Ch-ch-ch-changes...

It’s amazing how much and often I make major changes to my life.  I recently posted about changing my financial goal from buying a house as soon as possible to putting myself on a fast track to paying off all my debt, which are mostly student loans.  Well, now that script is being flipped again!

When I first started this blog I mentioned how a family member I was close to had recently passed away.  It happened unexpectedly and I had to scramble to get back to my hometown at the last minute during a holiday weekend.  I couldn’t get a flight for less than a couple thousand dollars and ended up having to drive for two days each way there and back.  Not to mention the scary motel I had to stay at the first night because the holiday weekend I was traveling over caused a spike in hotel prices and I couldn’t afford anything nicer.  (Although, because of this experience I learned how to bid online for a nice hotel room that was still cheaper than the gross motel room for the return trip.)  Well, during that trip pretty much every family member, including the parent of the deceased, stressed the importance of family and being nearby.  

Just say no...to Hepatitis

 Well, I’ve been stewing on that guilt trip (I’m a super sensitive only child, I take everything to heart!) for about 6 months now.  Then, late last month and early this month, my grandmother started having some health scares.  She has a few medical conditions that are pretty common in elderly people but she doesn’t always take care of herself as well as she should and it ended up with her hospitalized a few times for a possible stroke.  She’s started to have some memory problems that we’re not sure whether or not they are related to her recent exacerbations, just part of aging, or are some warning signs for dementia.  She’s made it clear that she wants to stay in her home as long as possible.  I mentioned that maybe she should move in with me up in the tundra and she has refused.  Actually, she’s refused to even visit to see if she likes it. 

There is family nearby to take care of her but, to be honest, they don’t really have the means.  And I’m not necessarily talking money.  The benefits of my career field typically include very generous PTO with options for longer leaves if needed without putting my position in jeopardy whereas my other family members work in fields where they just don’t get paid if they have to take off work.  However, if I can’t to where she lives quickly in an emergency, those benefits aren’t going to end up doing me a ton of good. 

So after a lot of soul searching, I’ve decided to open myself up to the idea of relocation.  I’ve already had the conversation with my boss that I’m looking and I’m working on training my coworkers to take over bits and pieces of my job after I leave so they can train my replacement.  (Please note:  I don’t necessarily recommend this in all situations.  My boss is super supportive and currently in a similar family situation that we’ve personally discussed before so I knew he wouldn’t walk me out of the building when I broke it to him.)  

I don’t have a definitive date of when I’ll be leaving but my goal date is to have something by March.  I’m pretty torn about it to be honest.  I love my current position.  However, while Minnesota has been very good to me professionally, it hasn’t been great for my personal life.  Not to mention this has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth.  I still won’t miss being frozen for 6 months of the year though.

Actually something I could see here

So, where am I moving?  I’ve basically narrowed my options to mostly the Gulf Coast and a few of its neighboring states.  Basically, I plan on living somewhere that gets hurricanes.  I have a lot of resumes out right now and where I get a position similar in salary and benefits to the one I have now will determine where I end up.  If I was a betting woman I’d say I’ll probably end up at one of the major Texan cities.  While any of places I’m looking at will still put me at under an 8 hour drive to get to my hometown, I’m really hoping for Dallas.  Mostly so I can say that I live in the Big D, visit Southfork Ranch on the regular, and have custom car horn that plays Deep in the Heart of Texas installed.

All I need are shoulder pads

What changes am I making to my financials right now?  Well, I’m back to paying minimums on all my recurrent debt.  Everything else is going into a savings account for moving expenses and any short period that I’m out of a job.  Fortunately, the rental markets in the places I’m looking at are significantly more affordable and less competitive than Minneapolis so I’ll probably actually save some money.  Also, living expenses will be lower as well so that should help ease some of my growing pains and help me re-establish my debt payoff plan fairly quickly. 

Have you ever made a major decision in a relatively quick amount of time?  If so, how did it make you feel?  Until I find a job and get some concrete plans, I’m on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Do you have any suggestions where I should look/not look to live and/or work?  A friend really wants me to move to Austin and it’s just not happening.  Minneapolis has more bicycling hippies than I can handle and Austin is their motherland. 

I Spent $400 and All I Got Was the Wrong Coffee

I’ve been having a rough go of things for the last week or so.  It all started a few weeks back when my landlord asked me if I’d mind helping him with some move-ins/outs for some extra money while he was out of the country.  I’m trying to save money right now of course so I agreed.  I made sure the places were cleaned before the move ins got there, that payment had been received electronically, and saw that all of the little bits and bobs were handled.  Except…the new tenant wasn’t exactly making it easy. 

I think I’m a pretty good judge of character so when information wasn’t correct, he failed to follow through with stuff, and he made it clear he only wanted to speak to me via phone, text, or email and not face to face, I got suspicious.  A half hour of Google skills later I was able to find out that my landlord failed to do a background check on the new guy and he’s a felon.  Plus, the constant herbal smell drifting into my unit would probably have tipped me off that this guy was not someone I wanted to live next to. 

Between the bad smell (to the point where I’ve had to leave or open a window in -20 degree weather or else get sick) and the partying, I haven’t been able to get much sleep.  Last night wasn’t a problem though so maybe my slamming doors whenever I’m ticked and the fact I’ve suddenly taken to playing death metal as loud as possible at 5AM may have influenced the change in behavior. 

On top of that, yesterday morning my car wouldn’t start.  I mean, when it’s consistently as cold as it’s been, I can’t expect my ten year old car to behave perfectly.  Just to be on the safe side I called into work and took it to the shop to have it looked at when it warmed up outside a little that morning.  Turns out, everything needed replaced.  A (really expensive) battery, all the connectors to the battery, and a serpentine belt all needed to get changed out.  Apparently the battery was extremely corrosive and basically fused with the battery cables. 

While they were working on my $375 car repair I slid next door to grab a coffee at Starbucks when I learned that the Chestnut Praline latte has been discontinued (for this year at least).  I know it sounds silly, but after having to take the day off and paying all that money, that was the one thing that I was looking forward to all day!  And it’s gone.  Long gone.

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What’s your light at the end of the tunnel?  Shockingly mine is usually food or drink related.

Have you had sketchy neighbors?  How did you deal with it? A Molotov cocktail would be an overreaction ,right?