Dancing on the edge: Or why my finances make me nuts

I spend a lot of time reading personal-finance blogs. Practically every workday, when I'm nibbling my self-packed lucnch of leftovers, I browse through my bookmarked library of personal-finance blogs. Why?

I live life on the personal-finance edge. Yep, that's me, dancing on the sharp edge of financial chaos every day. That's a place I never thought I'd be. But here I am.

Here's the skinny:

Three kids, not enough advance planning for college financing. I won't bore with my reasons, but let's just say I should have saved more, and if things had gone the way we'd planned financially, we would have saved more. That said, we have made a personal commitment to provide our three children with a debt-free education. I know it sounds silly, but my parents gave me that gift, and I want to pass that to my children. Builder Man didn't have that option.

Kid #1 is done and working. He graduated in July and had a job lined up. 'Nuff said. Kid #2 is starting his second year. He transfered to a very reasonable state school after doing junior college for a year. Kid #3 starts in the fall.

Too much credit card debt. Yeah, yeah, I know. I read the blogs, I listen to Dave Ramsey. I was stupid. I charged stuff I couldn't afford to pay for last year, and now I have to pay it back. I've taken some steps to keep things moving in the right direction, but I've never owed more than $2,000 before. I know we can do it, and it's not like $20,000, but it is more than the national average, which hovers around $5,000 per household.

Iffy career outlooks. I'm in print media. Enough said. I've made it thorugh numerous layoffs, but really, my number is coming, I know it. More on that at a later date. My husband owns his own construction business. That's been loads of fun the last couple of years. He's kept it together, but just barely.

Some nights, I can't sleep. We have a plan, and we're moving ahead, but there are too many unknowns out there, ya know? I'm a virgo, I like things organized and settled. (Not a great bar come-on line, is it?)

So what's the point of all this? Fridays are going to be financial posts, mostly, and the above-state is the "why" of all this. Follow me, if you like, as I work my way through the tangled web that is my finances.

My gift to you: a couple of PF (personal finance, that is. See? I'm like the in crowd, only not) blogs. Read, digest, talk amongst yourselves. See you back here next week for Fearless Fianancial Friday.

Wise Bread
Billed as a community of bloggers to help you live large on a small budget, you'll find lots of tips and ideas on living well for less here.  The tone is easy to handle: Never preachy.

Budgets are sexy. This blog had me at "our name is a sentence, so we'll use a period." That type of attention to detail appeals to the editor in me. Give them a visit.

Enjoy the weekend.

Comments

[J. Money]

haha... thx for the love my friend ;)

[Jordan 6]

There may be without doubt that delight is essentially the most valuable point on this planet. Lacking it, existence could be empty and meaningless. pleasure is made up in contentment. A guy who's dissatisfied with his current issue is continually in distress.

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