January 13, 2011 Bills, Bills, Bills

Destiny's Child couldn't have sang it better.  Can you pay my bills?  Can you pay my telephone bills? Then maybe baby we can chill.  Well, I am not necessarily asking someone to pay my bills (Bill Gates...I wouldn't say no) but today was payday which means it's time to pay bills.  Yes, all of my bills.  From the phone to the cable to the collections.  It's all bills day and the bills must be paid.

When I was kid, I use to think it would be fun to pay bills like an adult and at some point, I really did get pleasure from the responsibility of it all.  And then the bills just started just started to pile up.  At one point I was paying about 15 bills at one time.  Now, I am not big spender.  I don't go shopping.  I splurge on food if you consider that splurging (eating out), and I only buy way I absolutely need (and sometimes I don't even buy that hence me not having a winter coat for the past several winters now).  Most of the bills were hospital bills or collections for hospital bills.  Oh and of course the infamous cingular bill (don't really feel like going into details about that right now).

I am not irresponsible with money but I have never been much of a saver.  Saving is new to me.  I just started doing it and it's a struggle for several reasons.  One, I don't like to save much of anything and if money is sitting around, I am sure a bill can be paid.  Two, my family doesn't have a good history with money.  I was never taught about money when I was a child and I had to teach myself...still learning.  Three, every time I would save some money, something would come up where I would spend it, be it bus fare, helping the fam, etc.  Well, those days are over!  Saving is apart of my life now and it's sooo important for our future.

So, I don't have fifteen bills to pay at once anymore.  I am so grateful to God for being at a better point in my financially to where I have my own place and all the bills can be paid.  Things are still tight right now because Luis hasn't found a job but we are making it work out great!  How great you say?  Well, we were able to pay off bed so that now we own it!  That is sooo awesome.  Now, such is my life at this point that when one bill leaves, another one comes.  It's time for me to start paying my student loans.  Now initially I thought, I better take steps to get back on to the income contingent program again.  Then I thought, wait a minute.  I have never been at a point in my life where I could afford to make payments on my loans by any stretch of the imagination yet here I am, here we are.  I couldn't do this without my husband of course.

Our financial future has never looked better.  I am so hopeful about the direction we are headed in and I will be even more excited when he begins working this month.

Ciao!