It’s a new world
After the stock market began its scary plunge and the government stepped in and made things worse, it struck me that my financial situation might be precarious. I have debt that I’ve been working to get rid of, but slowly. Suddenly I see a need to get out from under the weight of owing half my life’s earnings to other people—and quickly. What if the economy continues to plunge into depressionary territory? Will my family be able to make it through tough financial times?
I’m afraid the answer is no. And it might already be too late.
Neither me or my husband seems in imminent danger of losing our jobs, but already he’s been told there isn’t going to be any overtime for a while. That overtime wasn’t paying for extras around the house. No, it was paying (or going to pay) for essentials like our upcoming 2008 property taxes, which we’d been meaning to save for but just hadn’t gotten around to doing it, and our homeowner’s insurance policy, which I would certainly go into debt to pay, but I certainly don’t want to have to do that if I can help it.
Oh, and our Christmas money. No overtime might possibly mean a very, very lean Christmas season this year. Not that we ever spend that much, but it always seems like too much when the bills come.
This overtime crunch is the first wave of economic hardships I expect to see over the next few years. And my new goal is to get rid of as much debt as I can as quickly as possible so I can free up our cash flow.
My plan is to post each Tuesday with news of how my debt reduction strategy is going (or not). I think doing this will motivate me to stay on track even when my husband isn’t on my side.
It’s a new world out there these days, and I’m worried that I might not be ready to face it.
What about you?
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