the return came in and was what we expected it to be. more would have been nice, but what we got worked for what we needed. friday was spent mostly looking for cars and dealing with paperwork. saturday was spent grocery shopping. sunday was spent taking care of dii.
i'm still trying to decompress from it all.
friday in particular was overwhelming. while we went to only two places, we had to admit defeat on finding a vehicle that was going to work even remotely well for $2000. we probably could have kept hunting, but there honestly weren't that many listed when i did my online search, and the two we were looking at just weren't in a condition that made us comfortable buying. in fact, one was a salvage vehicle that would have ended up costing more just to get in a condition for registration. in the end, we bought a black, 2001 nissan altima for $2000 down and $200 a month. it won't save us much on money for transportation, but it gives us more flexibility in a lot fo ways, so we're pretty happy with it. the gas mileage isn't the best, but it's an '01, so it works for the year it was made. we need to get it in for an oil change and to pick up a spare, and i'd like to get it tuned up and balanced, but all those things will have to wait for now. we have a car, we can travel, life is a lot easier already.
those saturday shopping trips are an example of easier: husb was at work, i picked up the car and took care of all our shopping needs. no taxi involved. :)
we were going to use some of the money for glasses for me this week, but we're going to do it next week instead, and get saxy checked at the same time. if he needs glasses, next week will be easier on the finances. we paid for our auto insurance and i took care of some domain thinsg as well. but the big chunk of money went to restocking the cupboards, and another significant chunk went to the rent.
saxy's job isn't quite bailing us out, but it is making things easier. we've planned out the funds for the next three paychecks, including 2 car payments ($50 each), car registratrion, glasses possibly for two, 3 full utility payments and one partial. the only concern is a disconnect throwing a moneky wrench into the mess, but we're hoping that won't happen. we used to not be able to plan at all because if we paid one bill, there was almosta guarantee another would send a disconnect, so we were always scrambling.
we've still got a ways to go, but for once, i feel like we're heading in the right direction. we have a car, which is making life a whoooooole lot easier in just the last few days, saxy's paychecks have been decent and we're already taking advantage of what benefits we can, and we're slowly inching up on the utilities. who knows? give us a year or two and we might just be paying the rent on the 1st instead of the 30th, and i may even be able to buy needed things like clothes without feeling guilty! ;)
most everything else is going as expected. youngest appears to have given up on her grades entirely, and neither her teachers nor i have a clue what to do about it. the shopping trips filled cupboards and fridge and the food plan is generally going well. it kinda fell apart last week with easter goodies showing up in stores so early and the end of the week being bad food days as we weren't home most of them. saxy's classes are going well and he has good midterm grades, and he's already registered for next term. he needs to get his fasfa in for his last quarter at the school, and we have to catch up our payments so he'll actually get his degree when he's done. i probably should think about a way to save so we can actually have him walk and all that, but i suspect the expense will make my walk for my b.a. look cheap. o.O
so, going in the right direction in general. youngest will learn her lessons, we'll get the money so saxy can get his degree, and we'll catch up on everything else as can. oh, and i'll keep losing weight. things are good. here's to it staying that way!