Silver lining
Okay, so there are some good things about the great termite debacle of 2008:
I saw them. I have termites, but they have done no damage to my house! I have to have the guy come out and treat for them ($1300), but I don’t have to pay for any repairs. What if I hadn’t seen them??
Having an unexpected emergency forced my husband and I took take a hard look at our debt and our short term savings. What we realized was that paying down debt, paying for the deck, AND doing the roof in one year would stretch us too close to the breaking point. It was too much.
Our shingles are in decent shape, so hub is planning to go up and replace any that are missing (thank goodness he is handy!) and we are putting the roof off a year. Thankfully, it is in good enough condition that we had that option. That will allow us to continue paying off debt and increase our short term savings (which had become $0). We’re good with the retirement, but we need to increase our “emergency” fund. Termites are an emergency.
I’ve been stressed and my sleep has been affected so my walking has been spotty. But now that things are resolved, I actually feel much better than I did before the termites! So maybe this taught us a lesson and it was a much cheaper one than it could have been.
Let’s see if I still have that perspective after my son’s trip to the orthodontist this afternoon!
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4 comments:
Your roof should be fine. We put ours off for years. When the shingles start blowing in the wind that's when you really, truly need a new roof.
Orthodontists have payment plans thank God. I have a feeling I will have 3 sets of braces in the house in a few years.
Good to see you have some perspective! I'm glad the termites did no harm. Phew! Good luck with the orthodontist. I found out this week that I 'only' owe mine $900 more dollars and I was happy. Then I realized - $900 more dollars??? Yikes! It's always something!
Oops, that was me - Bren.
It's always something isn't it!
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