The lease for the place that my mom and I live in right now is up at the end of January and unless she starts paying $900+ a month for a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom townhouse that is not worth even close to that amount a month we’ll be moving. She wants to move back to Kansas, I want to move to Michigan however for the both of us finances is what will keep us from leaving if anything. Of course, with me starting a new job next week (still waiting to hear back about training) I’ll be saving the money I get – the only bills I have are the cable/Internet and then paying a copay for when I get my pills every month. My mom has to figure out the car insurance situation and most likely I’ll be paying that after she figures out, which is only $44/month. I don’t have much to pay and when I can I help my mom etc, and so I should be able to save a good amount of money by the end of the holiday season.

However, that still doesn’t take away the stress that comes with trying to figure things out. Of course, it makes it easier for me because I have Alan and we’ll be making these decisions together but for my mom…the decision to move to Kansas is all on her, she either goes or she doesn’t; I’m not pushing her or forcing her to go, I’m not telling her she should stay or leave, it’s her choice and only her choice just as it is mine to go with her, stay here or move else where. Although she does have a lot weighing on her as far as her moving goes; if she doesn’t move back to Kansas, my brother can’t start school at the community college…why? Because there is no way in hell he’d be able to attend school, work and be able to pay the bills he has from living on his own, so I know that weighs on her a lot because my brother wants to go back to school he can’t unless he has someone to help and my dad/step-mom are the last people who will help him out. She’ll figure it out, just as I will

And then, there is Dillon and my cousin, Brendan (who’s expecting). He wants to move to Columbia which is 2 hours from here and hopes he can get a transfer to Columbia for his job. He wants some place that is fit to raise a child and isn’t as expensive as it is in Charleston – no matter where you live, it’ll always be expensive it’s just a matter of being able to afford what is around you on the income you make. The area we live in is getting fairly pricey but it is no different than other places in the states, it just depends. Columbia, I am sure, has places that are just as expensive to live as Charleston does but I don’t blame him for wanting to get out of Charleston I’ve wanted to get out of here since I moved back! The schools are horrible, the people are rude and disrespectful (well that’s anywhere you go too, lol) and it’s just…ugh! He’s originally from Pennsylvania and I’m sure he would move back if he had the option too, Brendan says she wouldn’t want to move there but then again, she’s never lived any place other than Charleston – I told her she may just like it when she goes to visit his family in January just as I liked it in Plymouth. Dillon wants to buy a house but with buying a house comes buying everything that goes along with it: furniture, decorations, necessities etc. Hell, he just got himself a new car which is costing him $400/month, and while he has a pretty decent job he also has a baby on the way and neither of them are saving up for the things they need for the child!

I know that when I move up to Michigan there will be a lot of things that we’ll both go without for awhile, while we save up for things. Alan has a plan to buy one of those flat panel TVs but I don’t know if he’ll do so before he moves, it all depends on when I come up I suppose because he still has to find a car In the end though buying a house to call your own where you own everything that is inside and can decorate it with the things you love and nice accents like hinkley lighting is something I look forward too…just as I look forward to being out on my own, being with my hubby (Alan) and planning for the future down the road. Stressful but exciting at the same time