I don’t often write about my personal finances, or challenges with my job and my husband’s business, but I felt like I needed to get it off my chest and put it out into the world.
Last week we discovered how much we owe for taxes this year and it was a lot more than we thought we’d have to pay. Why didn’t we know how much we needed to pay? Why didn’t we pay more estimated taxes? Um, because we live day to day, not just paycheck to paycheck. Over 60% of our income fluctuates, not just on a monthly basis, but a weekly, often daily basis. We also earned a significantly lower income last year and it’s been a real struggle.
With this large gift we are sending to the IRS, and the huge amount of medical bills that came piling in this year, we are living super lean. It’s not that we live large the rest of the time, we don’t fly to Europe or Hawaii. We don’t have elaborate birthday parties, attend concerts and events very often. I don’t shop at hi-end stores, own designer anything, or have a ton of shoes. We eat at home, go to the beach because it’s free and we certainly don’t have personal trainers or any other professionals assisting us.
With all that said, this past week we were able to live even leaner and we saved over $400. How did we do it? We ate at home. We went to the pantry and fridge when making decisions for lunch and dinner. We did very little for entertainment, and we got rid of some luxuries. We also sold items that were just sittin’ in our garage, and are hoping to sell even more.
We felt like we were doing really well until were hit with another issue; my husband’s window cleaning business is at a standstill when it rains. And it’s actually been raining this week, and looks like next week as well. It is catastrophic when we don’t know how we are going to pay bills, and we are just trying to figure out what we can do to keep our head’s above water. And we are also trying to be hopeful and grateful. It is hard. We know we are lucky in so many ways, but these challenges we face with our fluctuating incomes and our family business, can feel like too much to handle some days.
Deep down I know we will make it through this, but on the surface I’m not so sure and my emotions are all over the map which pisses me off. We will keep moving forward though. We will keep praying for the best and knowing we aren’t facing the absolute worst. We are fighters and we won’t give up. We are hustlers and workers. And we will keep telling ourselves “Always Believe Something Wonderful is About to Happen” and being grateful for what we have.
Authentic B 