Life is Tough, But Worth It
Wednesday, Jun-25-08 – 12:42 pmLife has been rough over the past few months. Well, our financial life has been rough. We found out we were pregnant in late April. Due to the previous miscarriages the doctor recommended taking it lightly at least during the first trimester. So my wife quit her nanny job and we’ve been living on my income only since then. We’ve been surviving on only one income. It hasn’t been easy, but well worth it.
What have we discovered since living on only one income?
We never really thought about our purchases. We ate out way too much and made way too many small purchases. Now we have to examine each and every dollar that we spend. We haven’t cut back on grocery spending, which would be rather hard given the latest price increases due to gas prices. While we haven’t cut back, we haven’t increased the spending either. We’ve learned to eat less and cook for more than one meal at a time(left overs galore). This has been rather good for my waistline as it’s been getting smaller without exercise.
As for the exercise part: Around the 2nd week of May, I started experiencing some mild back pain. It was manageable pain but not welcomed. Over the next 3 weeks it progressively got worse. Three Sundays ago, it got absolutely worse. So on Monday I called the doctor and set an appointment. He did a few tests, prescribed some much needed pain medicine and scheduled me for an MRI. I had the MRI and went back the next Wednesday and found out I had 2 herniated discs in my lower back. Over the past weekend my back started hurting even more. On Sunday it hurt so bad, all I could do was lay on the bed. Monday was spent the same way. Tuesday morning I got up to get my cortisone shot. It wasn’t easy barely being able to walk or sit vertically, but I made it to the operating center. The procedure went fairly easy and now I am able to walk around without assistance. There is still a bit of pain but nothing compared to what it was. I was advised I might need another one but when that time comes we’ll deal with it then. Thank goodness for good health insurance on this one.
As for the money part, now that we’re almost out of the first trimester, my wife has decided to get a job. She went out last Friday to one place. They weren’t hiring at that store but the manager called another local store and they needed someone as someone just walked out. She scheduled an interview for Saturday. Yesterday she received a call that she was being offered the job. That was a quick turnaround. It will not be anything comparable to her nanny income but it will be better than nothing. She’s only going to be working 25-30 hours a week. It will be good for her to get out of the house as she’s been cooped up in here for the past 2 months. The added income will be a great help. Some will go towards bills, but the bulk will go towards savings for the baby.
As for school, I escaped the Spring semester with a B in both of my classes. I think the professor just gave me a B for Calculus. I was certain I would be getting a C at least but no way thought I would get a B. This Summer I am taking 2 classes, one each 5 week session. This first session I am taking Consumer Economics. It’s a great class. It teaches about warranties, savings, interest rates, etc. It is somewhat boring for me as I am on the up and up on most of the subject matter, but it is a great class to take as I am learning some new stuff.
