A Smelly Situation

Originally written in March of 2014, I'm going to go ahead and upload this post.  It's interesting to me to go back and read it again!

It's once again time to update all that's been going on around here.  Whew...was last week sure busy!

On Monday, 5 industrial-sized trucks crammed into my driveway (and on my tiny street) to dig up my yard and charge me a truckload of money.  The week before, Hubby and Son #1 had taken back-to-back showers.  As #1 was finishing up, I could hear Hubby yelling my name in a panic.  I flew down the stairs to find our downstairs toilet overflowing like a geyser!  It wasn't just leaking, it was pouring out in gallons.  I screamed for one kid to run to the basement for all the dirty towels while I ran upstairs to order #1 to plug up the drain.

We've had drain problems pretty much since we've moved into the house.  My kitchen sink has always gurgled when I wash laundry or when there's a heavy rain.  I don't even notice it now.  We've had the drain cleaned out a few times, trying to buy ourselves more time before replacing the sewer system.  We thought maybe we would have moved away by now.  Well, we've put a band-aid on the issue too many times and we had to get serious to correct the problem.  They dug from my back yard, around my patio, up the side yard, and all the way to the street.  They removed the old, broken pipes and replaced them.  They leveled the foundation with gravel first and mounded it all back up.  My lawn is destroyed.

I had burly men in and out of my house all day, tracking in Who Knows What.  They went into the uttermost parts of my basement (you know, the really messy parts), under my cluttered kitchen sink, and even upstairs into my main bathroom.  I asked the guy if he wanted to check out my disorganized sock drawer too.  It was an uncomfortable day as I talked to a stranger about sewage and human waste.  The job was supposed to take two days, but luckily, they finished around dinnertime.  It's a day that I would never want to relive.  The damage:  $9,000.  Goodbye everything we've been working toward.  It was a very difficult decision to make.

With Hubby's recent reduction of hours, things have been a little tight around here lately.  We were OK with that and were willing to adjust our lifestyle a bit.  I find saving money as sort of a game and I continue to look for ways to do so.  I will have to admit defeat at the game whenever I have to get a real job outside the home.  But a $9,000 bill was something we were not prepared for.  We don't do debt, but unfortunately didn't have a good savings.  We should have saved better while Hubby's salary was more comfortable.  Isn't it amazing how perfect hindsight is?  We were able to borrow the money from my grandfather and can pay back the loan at 4%.  We're quite thankful for that.

All that being said, I have been on a mission to save money.  I'm already a bit frazzled, grouchy, and stressed, but I've become like a drill sergeant around here.

Nearly a year later, the nine grand is still not paid back.  :(  But we're working hard to get rid of the debt as quickly as we can!!!