I opened it all

[Zoe Girl]

I opened all the envelopes, it has taken a lot including some mental health rediagnoses that I have not talked about, but I did it and I think I can handle everything by the end of January. Emotionally worn out, physically exhausted, and feeling pretty good. Hey finally not a crappy overwhelmed post.

[kally]

these are the medical envelopes? Good for you if that is so. Facing stuff is hard, but not facing it is worse I think.

[Zoe Girl]

Not just medical, the toll road has a few dollars I owe and for some reason my internet bill from a year and a half ago, I opened a new account at my new address but they didn't have me pay that. I did deal a lot the last 6 months to a year with my sons severe anxiety at times so that has made it difficult. But in any case a major step

[RosieTR]

Good for you Zoe Girl! Those random niggling little bills are so annoying when you don't know about them. Glad you had the courage to open all your stuff and really just take a look at it all. How are you feeling now that it's been a few days?

[Zoe Girl]

thank you Rosie,

I have mixed feelings, the major ones are
* proud that I took care of it finally
* embarrassed and not wanting to tell people because it would have been very simple to handle
* okay but frustrated with the additional work I have found I need to do with the home insurance for the foreclosed house and the ongoing student loan deferments ( I can get on a special payment plan for public service workers as soon as I do 2011 taxes, you need 2 years of tax returns and 2 years ago I had alimony so I want to show my real income).

Basically I am very glad that I did this before the new year, it has symbolism for me to handle it and start the year fresh.

[Kat]

Great job, Zoe! I applaud you for taking that first step. You've inspired me to look at my finances and write down my goals for the year. :)

[Zoe Girl]

Today is not the best, I am paying everthing, found out my credit report is so bad that I cannot get a new checking account, had to cancel dental work for my daughter because i cannot pay anything on the bill tomorrow, and foudn out my job may not be secure. So I was very upset when I saw my credit report and in addition to the foreclosure I had late payments, now I am not quite caught up on everything. I set a goal for no more late payment on anything (especially ones that report to the credit agencies) and there is not enough money for it. Kinda makes sense of why this has been so difficult. It is so hard to get ahead of the cycle, I want to move somewhere cheaper and get a better checkign account. The credit union where I wanted the account said with no late anything for 6 months it will come up many points, and already in January I am not able to pay on time.

Okay thanks for letting me vent.

[Valley]

I don't have any magic answers for you...but I do have empathy for what you are going through. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that we really didn't "cause", but never the less the negative results are heaped on us. Hang in there!