If it's not one thing, it's something else....

Although I do not have my full "baby emergency fund," it has been growing and at this time I'm thankful it's there. Who knew my poor dog was going to have to have surgery on Tuesday??

I have 2 dogs (a Boxer named Damien age 11 & a Rott/Shepherd mix named Snoop who is 13) 3 cats (Tinkerbelle & Mystic who are between 10-12 years old and Smokey, my 5 1/2 month old kitten) and a 1 year old no-name turtle.

Pets are great companions. They quickly become part of the family and I really can't picture us not having pets. However, pets can be verrrryyy expensive!! You not only have the expected cost of food, food dishes, litterboxes, litter, toys, treats, annual shots, etc... But then there are those times when you're broke til next payday & your cat is favoring his front paw or you see blood in your dogs stool. Those expenses aren't planned and they always come at the worst time! (Right before Christmas your Boxer scratches his eye & has to have surgery twice totaling $900. Yeah, it happens!!!) The only thing to do is [ expect the unexpected ]! As Dave Ramsey says, have a rainy day fund because its gonna rain!!

Yesterday I took my Damien to the vet with a ruptured tumor on the inside of his thigh. It has been there for several years but we were always told to just watch it. If it started to bother him we would need to have it removed. Sooo... After bloodwork an EKG, a weeks worth of antibiotics and $65 later, he checked out okay and is now scheduled for surgery next week. Surgery will include anesthesia, the tumor removal & pathology, pain meds & additional antibiotics and will cost us $250ish. Yeah, I definitely didn't pencil that in the budget this month, but lucky for us, we've got it covered. No need for "American Distress" or "Master-Card."

Get your emergency fund, people!! You can't afford not to!

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Unnecessary stress

Why does everything have to be so difficult? Nothing is ever cut & dry. You always have to jump through hoops, sometimes stretch the truth, bend the rules, and stress yourself out ...unnecessarily, most of the time.

As I mentioned before, my ultimate goal for 2013 is to be debt free except the house... That's hard to do when you're already living paycheck to paycheck & cutting corners here & there. It's hard to really make headway unless you have a couple hundred dollars to play with in the beginning. We decided to try to refinance our house. With the current interest rates so low, we could easily save a few hundred dollars per month. It's a no-brainer!

Well, we already knew that the value of homes in our area is down. We were then told that they will only refinance at 85% LTV, plus trying to roll in closing costs, it left us with little room for play, and we were going to have to pay $425 upfront for an appraisal-/ non-refundable. That was a $425 risk we weren't willing to take.

After much disappointment, we discussed everything with my mother-in-law who is lonely since her husband passed away in September. She has struggled to make ends meet & she seemed thrilled to have us sell our house & move in with her! We figure we can at least get what we owe out of the house & walk away. We will live with her for two years while saving money for a down payment on a new house. We will help her with the bills & be company for her. It's a win- win!

So now, the loan officer I was dealing with, emailed me to say there is another option for us that requires no appraisal... The HARP program. I don't even think our mortgage is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, so what the heck is she talking about? A loophole?? My thoughts... Why in the hell didn't you mention this sooner???? It's not that I regret our decision to sell our house, but we worried soooo much about whether or not we could refinance and stressed ourselves out over nothing...& she knew that! She waits until now... to say there's another option.

I guess as the old saying goes, everything happens for a reason... & I feel it all worked out for the best. If we get out from under this house now, we will be in a better position to buy a new house in a couple years.