Pulling Christmas/life out of a hat: musings

Max's original post quoting Amy Dacyczyn's Tightwad gazette about pulling Christmas out of a hat along with Kim's follow up that maybe in her 20's Ok, but now that she's older she doesn't want to sit on broken furniture making stars out of repurposed grocery bags got me thinking. . .

this past year has been a difficult one on many fronts, for my immediate family, especially financially. I DID pull Christmas out of my hat this past Dec; we had a nice meal at home, fewer gifts were exchanged (homemade, purchased second hand, used CC points to get them, etc). We did have a free to us tree as DS worked at a tree farm (nice perk!), I reused wreaths that I made years ago, I already had cards on hand, and extended relatives got the usual school photos of the kids in them. I worked my magic-It was a nice day. I guess my point is that although circumstances restricted our holiday celebration, but it was a lovely celebration all the same. Would I have preferred not to have had to be so creative/resourceful-sure, it just was what it was. I entered Jan with no credit card debt, either. Goal met.

I knew ahead, however, that that would be our last Christmas together as a family, as I was waiting until after the holidays to file for divorce. It was a long time coming; I have been relieved ever since I made the decision. I am taking control over my life and how I choose to live it. This is not an easy journey, but one that I must take for my kids, as well as for myself.

I am now looking ahead to my new life as a single Mom, with 3 kids at home: another one away at college most of the year, one to commute to a local college from home, 2 entering high school. I will again celebrate Christmas with my kids this year (only 8 months away)just in a new to us domicile, yet to be determined.

STBX and I will be hashing out who takes/keeps what as far as furnishings go. I will need to acquire some new/new to me furnishings. Definately a kitchen set, possibly a futon/pull out couch, some end tables, lamps, etc. I plan on being in a rental for one year, as the dust settles so to speak, my equity from the home is cashed out, then I'll know what I will have towards a down payment on a new place, and I will have time to decide just where that will be, what my priorities are for my next place. Some rentals will mean that I have to furnish my own washer/dryer. Real estate is extremely expensive here, but I've been following the listings and although not easy, one can find a rental for a bit more than I am paying for my mortgage.

As I Spring clean this week while I am home on vacation, I am mindful to note just what I have, what I can reasonably expect to take with me, any gaps. Stuff is getting tossed and other stuff is in a growing donation pile.

I was able to separate out our day to day financials prior to filing,and I continue to keep a watchful eye on expenditures with the expectation of needing to come up with most likely 2 months rent (1 mo plus deposit) as well as having some modest funds for filling any of the aforementioned gaps in the house furnishings department. All this while incurring $$ legal bills, although we are hopeful to move eventually to working with a moderator. For furnishings, I will turn to family and Freecycle first, then second hand shops/tag sales, finally buying new if all else fails. I am used to doing without/making do, so this will not be as painful for me as it may be for someone else.

Just some of my thougths this morning.