It’s been kind of a rough week financially. I am determined to stay positive but I can feel the stress dampening my motivation, attacking my immune system, and taking every bit of patience I have (which is not a lot to begin with). I’m not the kind of person that likes to dwell on problems, so instead of detailing all of the crappy stuff that happened this week, I’ll share what I’m grateful for.
1. Grateful we could get water delivered and get the well drilled out of our emergency fund.
2. Grateful to take care of the washer, alarm, and the other renter’s leaky dishwasher. I’ve had good landlords and bad, and I’m grateful to Adam for being the kind of landlord that keeps things in order for our renters (That’s a huge part of why I married him- he was my landlord and he was so thoughtful and kind to me and the other tenants. I couldn’t help but notice. That, and he had this amazing beard at the time…)
3. Grateful for support from my family. My sister offered for us to shower and do laundry at her house, and my parents offered a lot of encouragement. I know it’s genuine, too. I could run over to her house right now to do laundry and her whole family would welcome me.
4. Grateful that we’re not fighting, even with all that went on this week, including house guests for 4 days. We went to a free show last night and had a great inexpensive date night. Trying to keep communicating, stay positive, encourage the other person, and be generally thoughtful. Keyword, trying. 🙂
5. Grateful that I didn’t get sick until yesterday. We’ve been traveling a lot and busy with work, so getting sick now is much better than when I was off having fun.
6. Grateful for a good weekend of sales. People love buying furniture on Labor Day I guess, which was a blessing. I have one item leftover in my inventory and I’m gearing up to finish a few projects this week/weekend. I wish it would cool down… But you can’t have everything 🙂
7. Grateful to have nice and thoughtful renters. The renters in our guest house take the trash out for us and bring the can back in, they sometimes even bring the mail to our door. They rarely ask for anything, they’re friendly with us and they even like our dog. Score.
8. Grateful I got the dishes, a shower, and a couple loads of laundry done before our well gave out.
9. Grateful for a renewed focus on eating healthy and eating at home more often.
10. Haagen Das CARMEL CONE ICE CREAM. Don’t judge. It’s amazing and probably kept me from totally freaking out at least twice.
That’s this week’s list. There ere are many many more things I’m grateful for! What about you all? Did you have a good week? Do you have things you’re extra grateful for?
My crappy weeks usually involve dogs with diarrhea and cats urping on the bed! LOL. This has been a good week here, generally. Let’s see, just a few things I’m grateful for: my son got his car back from the shop so I get my car back, tomato season isn’t winding down yet and apple season is just starting, both of my freezers are stuffed with sauces, fruits, veggies, salsas, etc.
Oh, and not to leave the wrong impression – I accidentally paid our car payment twice! Makes the rest of September look very interesting…
Are you in the Midwest? I LOVE apple season in the Midwest. We don’t really get one here because of the heat.
Yes, in central Iowa.
I went to Collona, Iowa on spring break once. 🙂 such a beautiful state!
I love the idea of someone going to Iowa for spring break!
I lived there for two years, and it is indeed a beautiful state. 🙂
Glad you can see the positive! That ice cream sounds pretty divine. 🙂
I have one question – you said “other renters” dishwasher. Do you have more than one rental property and somewhere along the way I missed that?
We have a couple rental homes in Indianapolis, taken care of by a property manager that Adam and I both rented from individually in our early 20’s. Adam will probably write more about this in a separate post.
Oh… The financial plot thickens! 🙂
I felt the exact same way! Wondering how this fits into the puzzle. Mortgages, underwater, equity, passive income?
I’m going through a rough few weeks of health and financial rough times too but I never made a list of what I am grateful for. Thank you!
Number 9 & 10 seem to contradict each other. Hehe 😉
Getting really bored with this blog lately. (apologies to the new folks) I miss hearing numbers and details. How much did the well cost? What is remaining in your emergency fund? How do you plan on replacing it? Why did you two not fight? What has changed in yourselves to make that happen? Same with the rental repairs. How do you save for those? Are you in the red or black? Future plans? Sorry, but I feel the writing and stories are just blah and impersonal. I can read the same stuff on Facebook daily; “My dryer broke! Glad I had the money to fix it!!!” etc/
Someone else had a crappy week, too? 😉
No, and I really don’t mean to hurt feelings. Consider it constructive criticism or simply an original reader’s opinion. I realize that you can’t please everyone but my suggestions should be considered / contemplated rather than laughed off. I’d like to feel more attached to your situation and to feel like I’m a valuable part of your cheering team. I want you to share what you learn in your journey and I also want you to learn from me and other readers. That’s the nature of personal finance blogs.
Sounds like it was a frustrating week! The good news is that it is over. Life can be kind of stressful when all of those things happen so it’s good you were able to look at the bright side. The hard part about having a lot of rental properties is that it can be very expensive to keep up multiple households! Having to repair all of the properties is a job in itself. It’s great that you guys are able to manage all of that.
