Join me on a journey of being frugal

Money is bittersweet. It's great to have it, but when you are grown up and have bills to pay and a family to take care of, it's a pain to sit down and run through everything that needs to be paid off.

As you know, I stay at home while my husband works. This will soon change though. Come October or November, we will be renting a house with nothing included. Our current apartment has free water, maintenance, lawn care, and pool care. Why move when there are so many things included here? It's my sister's house for rent and our apartment is full of noisy college kids, not to mention we're upstairs.
Now add in my dental care. I have been to the dentist a total of two times in my life, the first time only being a couple years ago. My family was never able to afford insurance [instead alcohol was a higher priority for them] and by the time I was a teen and had a job there was no way I'd spend my money on my health. I had to have new clothes and pay for my car and time out with friends. It wasn't until my son came along and I felt my teeth getting worse. Finally I contacted my in-law's dentist and I had an appointment. Around $4700 is the price I have to pay for parent's and my own neglect. That includes X-Rays, Cleaning, two root canals and sixteen [!!] cavity fillings. I will also need all four wisdom teeth pulled but that's done by a specialist and a whole nother bill.

So how will we make it through this? We have a son, which is by far our biggest priority. Thankfully I still breastfeed or else I would be spending way too much money on formula. We also have two cats that need food, litter, and check-ups. In a couple months we will be in a house. It will be further from my husband's job and we only have one car. I can get a job but it would have to be part-time, close to my in-laws so they can watch my son and be done by 1PM so I can go get my nieces from school. Mind you, my in-laws are near my husband's job and my nieces are by my [future] home. After being with them, I will have to pick up my husband from work...Thus lots of driving and gas. But there is no way we can pay for my dental bill with one income. Between a rock and a hard place? Yes. Is most of the country suffering the same circumstance? Absolutely. But how will we get through it? That's what I'll write about. Enjoying life, having what you need and some of what you want while getting by paycheck to paycheck.

[photo credit: myself. Lately my iPhone is my go to source of photography even though I have a nice Nikon collecting dust. I swear I'll get to adding more pictures when my brain is on track again]