We're up to $3500 and counting. x_X; Should have just sold the damned thing and looked for something else! Evil vehicles!

Hey, if someone will pay for baking... can't beat that!

OMG!!! Thats nutts. Can you sell it now?

I know right. I was thinking of doing baking n stuff next year and selling it at our local flea market, make some extra bucks!! There's always heaps of food stores there, so why not lol.

I could but I highly doubt I could get much more than the repairs paid. So we'd be risking a lot...

You should give it a go! I would love to bake and sell it. One of my long term backup plans is to open a very small restaurant where I can cook breakfast stuff and pastries. xDDD

Damn. Whats wrong with it?
These second hand cars man. Although mine has been pretty good, i got it like 4 years ago for 2k and when i bought it, it had only done 40k's. Pretty good for a 1992 :P.
I have spent maybe 2-3k in total on it in that 4 years though. In repairs and services.

Aww that sounds awesome!! Ahh dreams lmao. My bf and his mum were talking about having a bed and breakfast. *sigh* if only lol. I'd love to live in the country and have like a getaway lodge kinda thing.
You good with pastries n stuff?

I'm okay with pastries. I bake gluten-free, and it's taken me a few years to actually get it to the point I'd serve it without saying it's gluten-free. I can do cakes, muffins, biscuits, cookies... but actual bread has yet to be made with absolute similar texture. Good bread, but not great bread.

We don't know what's wrong with the car. It had cam leaks, so a small oil leak turned bigger. The timing belt was also near snapping, so that was replaced. Then there was air leaking into the brake lines. We don't know what the recent issue is, but hopefully we'll plug it into a diagnostic machine soon and go from there. Where I live out in the middle of nowhere it's a two hour drive to the closest VW repair shop. ><;; We've already gone through this shuffle twice now.

Ohh wow that's pretty good :)!
Do you have a gluten intolerance? Omg gluten free bread is soo dry lol.
I have a slight intolerance. I can't eat too much i get wicked bad indigestion.

Ohhhh sounds horrible =[
Need a mechanic hubby lol.

I have intolerance as well. But, if you bake GF bread it's moist and almost spongy. I have a brioche recipe that worked well.

The main frustrating thing about GF is that if you want it to taste good, you need to make it yourself, then either find a way to eat it all within 24 hours or hope it freezes well. :P

I do need a mechanic hubby. I don't think I can trade in my nursing hubby though. I'm attached. XD

Ohh true. I dunno breads don't go to well for me lol.

Really, 24 hours? That sucks. Mmmm i got the urge for croissant :P

Aww lol. Well a nurse is handy to have around too lol.

I'm sorry to hear that the car is still giving you problems. :(

I'm watching the last episode of destructoid with hubby. It came out a couple weeks ago but first time we've gotten to sit together and watch it. It's sad to see it's finished. D:

Whats destructoid?

I'm curious too. What is it? o.o

It's a videogaming review company, kind of like ign? I think it's better. They're still continuing on, but their actual gaming show they use to come out with 3 times a week (and then lowered it to twice weekly) has been cancelled. It's a shame as Aaron and I use to love laying in bed and watching them together. They use to say some pretty funny stuff and were really down to earth and candid about their reviews. I'll miss that part...I never really was big on their website.

Ahhh, I gotcha!

What have you heard about the Wii U, curiously?

I haven't honestly been following up with any Wii U coverage. I know they came out with a limited edition zelda version recently for the HD release of Wind Waker.

Right now I'm kind of in a bad mood. We had a paycheck where we weren't struggling, so I topped my phone up like Aaron said and also went ahead and stocked up on groceries, and also had two meals out and went to see a movie. Now while trying to go through finances with Aaron to prove to him that once the checks clear we have $20 left, if that. He wouldn't listen and was telling me to cancel my subscriptions because he can't have his. I'm like seriously? And I had both him and Pam both trying to corner me. I feel kind of nauseous and don't want to be around them right now...so I'm just holing myself up in the bedroom for now...

Luckily he put $50 in the tank for the car and we're all good to go, bar something breaking...

I'm confused. The meals out and movie were all agreed upon, so where's the problem? o.O He assumes there isn't enough money left after that to pay bills?

No when I sat down and tallied everything up we were left with a lot less than he expected. I had told him before the second trip to the grocery store to pick up chicken that we had about $120 left - that had to pay for my appointment on Tuesday, Pam's lunches, his tubes...Then we spent another $30 at Meijer, $15 at Burger King and suddenly the other $40 needed for the formentioned stuff plus the $45 spent today means that we're sitting at $30-35 but I'm explaining to him we have other things on autopay that he's failed to budget in.

He's like trying to say oh well there's so much at the grocery store we picked up that we didn't need (as I wanted to get to $150 to get $20 off coupon, and we ended up spending like $175 before that $20...) which is true but at the same time we had been getting by on very little week to week and this was the first week where we could afford to really do this kind of shopping and I figured with the additional discount and other coupons I had it would make it worthwhile.

I told him you know what you have the mPerks account. I can give you the coupons and let you manage that since technically that is suppose to be your job. Yesterday before we went out to see the movie he wanted to sit and fart around on his stupid ass game rather than clip coupons and we were going after the movie so didn't have time for him to play.

I really don't want him playing that game as last time he got into World of Warcraft he spent so much time on there that I got a bit upset at how it seemed he spent less time with me as he spent most of his free time on it. He even said to me he doesn't have much time to play it...Plus he's still smoking and buying tobacco and tubes probably 3 times a week. I can imagine right there $30-40 goes to that and he doesn't count that as a luxury item because it's something he has to do to maintain the way he feels.

