It’s been a pretty easy morning thus far. The boys did a great job of getting ready for school and the only hiccup was that I needed to make a second trip because Elliott left his backpack at home.
That wasn’t a huge deal and I didn’t mind. That never happens and considering how cooperative they both were, I’d make a second trip every day if I needed to, in order to ensure this level of positivity each morning. ☺
We have absolutely nothing on the schedule for today. It’s the first day this week that I’m not rushing around and losing my mind.
Lizze is sleeping and Gavin’s about to take his morning nap as well. I’m not sure if I’m going to be taking a nap today. I totally deserve a nap (😁) but I very much want to work on the house and get some writing done.
The boys will be gone tonight and part of tomorrow, so that means Lizze and I have a night to ourselves.
I really, really want to go see the new Kong movie but things will be a little tighter financially this month and I don’t think we can pull that off right now. Having said that, we may do some mall walking and maybe grab a burrito for dinner.
Netflix is very much on the menu for tonight as well.
Frankly, the downtime itself is more than we could really ask for and we’re both super grateful for the time off. ☺
Keeping in mind that you obviously deserve some privacy, I think that letting people know why things are tight could be beneficial and help people realize that they’re not alone. You’ve mentioned recently that things are looking up financially so it’s a curiosity why things would be tight. If it’s because you’re constantly looking for ways to help your kids, people might appreciate the candor. Are there things that insurance doesn’t cover that you have to buy out of pocket? Have you been spending more than normal on shoes or socks for Emmett? Has the higher income with Lizze being on disability caused other benefits to be cut? I feel like you’re in that financial bracket where getting more money in one pocket causes money to be drained out of another pocket because more cash = fewer non-cash benefits.
In any event, enjoy date night!
What an insightful question. Frankly, I’ve learned to avoid the details because it seems to open me up to ridicule. Having said that, I also agree with your point, as that’s always been why I shared the details in the past.
Yes, things are getting better for us. However, we do sometimes have bigger expenses. For example, we had to put new tires on the car. That’s expensive for us. We had to buy the boys a ton of new clothes because they had either outgrown what they had or were in between sizes. Among those clothing purchases were quite a few different types of socks for Mr. Emmett, none of which ended up working..
You’re also correct that we’re in a bracket where cash in one pocket drains the other but that’s okay because our goal is to be off any form of assistance, with the exception of insurance because that’s just the bracket we fall into.
The only assistance we’re on is about $200/month for food. I’m super grateful for that, as it helps but I have to supplement that with almost $400 out of pocket, again which is fine. It’s just an added expense. There’s also a good chance that our situation has improved on paper enough, that the food assistance will disappear in April, when we update records. While that will present challenges, it also feels good to be even more independent.
As you mentioned, we’re always looking for ways to help the boys and adding the hue lighting, while an added one time expense, it’s made a world of difference in Emmett falling asleep at night.
Without going into details, a source of income I’d had for the last year or so, stopped coming in this month. I’m told that it will resume but that was a $500 decrease in this month’s income.
I don’t know of if that really answers your questions but that’s why things are tighter this month. Every dime we have is going into groceries right now. Things like movie night will have to be on the back burner until next month.
Yikes, a $500 hit is a lot for anyone, and then combined with new tires I can see why belt tightening would be necessary. Getting off of financial assistance is a great goal. It will no doubt help you feel more and more successful as time goes on. On the bright side, it’s tax season so you can at least look forward to that as a way of helping out with the cost of the tires and clothes.
Thanks Kim