Today was… interesting. That’s the best word to describe things. Work brought a surprise which for most people was awesome. We got new EVERYTHING. Computers, desks, etc. Unfortunately it came at a price: it’s a frigging marathon to get there. Enough so that my body was howling at me long before the day was over. Enough so that I know that I will NOT try to shortcut my way out of a knee brace again in the foreseeable future.
It also revised my house-hunting attitude. I cannot drive to East Podunk and look at houses when I can’t hobble to the opposite end of the building, even if it is a huge building.
I also did some number crunching of my own over the past 24 hours, apart from G. I talked with the mortgage guy again and we delved into exactly what I need to do to get things ready to fly. Normally what he mentioned would be easily doable. Unfortunately this isn’t normal territory. I’ve been besieged by medical bills already and know I’ve got a hospital bill ahead of me – more than what’s covered by my FSA. I have to cover a couple of other small loans, and while the new job should be a pay increase, it won’t be enough of an increase to retire all of that in the next two months.
The bottom line is my bottom line right now. Can we gut the budget and move? Probably. Do we need to gut the budget to move so we can reduce costs? Absolutely. Can we gut the budget and move immediately, given my upcoming surgery and the fact that our slowest time of year in my business is just around the proverbial corner? No. I’m not willing to go there. After more than my fair share of money nightmares, I’m a wee bit more cautious these days.
I also didn’t like the sense that I was being pushed. I do want a house and will be pursuing the issue, and I do want to take advantage of the current market conditions. But damned if that means I’ll contend with a used-car salesman for a mortgage guy. I get that somebody looking for a house at this time of year is awesome and for these folks to wrap up a sale right before Christmas would be a nice holiday for their families. That doesn’t mean I’m going to be in a financial or physical state to move right before Christmas. Furthermore, I have to look at how to break my lease in the most cost-effective way. That definitely won’t happen around Christmas time.
From the word go I had been thinking of a move next summer Can we do it now? Maybe. Do I feel financially comfortable to go ahead now? No. And that’s the bottom line that has nothing to do with G.
I haven’t changed my mind; I am still moving ahead with the preliminary stuff because that needs to be done anyway. I can deal with that (and realistically need to anyway). But I also have so many balls in the air right now, things I absolutely must do, I have to put on blinders ’til they’re out of the way. I can’t get sidetracked by the pretty houses and sparkly promises of mortgage qualification, not over the next few months.
G will try to put things off indefinitely. He’d be happy as a lark if we stay where we are now, rising rent be damned. That’s not going to happen, boys and girls.
The most practical time for us to move will be around April or thereabouts. Before mid January we’ll be scraping for money; from mid January to the end of March I’ll be working my ass off with overtime. That was what I wanted to hear when I originally started talking with these folks. Like I said yesterday, the “yes, you’re qualified now” hit me like a sucker punch. I was jazzed by the prospect and it IS good news. But being qualified now isn’t the same thing as being ready now.