Sorry for the rant I just feel very much hurt at the moment. He came in to apologize for being an asshole but he left sounded very depressed/defeated sounding and he'll probably rub it in at other times throughout this week. I really don't want to be around him or Pam right now. I really wish I had somewhere else to go as I really don't want to be even in the same house as them right now.

It sounds like the financial strain was mutually agreed upon, though. That's what confuses me. You guys agreed upon the groceries. It's not your fault--it's the fault of both of you.

How do you guys usually budget? Do you budget weekly or monthly? I ask since I wanted to know if you'd like a copy of our budget template. I resisted using it for so long and just let Cole do it. Now that I'm actually doing it, I love it. It lets me see what money we have at the end of a week, but it also lets me see how much of that "extra" we need to cover the following week's bills until payday.

I made a credit card payment yesterday because I was having a down day and knew I'd want to go do something if we had the money sitting. Glad I got rid of it. I still have an itch to get out of the apartment, but it's less so. After Christmas we SHOULD have the ability to do stuff more.

Sure if you don't mind sharing it with me. I budget on a weekly basis, since there is always someone getting paid on a Friday since we're both offset and biweekly paid. Whether or not that will change with Aaron's job...I'm not certain. I think he will still be offset. I'm hoping so as I haven't budgeted to cover us if he isn't.

I went out on the porch and talked with him some more. He's just butt hurt because he feels like he's the one who is getting cut and that I don't just automatically factor that into our budget before hand. How could I? We hadn't established that into it. He had mentioned it and mentioned it. I'm actually wishing he could get a prepaid card through gamestop rather than doing another automatic debit. I loathe automatic debits, especially since it is for something I'm not to thrilled to be paying for.

I just don't think he factors in all the additional stress I've had to take on because of his kids and dealing with his ex-wife. That we're having to budget in money for child support he's still paying towards his ex, and we're still spending gas and other amenities when we get the kids. Do I bitch about that? Occasionally, but usually after the ex has done something really fucking convoluted and he's not trying to stick up for him and the kids. I don't know if I could even put a price on all the money goes into that...just for actually having kids, birthdays, holidays, etc. I've kind of just tried to accept it for what it is, but I still feel like I'm taking the short end of the stick as it's not really ever going to be my kids or family. My opinion still is the very last one taken into consideration on all things regarding the kids and I'm just kinda feeling shit upon when it comes to that. Do I sit and moan about it and get butthurt? Very rarely...

Maybe having a monthly budget laid out will help him better understand the finances. It helps a lot to see JUST how much money goes out and where luxuries can be cut. When we sat down we saw how much money just went into coffee. It was ridiculous, thus we cut back. Things like that slip away and add up..

I'll see if I can send the template through FB.

---------- Post added 10-05-2013 at 04:26 PM ----------

Oh! Before I do.. Do you want it in MS Excel, Open Office, or some other format? It's basically an Excel Sheet.

I'm currently using an open office suite on the other computer, so as long as that opens up on that I don't mind.

Sorry for the delayed reply. Aaron ended up taking off with Pam to their friend's house so he could play some guitar and Pam could hang out. I honestly wasn't feeling it and needed some time/space to myself and elected to stay home. I ended up going to the neighbor's and talking a bit while she handed me the paperwork needed for Tuesday's appointment. I also sat and talked to another neighbor for a couple minutes about things.

I'm enjoying the fact I have the house to myself right now. It feels nice...a feeling I don't have much of anymore.

Lemme see if I can get a copy of it sent through Facebook.

I love alone time and silence. It's rare to get here these days as well. It's definitely more precious!

Yeah. I don't think this whole parenting thing is all it's cracked up to be. Of course mine is a bit different, and more often than not I feel like Pam sides with dad. I can't think of a time where Pam has fought in my corner on anything...I just pretty much let Aaron deal with most of it and not get myself too involved. It's easier on me that way.

I'm hoping this counseling thing I'm starting will help. I have a feeling it isn't going to be anything breakthrough whoa I haven't heard it before, but we'll see. If nothing else I'm hoping to get a note from them to give to work to say yes I'm struggling mentally and to back off on me a bit...I mean I'm trying to do the best I can do, and by threatening to fire or firing me you're really just making it that much harder on me...

It could be that Aaron and you have different parenting styles. Cole and I were on the same page (thankfully). I can envision how overwhelmingly frustrating it would be to clash with what exactly to do with a kid. Usually if we disagree, we talk privately before taking care of whatever issue is going on.

Parenting is hard. At any age. Parenting would be, I imagine, a nightmare given the circumstances you guys are in. You guys didn't have the chance to raise them from the beginning with it being JUST you two. :/ There's always a third factor somewhere.

I remember being young... maybe eight? Nine? I had a brief period where I hated my mother so much I wanted to live with my dad. He never wanted me, mind (not in that capacity, and the reasons for it are long). Anyway, I remember being in a place where I preferred my step mother to my own. Kids are fickle and they don't understand much beyond their own needs. Pam is only just now entering a place where gears shift. I don't wish her age on anyone, honestly. I remember my adolescence and I was a wreck. :/

Hopefully counseling helps. I'm crossing fingers that you guys are a perfect match! Keep me posted.

My next door neighbor, who works there as one of the admins, says that the lady I'm seeing is really down to earth and cool. She told me she thought she'd be a good fit for me. I think out of who works there she thinks that might be the best person there for me.

I sat and talked with my neighbor a lot. She is really awesome. Just always willing to sit and listen to me talk through my issues.

If nothing more, I hope your counselor drills home the issue that if you're unhappy, you have the power to change it. If enough people tell you, you'll believe it. XD <3