Uncle Theo's 180

Sept 14

I told Uncle Theo today that I lost my  job. He offered me his place and said I have a place until I get myself on my feet. I just looked at him. 

Did he realize that just 3.5 months ago he raised the rent on me, wanted to charge me by the day to keep my dog, and told me that he felt I was taking advantage of him? Then he added that he used to think I was just holding back money. Sasha thinks he's had some time to rethink things and now he's having a change of heart. 

I told him I started my emergency fund and paid off all small bills in October. Maybe later, I’ll tell him when I’ve paid off credit cards and about the work being done on my parents' house down South.  I’ll have to tell him that I made tremendous sacrifices to pay off on bills and maybe tell him that I didn’t have to pay Jasmine rent (which would be true). 

I shared with him about Dave Ramsey’s teachings. He said he was in crisis mode because of two bills that have come up, but that’s not crisis mode. Those are ongoing things that he knew were on the back burner. I asked if he had a budget. He thought about it (which means no), then said, "Yes, the bills that they send me." So, he doesn’t know what a budget is and what crisis mode is (or a real emergency). I want to lend him and Aunt Theo Dave Ramsey’s CDs and encourage them to listen to them. 

My coworkers are probably more stressed about the lay-offs and reductions in hours than me. People have mortgages and rent. I don’t. People have car notes. I don’t. People don’t have savings in the bank. I didn’t either 4 months ago. Even though I’m living in my car, and that’s a gigantic trade-off, I know that in January, I will still pay my bills and eat. Nothing much will change. Even with unemployment, I may have enough to pay bills and eat, especially with the second job and Asana’s rent

I know that when people seem to be ok, that’s not always the truth. We tend to live up to the amount of money we earn. Even when we earn nice money, we tend to spend more. So, many coworkers probably live on every penny that they and their spouses bring in and can't handle a reduction.

I went ahead and called credit card companies, and one of them won’t charge late fees for 3 months. The other said I can’t skip payments, but offered to lower my interest rate to 13%, then they realized, it’s already 13%! Then the lady on the phone asked “Is there anything else we can do for you?” Yeah, allow me to skip payments! 

I will put student loan on deferment for 6 more months. I will live on the back pay owed me. That should last 2 months, and I will file unemployment.