I knew we were balancing on the financial edge, I just didn’t want to admit how close we were to falling off and into an unrecoverable abyss.  Then in happened.  The tipping point.

It was a simple oversight.  It was caused by my giving responsibility for something that I shouldn’t have, to Guy.  

Over the last year, I had been focused on the home improvements Guy and I wanted to get completed.  That focus had caused me to be a little lenient on how actively I’d been working on my side hustles, and how closely I’d been following our budget.  I will readily admit to “borrowing” from some of the bill paying funds to purchase supplies for some of the rehab work we’re doing, just so our progress didn’t get even more slowed.

We’d been working pretty hard, trying to get the living room finished so that we could entertain our friends in early January, so we thought we could take a quick, inexpensive break for a few days.

The Day It Happened

It was New Year’s Weekend and we had taken a pet sit in a small town just west of Indianapolis.  It was a quick 2 hour drive there, and was scheduled for just 2 days.  

We like to do these quick weekend get aways.  It gives us a break from our day to day routine, and gets us into areas near where we live, that we have never explored.  We do these short pet sits 2-4 times a year.

We’d arrived on New Year’s Eve.  Not long after we arrived, we decided to go to dinner.  We planned to light a fire in the fire pit in the backyard, when we returned.  We simply wanted to bring in the New Year enjoying the playful pups, the lovely crisp night air around the fire, with a good bottle of wine.

The Bad That Can Come Of A Good Habit

When we pet sit, and leave the home to explore, we are very conscientious about securing the home.  We don’t want the pets to escape, and we don’t want anyone else gaining access to the home.    

I diligently, secured all doors and windows, and we walked out the door.  As we were getting into the car, Guy decided that he should change the shirt he was wearing.  I handed him the key to the front door. (I know you can guess where this is going).  He went back inside and changed his shirt, and locked the door behind him as he exited the home.

We left and had a nice dinner at a local restaurant.  As we pulled back into the drive way, I realized that I didn’t have the key to get back into the home.  Guy realized the same thing.

Over the next 2 hours, through multiple calls with the homeowner, and a couple of calls to a locksmith we were finally able to access the home.  Guy found the key on the bed next to his original shirt.

The next day, we found a local hardware store and replaced the front entry lock set.  All told this simple over sight cost us $350.  That doesn’t look like much, but it turned out to be a devastating amount.

Looking Into The Financial Abyss

That loss of $350 was all it took to tip us into the abyss.  When we returned home and I started working on our budget, I realized we had already used our grace periods and loopholes on nearly every bill we had. I was looking at the horrible reality of our credit lines being shut down, our cars being repossessed, our home going into foreclosure. My stomach was in knots.  No matter how much I rearranged the numbers, we just did not have enough income coming in to catch up in time to save us from a financial disaster.  

I had read somewhere that most Americans are just one paycheck away from living on the street.  We were living that reality.

The answer became obvious.  We needed another paycheck.  I had to get a job that gave me a scheduled, consistent, income.  And fast!

Hired

The hiring market being what it was, I was able to land 2 jobs pretty quickly.  I kept them both for about a month, but found that I wasn’t able to get the sleep I needed while working both.  I chose the one I liked the best, and resigned from the other one.

We are now completely caught up on all of our delinquent bills.  We are, also, getting them all paid in the month they are due, but we are still working on getting them all paid on or before the due date.  It’s a process.

11 Financial Rules To Live By

I don’t think it’s possible to live through being so close to financial ruin without learning a few things.  What matters is what is done with that knowledge.  I have used the knowledge to create a few new “11 Financial Rules To Live By”, that seem to be really helping us stay on track.

  1. Don’t “borrow” money from bill paying accounts to purchase anything.  No matter, how good of a sale, or deal, it’s not worth putting the recurring bills off.  The savings are lost in the end.
  2. Check the bank accounts daily, in the AM.  Make sure nothing unexpected hits the accounts. If it does, research and follow up on it, immediately.
  3. Create a list of monthly bills with accurate due dates.  Make sure there is enough money on hand to pay the bill on, or before, it’s due date.  Check off each bill as it is paid.
  4. Re-Create this list each month.
  5. Check credit scores each week.  
  6. Focus on living within the income being earned in the household.  
  7. Pay off debt.  List the debts in order of interest rates, highest to lowest.  If multiple debts have the same interest rate, order them from lowest balance to highest balance.  Then focus on paying off the highest interest rate account with the lowest balance.  
  8. Once a debt is paid off, use the money that was paying it toward the next account with the highest interest rate and the lowest balance. 
  9. When enough debts have been paid off and there is money left over at the end of the week, put it in a savings account.
  10. Save enough money for 6 months of living expenses in an immediately accessible account. 
  11. Focus on paying off all debts, and living on the lowest income earned in the household. 

We are currently on number 8. We’re working hard to reach number 9 within the next 2-3 months.  

What’s Next

Now that I can breathe again, I’m putting more time and effort into my side hustles. My goal is to create enough income from them, that I can leave my current “pay check” job, and still be able to create a financially secure future for ourselves.  I never want to be anywhere near the financial disaster abyss again in my lifetime!

Your Thoughts

Have you ever been forced to look into the financial abyss?  What did you do to pull yourself back from the edge?  I would love to hear what steps you took and what “Financial Rules To Live By” you created for yourself.