to most people. I don’t have any health insurance, either.

    Unfortunately, I don’t have advice. In my case I’m focused on being able to make minimum payments, as well as balancing time for school and work.

    My lifestyle as of late has been rather loosely derived from James 4:13-15. Since I do not know what the future brings, I trust many things to be the Lord’s will.

  3. Steve Henton says:

    I’ll be praying for your finances. Life in the 21st century certainly has its challenges, financial being right up there near the top.
    I wanted to respond to last week’s artice.

    I have been a part of Disciple Heritage Fellowship for about 15 years. My experience has been that these churches, pastors, and individuals do not have a preoccupation with gays, although they do believe it to be a questionable practice biblically as well as socially. Disagreeing with the homosexual lifestyle is not necessarily judging. As a Christian I’m to let the Bible judge, and if the Bible declares homosexuals to be in a destructive lifestyle, then I must concur. Nevertheless, in the meantime, I will love and pray for them, and have a good relationship with gay friends…some I know are gay, and some I might not know. I treat everyone the same, since God loves us all the same.
    As far as the "inerrancy" issue goes…the problem is, is the meaning of the word. It means different things to different people…mostly that it’s a fundamentalist issue, arguing over this sentence or that sentence, and making the King James Bible the one that God wrote.
    The way I like to put it, is like this. The Bible is reliable and trustworthy. It was written by truth tellers, not liars and myth makers. For instance, if the disciples say they saw Jesus alive, then I believe them. It couldn’t have been a made up story or they wouldn’t have endured torture and death because they wouldn’t stop preaching it. At some point every person needs to decide, do I believe it or don’t I. If I believe some of it and some of it not, then how do I defend the parts I do and don’t? I mean, which is which? If some of it is true, but the rest is lies, I’m not sure if I believe any of it. I don’t like the conservative/liberal label. When it comes to the Bible, you’re either a believer or not.
    Well…
    That’s just a few thoughts. Perhaps we can talk in person sometime about all this. I am able to disagree and still like the person I disagree with. I hope you are the same way. Love,
    Steve

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