The down sizing begins...

OK it's time to downsize EVERYTHING!!!! The more we down size the faster we can repay the debt meeaning the sooner this dark cloud will lift.

THE HOUSE - Now i am going to do everything in my power not to sell BUT i am getting it valued on Tuesday simply to see what it's worth. We bought it in July 2007 for $345,000. Since then we have put new carpet in, painted, totally re-done the back yard, totally re-done the granny flat underneath and stacks of little things like add airconditioning etc. What i am hoping is that the value has gone up a bit so i can redraw on the loan to make a dent in some of the debt.

THE CAR - Yes my car has to go, infact i have 2 weeks to get rid of it. Eeeek. I have a buyer, well 2 actually. The first buyer, and the one i am selling to, is Pete, our former neighbour and landlord before we bought this house. He owns a car yard and is more than happy to buy the car off me, yay. The 2nd buyer is my mum, the day i bought the car she said to me "in 5 years time i am going to buy that car off you". She has loved the car ever since i bought it and has always said she wanted to buy it but i know that at the moment it isn't the right thing for her to do. Yes she has the money and loves the car BUT she is only buying it off me to help me out. Mum is very very strict with her money and would never spend more than $15k on a car, which is why she said in 5 years time she would buy it. As much as it is a lovely gesture i just wouldn't feel comfortable selling it to her.
So i have been looking high and low for a cheap, reliable car. Based on reccomendations I have looked at Holden Commodore's, Mazda's and Subaru's and i think i have found one. :-) I dark blue Subaru Impreza Wagon, it's a 1999 and only $7,500 so under budget, woohoo! Yes it's old and it's going to have problems but i have been driving past it for about a week and a half now and everytime i see it i like it a little more, then tonight i was on http://www.carsales.com.au/ when i found it and fell in love with it even more. So first thing tomorrow morning i am going to call the guy.

THE KIDS ACTIVITES - Jungle Sports on Thursday, Swimming lessons's on Wednesday, Gymbaroo on Mondays. All gone. :-( I have decided for the next 6 months we will give the activities a miss. As much as this breaks my heart i have to be realistic. We were spending about $650 per term on activities for the kids and that doesn't include petrol too and from each activity. It will break my heart that they can't do them but i am just going to have to try and make up for it in other ways like more trips to the park and doing my own swimming practive with them. I keep telling myself there are plenty of other kids out there who do no activites and are fine and i know they don't "need" to do all these things but i am struggling with letting them go. They aren't the only ones having to miss out, my gym membership runs out in May and i am going to have to let that go as well. :-( :-( I know it's not forever and i know i have the knowledge and the skills to keep training and stay fit on my own but i will miss that me time, that 1.5 hours i get to put the kids in the creche and exercise in peace will now have to be done at home with Miss R copying me and asking why i'm doing what i am doing, very cute though.

THE FOOD - I have always been a good food shopper and so this wont be too hard. We will still get our F&V for nothing and our meat will still be a barter deal with the butcher but everything else is going to have to be watched. Our takeaway 1 night a week will have to stop, not that i am too worried about that, and Aaron is giving away his beloved beer, woopty do... I am going to be more careful with waste and make sure we eat our left overs instead of throwing them out.

PANDORA - I sat down and roughly went through my Pandora charms the other night and to my absolute shock i have more than $1500 worth of charms!!! I nearly fell off the side of the bed... Granted i have had it for a couple of years and most of the charms have been given to me as gifts so it's not like i have gone and spent that much money on jewellery. Not sure what i am going to do about it but knowing how much i have sitting in my bedside draw is making it very tempting to sell.

WORK - So i start work with the Commonwealth Bank in just over a week. I will be working full time, 830-430pm M-F, for 4 weeks for training then i will move onto my standar shift which will be 9pm till 2am M-F. I am going to be buggered but i will survive. I am going back into a contact centre and the role is similar to where i started with Coke. I am taking a couple of steps backwards in terms of my career but i am more than ok with that. I couldn't do the hours that my old role requires nor could i handle the stress right now, so for now i will be more than happy to answer the phones and talk to people. That's not to say i don't have any goals for career progression, i have many goals that will be achievable within CBA but for now i just want to work. I am still looking at PT work but not pushing it at the moment, i really need consistant reliable work more than anything.
Bookwork. Yep there is that dirty word... So i know i can't 'blame' her directly but for F's Sake why didn't my MIL, who was doing the books, make me aware of the situation before it became a total disaster?!?!?! Why oh why did my MIL and Aaron decide it was better NOT to tell me the full extent of what was going on? So since the crap hit the fan i have taken control again. I went in to the new factory today, which i quite like BTW, and sorted through mountains of paperwork and organised and set up the office ready for me to try and work through this mess... The bookwork role isn't too hard, it's just time consuming at times and not baby and toddler friendly as concentration is really important.
So for the next 6 months at least all i will be doing will be working working working.

AARON AND I - Well that's at a stand still. As you probably gathered from my last post and previous comments about my MIL and Aaron i am not exactly in a great position right now. I am hurt, very hurt and not sure how long, or if at all, it will take for me to not be hurt. I handed over control of the shop when i found out i was pregnant with B as i was comfortable that the shop was doing well and that A coudl run it and MIL could do the bookwork, HOW WRONG WAS I. I was so looking forward to just being a mummy and studying to do what i love, fitness. Anyway i can't help but wonder how differently things might be if they had been up front with me about the situation of the shop and bookwork, it's a MESS. I can't blame them entirely though as i was stupid enough to put my whole trust in them and not even check. Anyway it's another life lesson learnt the hard way. A and i had a big chat last night and many many tears were shed. We love each other and our little family is extremely important to both of us it's just wether i can move past this or not, so for now we will continue to try and get out of this mess together but what the future holds i don't know?

I used to be nicknamed the "Budget Queen" so it looks like i will have to try and live up to that nick name again. I love budgeting and living tight, i see it as a challenge so that's how i am going to look at it from now, a challenge and if i get through it i am only going to be stronger.

I hope and pray that in 10 years time when i decide to read back through this that i will be able to smile and know that i got through it and became a better person because of it.

xox