Another obstacle or a blessing in disguise?

I learned (unofficially, by snooping, but I will be informed formally in a few weeks) that my current full time job of 8 years is being cut back to part time.  I will lose 50% of my hours and pay, and the boss will suggest I work from home instead of the office.

Obstacle because whatever $$ I have saved up to fix the house to put on the market may need to be used towards paying bills if I can't come up with supplemental income.

Blessing because I started a business a few years ago which I have really not pursued because of time constraints (www.AZAdminSolutions.com).  My best case scenario when we sold and bought the RV was that I would not really quit my job but offer my services as a client to my boss.  By cutting my hours back, it (1) gives me the time I need to move full steam ahead with my business and (2) prove that I can do the work from anywhere there's an internet connection.

I guess time will tell.....

Another baby step finished!

Kitchen cabinets look shiny and new!  Downstairs large room is now an official bedroom with a closet (we just need to add the hardware inside).

We have the money set aside for the upstairs bedrooms now; it's now a matter of finding the time to clean out the rooms so the contractor can easily work around the furniture.  I wish I wasn't so darn tired when I get home from work.  In theory, we can get this done much faster if I did this after coming home, making and cleaning up after dinner and before bed.  For now, we've been leaving all the work for a Sunday (observe the Sabbath on Saturday, so can't work then).

Motivate... motivate... motivate....

Another step forward!

Contractor comes tomorrow and will be doing a bunch of work.  We have the money now to put the flooring down in the bedrooms - it's proving to be a bigger challenge cleaning out the rooms!!!  But there's still plenty of work for him to do.

We're trying really, really hard to make it a goal to put the house on the market by this spring.  I know, we've been saying that since we started the blog 3 years ago.. but it's still the PLAN, not the DREAM! 

A little movement

More baby steps, but moving forward.

The money was stashed away into a savings account where I will not be using it for anything other than the contractor.  I have already commissioned him to start work in late Oct./early Nov. as I am waiting for my son to return home so he can help clean out and move a lot of stuff in the upstairs bedrooms.  Next projects will be the floors and painting of the upstairs bedrooms.

Today we worked in the garage (yet again!!!).  My office is closed the week between Xmas and New Year's, so once again we will rent a dumpster; this year with the goal of throwing as much as possible away (and selling or giving away everything else).  Surprisingly, Mitch was even willing to get rid of stuff I predicted he would insist on keeping! Perhaps he's also starting to see the dream getting closer!

Ready for next project?

Dare I be hopeful???  A large pay check which we've been waiting for has finally caught up with us, so we have some funds to undertake another major project (either installing the flooring and painting in the 3 remaining bedrooms or renovating the kitchen).

Will the car break down  or there be another medical emergency before the contractor is hired??

Keeping fingers, toes and all remaining limbs and organs crossed!

Bummer - yet another setback

Another financial setback.  Just needed an emergency appendectomy.  Already I've been billed about $2500 just for the blood work, CT Scan & Xray and doctor to read the results.  I've yet to be billed for the hospital stay, surgeon and anesthesiologist.  Figure that'll be another $5K at least.  So whatever funds dribble through towards the house need to go towards yet more medical bills.

I know... be grateful they diagnosed it on time and that I'm alive and recovering.  but still... This is so damn aggravating!

Good news for a change

A signficant amount of the work we've been planning on since January has BEEN COMPLETED!!!  There's new flooring in the downstairs rooms, fresh paint, and even the steps were resanded and stained.

Unfortunately, I am still looking at the glass half empty -- I'm seeing all the things that still need to get done rather than how far we've come.  It's been about 3 years since we made this plan :(  But I suppose this work really does put us much further along in the process.

If only we'd win the lottery....