September 8, 2016

Greetings My Friend, The discussion was a hard one and the outcome was not what I wanted to do. I handled the bills for 10 years of our marriage, we rarely had any left over credit card debt. My illness made thinking and dealing with the bills a struggle so Junior took over with much trepidation on my part. I talked to God a whole lot asking Him to point Junior in the right direction. He was doing okay, not great and slowly the credit card debt grew. I told him I did not want our power shut off and no late house payments, he complied. Recently we made a few purchases and I noticed that he was at the limit of credit on that card. Once more I began talking about selling the house no matter what in Michigan. We are finally turning a small profit but to me the money from rent is a wash. My thinking is by freeing up the need to make sure the house payment is being made we could use all of the money to pay on our debt. He insists that if the renter wants to rent another year he is willing because we are making a profit. It is a conversation we go back and forth on. Finally he admitted that it was time for me to take over the bills again, tear up the remaining credit cards and step back. He agreed to my anal ways. I know I am anal, I know that due to a struggle in childhood when my Dad had me answer bill collectors phone calls that I am this way. He agreed with me that I could be anal and he would not fuss. When I have cash in hand and the bills are paid I do not mind spending money but unless the bills are in order I am a tightwad. Right away my mind begins sorting out how I want to approach things and then I tell myself I need to quit thinking and start seeing where we stand. Only after I see where we stand can I make a decent plan. I love Junior to pieces and I also know he has his weak areas with money being one of them. Early on in the renovating process I learned that Junior is not organized in his approach, he has always like to collect clutter that takes me to an edge of craziness. God taught me that I would rather deal with these issues than live the life I had come from. When I understood this I relaxed and slowly Junior and I met in the middle. Most of his clutter is not in the living spaces of our home, it is in out buildings and was on the back deck and enclosed porch. He is cleaning out the last 2 areas so he can move cabinets in order to install a floor in the kitchen and dinning room. In the process of moving all the things out Junior has been getting rid of things by throwing things in the trash and donating the better stuff to a thrift store. We have worked through these issues and have found a happy medium and I am sure if I listen to God the bills will reach a point where we both are comfortable. On my own I would be bitter, with God, I will be able to handle the stress better. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet