Well now...

Nov 25, 2014 11:54

I know it's been over a month since I last updated..... it might be a while more ( Read more... )

evolution, dreams, the plan®

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oceansedge November 27 2014, 15:18:02 UTC
thanks ducky - we do appreciate the thought :)
it means a lot to us

The original plan involved - once I was working, we'd take out a small business loan - $20K. Unfortunately the business hasn't been running long enough to qualify on it's own terms and I fear that the past 6 months may have killed our credit rating past the point of qualifying once I'm working.

The debt load we're carrying isn't really all that unmanageable - if we have an income coming in. We really need to buy ourselves another year to get the business to the point where it's self supporting - and I have every confidence we can do that, if we can keep the lights on.

If we can do that, then there's the possibility of parlaying the profits from the property in Newfoundland (if and when it ever sells) into a small income property here. Which would be preferable to having to use it to dig us out of a hole.

Time, we really just need more time. Unfortunately we've run out of that.

On the good news side, between the Feychild's income support cheque, and 2 good orders this week we should be able to
1. Get groceries
2. Make another payment against the largish hydro bill
3. Pay the car insurance for this month
4. Get the materials for the two orders
5. Put another $25 on my cell phone

and we buy ourselves another 2 weeks

We did get a call about the heating stove. But he was only prepared to pay 2/3 of what we have into it.... I'd consider taking a loss on it, but not that much, not on a brand new item still sitting on the show room floor. I'd have considered swallowing the 15% sales tax, but the buyer doesn't pay sales tax in the first place ... so no savings to him, he just wanted to see if he could score big by taking advantage. But I honestly can't see taking a $1700 hit on this one. Especially considering that once things do improve we're still going to need to go out and buy it again!

Still hoping the snow blower or the china cabinet will sell - at least neither of those will be any kind of a loss to us - both are extraneous to requirements. Selling the hoosier cabinet hurt, as did his selling a good chunk of his record collection back in June - it'd be nice if someone would buy some of the stuff we don't need!

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acelightning November 29 2014, 08:24:55 UTC
My husband and I are trying to get our own finances into a position where we can start a business. (Yeah, we tried that before, but we didn't have anything specific in mind. That's what eventually led to the bankruptcy.) The trouble is, between my husband's excessively arduous and low-paying job driving for a limousine company, and both of us being old enough to collect Social Security, we have just barely enough income for day-to-day living. And then things keep coming up - we're still paying off the medical bills from my first cancer surgery, and the car has needed major repairs a few times, and both of us have had to have relatively expensive dental procedures, and there's an ancient student-loan debt that we're paying off at a rate that doesn't even keep up with the interest. (I signed up with Harris Polls Online a long time ago, and I answer as many polls as I can, because the "points" that accumulate can eventually be traded for Amazon gift cards, which are how I manage to almost keep up with Seanan McGuire's book output.) Every time we think we can manage to put away a little money, something else comes up.

Frankly, the only way I can conceive of ever getting "enough" money would be to win one of the enormous lottery prizes, in the hundreds of millions. What magick I have isn't nearly strong enough for that... actually, I've never had any success with any money magick :-(

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oceansedge December 2 2014, 22:26:36 UTC
good news is - had a job interview this afternoon - it went well, nice people, got on well I think, made an excellent impression.

bad news is - it's only part time minimum wage which won't exactly pay the bills, but it'll pay more than we can now

good news is - it's oddly a sort of job that is kinda made for my odd array of talents

Glorified stock boy it might be, BUT it's also face paced organization in a dynamic and shifting environment.... I can excel at this and who knows there may be more hours and room for upward mobility.... there are 4 things I know really well in this world, planes, stationary, animals, and FOOD.

*keeping my fingers crossed* ... and I still got a lottery ticket for Wednesday (although money magick has never done me much good either)

Who knows if we can get a few bills caught up, maybe we can consider something like this when / if the property in Newfoundland sells.

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acelightning December 3 2014, 09:43:42 UTC
I'm just waiting for either the MegaMillions or Powerball lottery to get up over $100 million (they've gotten above $500 million - half a billion dollars! - a few times). I'm not going to spend my hard-earned $3 on a chance on a measly twenty or thirty million bucks :-)

Good luck on the job - it might not be ideal, but it could be a stepping-stone to something better.

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oceansedge December 3 2014, 17:45:30 UTC
heh... the 6/49 is up to $30 million tonight it may be only Canadian funny money, but it's tax free, all in one cheque, Canadian funny money LOL! and at least the odds are better than the Lotto Max.

Of course, I've never been a greedy woman, I've always told the gods that I'd be quite content with a simple second place of $1 million, or even a 3rd rate $1/4 million ....perhaps even more content, after all with great money comes great headaches LOL

Ah well, can't win if you don't play, and I figure my little $3/week for a tiny sliver of hope is probably better spent than the $135/month I spend on the life insurance ("just in case it ever does get to be toooooooooooooo much")

Thanks, there are worse things than working for minimum wage for happy contented competent people - and I always try to keep my eye on the idea that you don't get anywhere without putting your foot on the path :) I'll take whatever small graces I am given gratefully

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acelightning December 4 2014, 11:32:54 UTC
My husband points out to me that my odds of winning even the second prize (1 or 2 million) are something like one in 17 quintillion. I have absolutely no mathematical ability, but I can truthfully respond that, if I don't buy a ticket, my odds are precisely zero :-)

Not all minimum-wage jobs are backbreaking, demeaning slave labor. If they're good people, and it's a good place, you may well find yourself making more money soon, one way or another. Fingers, toes, eyes, eye stalks, pseudopods, tentacles, and tailfeathers crossed!

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oceansedge December 9 2014, 16:39:53 UTC
met with the store manager this morning - he also seems to be inordinately pleasant.... and apparently the 2nd interview is a formality .... I was welcomed to the position on the spot. Orientation is 0800 tomorrow morning.

I'm pleased. Quite pleased. It probably isn't enough hours nor enough money, but it's a nice place and the corporate environment of this particular mega-mart chain seems to have improved some over the part few years.

I might actually like this

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r_caton December 10 2014, 19:42:41 UTC
Good Luck

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oceansedge December 12 2014, 22:20:22 UTC
thanks - it went well, I think I might enjoy it, or at least not hate it :)

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acelightning December 11 2014, 10:19:45 UTC
Congratulations! It's better than no job, and it sounds at least bearable. And maybe you get employee discounts on stuff, which could improve your financial situation even a bit more. May your life continue to get better and better!

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oceansedge December 12 2014, 22:19:51 UTC
Day 1 of corporate indoctrination and training went well - everyone really does seem pleasant enough - there's a lot to be said for a low key, low pressure, pleasant environment ...

6 months in there are discounts which will be very useful and helpful and worth about $80/month

Next week is 2 night shifts and a day shift, none of which will conflict with any of the Farmer's Market dates I'm working with James.... so all in all it seems like it should be quite manageable and not horrible and there's some other potential benefits down the road...

It's all nothing tooooooo dramatic, but I do have a feeling as though we've turned a corner

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acelightning December 13 2014, 04:47:22 UTC
So far, so good, then!

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oceansedge December 13 2014, 21:57:01 UTC
yep - pretty much
we'll see how I feel next Saturday after my first proper week of shifts :)
(of course Thursday is the last 'Christmas Market' - so it'll be an extra long one, and the Saturday Market will be at least as busy as today was - and today was a record breaker.. Good thing I got Sunday and Monday to rest up.... oh wait, housework.. LOL !)

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