03/27/2024
Sheesh guys, five weeks since we made our last post, and I’m amazed at how many changes we are experiencing in that short time frame. Trying to stay in order here, and prepare for 5 weeks of blabbering…
February 26th, Tim started his first day as Project Engineer for McKee. Fast forward to now, he’s definitely got some learning to do, but overall is feeling pretty proud of himself. On his down time he researches ways to be proficient at Excel and is already finding ways to make his job a little more efficient!
When they first offered him the position it was discussed he can take off early or work from home if need be due to his condition and if not feeling well.
Overall they’ve been very accommodating, but I’m proud of him, he’s only had to stay home a couple of days so far. It’s awesome to see him a little brighter than before, having work to do makes a big difference!
March 8th, we officially put our house on the market! Tim can probably confirm I’ve been acting a little cray lol. And don’t get me wrong, we have had a bit of help here and there, but I have been largely responsible for… well… just about everything. The manic and endless cleaning, packing, storing, and heavy lifting, and last minute house projects.
Tim helps when he can, but does get a little upset for not being able to help more. The sad reality is I have to catch myself in the moment trying not to get mad that he isn’t helping to my “standards”. I feel horrible about it. But sometimes it’s hard to look at him and remember he does have limitations. Just one of those things about having heart failure and major surgeries at 33 I guess. But it’s something I’m working on.
Back to the house, we had a handful of showings and an offer by the next day! We close on April 8th. Truly bittersweet. I know this was never going to be our forever home. But the circumstances for needing to sell are a little harsh.
Today March 27th (side note, Happy Birthday to my baby sister), we have 11 more days of this being our home. We are blessed though. Or are at least seeking our silver linings. The sell of the house should help us pay off the vast majority of the mad amount of debt we’ve put ourselves into.
As I’ve mentioned before it’s hard to be vulnerable about and by no means is meant to be gloating, but I feel it’s a fair warning or something for others to think about. Did we have debt before he got sick, yes absolutely. But it was always manageable. Back when we could go to the store or go shopping and get something without needing to really think about it. We had the means to pay for it.
What you don’t expect, at least at our age, is an onset illness that turns your life upside down. What we didn’t prepare for is to basically take a nearly 96k annual pay cut. I myself by no means make enough to support us and the bills we have. In the 7 months Tim didn’t work, we have had to throw everything possible on to our available credit cards. And are now drowning in it. We have been so incredibly grateful for those of you who donated to our fund, every bit helped so incredibly much!
But alas, timing is everything, and we are looking forward to the sale of the house as a means to pay off our debts and hopefully be able to start digging away at the medical bills.
Which, back to my warning… maybe just be a warning to ourselves, is to live not within, but under your means. We never want to be in this position again. And are going to spend the next handful of years to make different choices to where if something happens to one of us, the other just isn’t going to struggle.
What would your life look like if you took a 100k pay cut? What would you do differently now, if you knew it was going to happen?
