The last 6 weeks of 2019 kicked our butts and the "fun" is continuing well into 2020. Here is a breakdown of events and related expenses:
Nov 18: ebike battery breaks and the company that makes the ebike battery went out of business.
Nov 21: We buy 2 ebikes based on projected family needs, Black Friday discount and 2nd bike discount.. total unplanned expense:
$3250
Dec 1: My car needs an oil change and to check out a weird noise:
$1194.82
Dec 3: My mom goes into ICU in Minneapolis and I buy a one way flight to see her.
$243.30
Dec 5: I buy another one way flight home:
$243.30
Dec 6: Pay for hotel:
$276.63
Dec 13: We find out we really screwed up on our 2018 taxes and owe
$6200 for taxes and extra time from our CPA to fix our mistake
Dec 22: Mom is dying and I buy first available flight (1st class ticket):
$808.99
Dec 23: I fly home the next day:
$150.30
Dec 29: My tenants let me know they broke the oven:
$688.80
Dec 30: My mom's estate pays for our some family travel for services but we pay for the rental car:
$340
Dec 31: And we pay for one of the rooms:
$117.68
Dec 31: And we pay for parking:
$63.89
Dec 31: And meals and incidentals:
$250
Total unplanned purchases: $13,827.71
Some notes:
1) I had planned from mid-2019 to put in all, but $15,000 of our liquid emergency fund into the mortgage (we have a CD that matures in 2021). I went ahead and did that on the Dec 11th and it was two days later that we got the IRS letter informing us of our mistake.
I think this was the real blow of the season.
2) If we hadn't have had a healthy paycheck coming in we would have nearly depleted our emergency savings within a few short weeks.
3) I plan to pay off our mortgage on Black Friday using stock awards and savings from paychecks, but the last month has made me anxious and depressed and I've had to cut back at work by 50%.
4) My kid is really great at soccer and likely to place in a more competitive team this spring. More out-of-state tournaments
5) My father-in-law was going to give us $100k in March, but he went into the hospital last week and is now in a precarious medical situation and I think could very well pass away from it.
6) My other kid wants to drive and take college classes
Many of you know that we've been on an up and up trajectory for quite some time. We were always more conservative and cautious than average, but to be honest I got used to life being rather linear and upwards. We have identified that the holidays/winter season influenced the situations with both our parents.. in my mom's case it worsened her mental health issues (the holidays were always a little challenging for my parents) and my father-in-law got sick from eating different foods during holiday vacations. I don't know why or how this makes any difference, but for whatever reason I find it interesting.
In our situation I've been debating how much we need to pull back on our 2020 plans. I keep changing the goal post of paying off our mortgage this year or even abandoning the goal altogether. My husband, who last year was ardent in paying down the mortgage, is now apathetic. He's comfortable with the current balance and pursuing the mortgage payoff isn't a high priority. In addition he's comfortable if I cut back on my hours AND we increase our travel for pleasure and to see family members during school breaks.
It's a very stressful time with a lot of unknowns. The implications of my mom's passing will eventually hit us (probably beneficially). We don't know what will happen with his father. We currently built up our cash liquidity back to $15,000 (because we stopped the mortgage principal contributions for December and January), but because of what just went down, $15,000 no longer feels safe.
So in the end.. I have no personal finance goals for 2020 and I will only set the personal goal of continuing my frugal lifestyle to the best of my ability and riding through our situation with mindfulness and dignity.
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)
) and not spending money on dumb stuff.