I have to agree with Susan; I’d like to hear more about all of the numbers (mortgage, renters, how the grocery/restaurant/expenses are coming along, etc.) I think the reason many of us read financial blogs is to see the people grow. I really enjoyed reading Beks stories and Claire was more interesting once she fully committed to paying off her debt. The summary at the beginning of the month by Adam was disappointing-it just listed the amount paid toward debt and no other information. Sharing one line item from the budget doesn’t mean a whole lot without the entire budget. I think that’s what Susan may have been alluding to in her comment. I hope you both will share a bit more…it kind of feels like pulling teeth sometimes. I think most of us are rooting for the two of you to get out of debt but we would like to hear more. Hope next week goes better.
I don’t want to add anymore to your already crappy week, but I agree with Susan as well. I think you guys need to open up more and share more details of the financial nitty gritty. I think it would benefit you more and really force you to look at your spending and where you could improve to get your debt paid off faster. What are you willing to sacrifice to get rid of this debt? What changes are you making to ensure you’re never in debt again? What are some things you are doing daily to help you’re financial situation that may also be helpful to your readers? I’m a long time reader and always felt really connected to the other bloggers because they were very open and were ‘gazelle intense’ about paying off their debt!
I’m enjoying the blog as it evolves, but I see Susan’s point. The narrative feels incomplete without the numbers or more explanation of how the crisis was dealt with, really. In the case of this particular post, however, it was not intended to be a details post about numbers.
I like the way Emily and Adam are doing things. Sure, a few more numbers can be good, but I do find it interesting that so many folks are on about how fast they pay off their debt. I seem to recall an earlier post where they noted that they weren’t as worried about speedily paying off their debt, as building the tools to ensure they stayed out of further debt in the future. Seems to me, they’re doing that, even in the face of struggles. A bit of caramel ice cream doesn’t hurt, either. 🙂
Not everything has to be done right away, including paying off debt. The goal is to be debt-free, not to be the first one to be debt-free. They have their plan, and they’re working toward it. Kudos, and keep it up!
I’m also enjoying the blog just fine as is. Not every personal finance blog needs to be a numbers-fest. Not every one needs to include “extreme” debt reduction measures. Adam and Emily have been at it a couple months and have perhaps years of blogging left, so I think that their increased disclosures over time are perfectly reasonable.
I think the blog is doing fine as it is. I think more disclosure (#s) would be good, but they’re still very new and I think a lot of that just comes with time. Also, I remember lots of posts from Claire that didn’t include numbers at all – especially regarding the kids & ex-husband issues (which related to debt, perhaps, but not always). I think at the beginning stages a blogger is mostly introducing themselves and giving peaks into their lifestyle, debt-situation, etc. More specifics would be great, but hopefully they’ll come as time moves on. Also, I think its important to keep in mind this is not their full time job or anything. This whole situation is still new for them and I think they’re doing pretty well considering all of the stresses and recent set-backs.
Well, I feel a little silly making my landlord complaint/suggestion comments after hearing that Adam has a lot of experience with this and the two of you own several rental properties. I was kind of shocked to find that out. I think having this information at the start would’ve clarified a few things and made the cottage rental a non-issue. I feel sometimes like we’re absolutely drowning in mortgage debt with 2 properties. If you have mortgages on your rentals, I can’t imagine the weight of that on your shoulders with all of your student loan debt.
I sense an extreme amount of hesitation to disclose any real numbers or even vague picture of your finances. It makes it confusing and hard to relate to.
Otherwise, I find you both interesting and positive energy people and that’s refreshing:)
I never read the first blogger (found this site when Beks was blogging), but so far I have followed 3 bloggers here who have been extremely vague about HUGE financial details. & then they drop these random financial bombs.
On its own, I might think they are new and warming up, but it seems to be a pattern that makes it hard to follow. I am only commenting to say, though I know it’s a long ways a way, it would be nice to choose a blogger next time really willing to expose more of their whole financial picture.
I guess the bottom line is I think it’s pretty impossible to make true financial progress if you aren’t looking at the whole financial picture. & then the comments left on this blog are pretty useless because we have no idea what we are talking about. (example: Cathy now feels silly about past comments). & it’s hard to feel that the blogger is genuine when they are obviously glossing over huge details. (I guess maybe each blogger thought they would not talk about “a” or “b” but then it always comes out somehow and then it just doesn’t feel genuine).
We went to Puerto Rico with my parents and the kids. The first morning after we arrived my mom fell – breaking her wrist and fracturing her pelvic bone. She spent all week in the hospital, had surgery and hopefully will be coming home Monday. It sucked.
You win, that sounds horrible. Hope she has a fully recovery soon!
Pleased to read your article about crappy week ! Thanks I enjoy it.