Changes

So Mama Bean and I are thinking about making some changes in the next coming while. Some pretty major changes, actually.

Like moving, and not just across the street, but to another city. Another province. We have determined that we are living beyond our means. Calgary is just too expensive and we have too much debt. We live a pretty good life here; materially anyway. We own our house, we have a 2 year old car completely paid off, a brand new car that we're making payments on, a 42" TV with sound system, a piano, a couple of basses and bass gear, a king size bed, etc... Now granted all(most) of those things came before the debt, and were partially as a result of the wedding and its related gifts, and the sale of my condo and the profits from such.

So we are sitting at about $140k in debt between Jo's massive student loans, my remaining student loan, and the car. Payments are going to start being $1800/mo for Jo's loans, on top of the car payments, mortgage, my loan, and life.

We both work 2 jobs, with all of our extra income going directly to paying off the loans, but it still doesn't feel as though we are getting anywhere. We rarely get to see each other, and when we do we are exhausted. I've grown to really enjoy the evening or two a week we get together, but less than a year into our marriage that really isn't enough. We both work Tues through Saturday at our day jobs, with Mama Bean working Tuesday evenings and Saturday afternoons after her regular job. We both work Sunday afternoons/evenings and Monday's at our second jobs. Music practice is Wednesday evenings, Care group Thursday evenings. Friday's are our evenings together, sometimes, because we do still have friends that need seeing and we want to see. Mama Bean works Saturday and Sunday nights, so I usually get some cleaning done and stuff done around the house, but mostly wish I was with her.

Moving will allow us to sell our house for a profit, and that along with the 25% down will be enough to pay off most of our debt, leaving enough for a down payment on a house. We are considering Saskatoon or Winnipeg. We also really like Regina, but with all the debt out of the way it will also allow me to go back to school and become a pastor! I'm so excited about that. Along with the fact that I've been itching to move for awhile now (you can thank the nomadic blood from my dad). Housing is so much cheaper. We could get a place comparable to ours for less than $250k, while selling out house here for more than $350k.

It is a huge undertaking though. There is a lot to consider. But the thought of not having this huge looming debt resting on our shoulders is such a wonderful thing.