Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Challenges

We had a baby on the 10th. It's our first and we are very excited! But sometimes it's just plain hard. He cries sometimes and I don't know why. He just ate, his diaper is clean, and he should be content. But he cries nonetheless and I can't seem I fix it. It's overwhelming at times. I want him to be happy but he's not. Jon worries about me. I don't always get enough sleep. There was a week when I slept in the chair or on the couch with baby Benjamin just so we could both get some sleep. Now we seem to have a routine for sleep but still there are days when it's not enough. Jon tries to make sure I get sleep but I hear Ben cry and I'm wide awake. Plus I'm constantly trying to make sure Jon gets enough sleep. After all, he has work to go to while I can sleep during the day when Ben naps. Overall I would say it's so great to have a baby but there are times it's hard and tiring.

Jon and I have also been trying to work Dave Ramsey's plan for financial freedom. Right now out focus is on getting about $10,000 saved to cover medical costs for HSA. We decided that was the route we wanted to go with for Ben. The $10k is what we would pay out of pocket before the insurance covers 100%. I am a little nervous something will happen and we will need more but I'm praying for a healthy baby. After we get that saved we will start Baby Step 2 which involves paying off our debts. We have about $72k in student loans. With Jon's new job we should be able to put about $2,500 a month towards the debt which means a payoff of about 2 to 2.5 years. Jon plans on working all 3 of his jobs to do this. One job is full-time at CBS. Then he will work from about 11 pm to 3 am at UPS. The last job is at Diamond Parking and would just be on the weekends. He wants to work all 3 so we can really make a dent in our debt. My concern is when will we have time together. I'm worried our marriage will suffer. We are hoping it will only take 2 years especially if I can find a better paying job. It'll be a 2 year struggle but we are willing to try it in order to change our lives. But I'm concerned about the impact on us. I knows it's only temporary but it will still be hard.