Recovering from Debauchery

We broke the bank building this house and now don't have two pennies to rub together.

When hubby and I started out together 12 years ago, he was borderline wealthy (at least in my mind coming from a life of a single Mom working for $30,000 a year raising three children).  We spent money like it was water and lived like there was no tomorrow.  There were exotic vacations, Winnebago trips, muscle cars, Harley Davidsons, fancy restaurants, gifts to the family and no attention was paid to cost.  My husband is a very generous man and was the guy always paying the bill for everyone else.  I naively went along with him and mindlessly indulged myself and others with what I thought was a bottomless pit of money.

All that has changed now.  With the business slowly recovering from some painful losses, the new home costing much more than we planned and the beautiful white elephant of a lake house that sits a two hour drive away sucking away at our finances, we are now, officially broke.

Rather than feeling sorry for myself, I've decided to create a major, stimulating project out of living frugally.  I feel so lucky to not be a depressive sort. I know it's not something people can control.  My brain chemistry must have lots of serotonin because I am up for the challenge of Frugal Living.  That's not to say hubby and I are not worried about being able to hold on to this lovely home but, together, we've made the decision to stop all the debauchery that we absolutely cannot afford and start counting our pennies.

The office is almost set up in the airy, well lit basement and this will be my money savings control centre.  I have lots of plans and ideas for bringing us back, not to where we were before; that's impossible, but to a secure place financially where we can retire with relative comfort and ease.

My first course of action will be to sell the lake house and it's contents and to open more doors for our construction company.   As the company administrator, it's within my power to get our company compliant with clients requirements and to solicit more work.

Secondly, I wish to bring in money as a Yoga instructor.  This is a two year plan because I need to immerse myself in yoga and then take a two hundred hour course to qualify.  I have fallen in love with Yoga and have planned my basement with a yoga studio in mind.  I also have an idea to open a letter writing business where I write all sorts of letters, both personal and business, for clients who aren't as handy with words as I am.  I am relatively good with the written word, and will enjoy helping others.  Both businesses involve doing what I love and, according to what I've read, that is one of the keys to success.

On a daily basis, I will curb our spending starting with booze!!!  That expense has dropped considerably and should continue to do so once we are settled in this house.  Groceries will be bought according to what's on sale, we'll have minimal frivolous purchases and even Christmas will be toned down to buying mostly for the grandchildren.  I am now on a mission to do whatever it takes to put us in a position where, in five years, hubby, who has worked very hard his whole life, can finally retire and become an adviser for the company rather than continue working with the tools as he has been doing. He will 71 by then.  I'll be 62 and hopefully, fit as a fiddle and able to continue running my enterprises with enthusiasm and excitement.

For the record, I realize that we, as middle class Canadians, are far wealthier, even at our poorest, than many other inhabitants of this planet Earth.  I appreciate that my being 'broke' is tantamount to being wealthy beyond one's wildest dreams in some places.  That being said, I am living in my little corner of the world and working hard to correct over-spending and bad business decisions we've made and to bring us back, humbly, to a comfortable existence.

I know I recently posted that I am done with self-improvement projects.  This is not one of those.  This is an absolutely necessary path I am taking in order to gain a semblance of security in my life.

It's going to be fun, challenging but will take time, effort and, above all, sobriety.