#$%#%#@#$&@!

 

I've been watching a YouTube couple with a channel called WealthNation for about a month now.  A lot of the tips they share about saving and investing is not really new.   But I enjoy their back and forth banter in their videos and they seem to really enjoy themselves.   The husband is actually a hottie too.  At least I assume they're married.   It's great when a couple is able to agree on things financially (like obviously WealthNation do) which is sadly not always the case.   Usually one half of the couple is a saver while the other half is a spender.   I think everyone that's read my blog(s) know which half of the equation I fall under in my current coupling.

They do say finances are one of the most important things that couples need to agree on.   It's more important than sex.   In our case the sex obviously went out the window.   So finances is really all we got to work with...*LOL*.  Things were getting a little better as Dom wasn't spending as much on his hobby and at one point, I managed to get the joint savings account to have close to $1000.   But then he started spending again and his multiple doll pre-orders starting withdrawing money from the joint account all at once and our bank (for the joint accounts anyway) started taking money from our savings to cover the overages.   In a matter of months the savings account has dwindled to under $100 and our stupid bank did the most offensive thing to cover Dom's overages.   It took the money that was paid for June's mortgage to cover the overages as well as tack on three separate $35 overdrawn fees.   To add a little more insult to injury, they then tacked a $10 late fee for the mortgage that was paid on time.    Centier is the name of the fucking bank and yes Dom ultimately has accountability in why things got the way it did.   But fuck Centier!

Now we did try to resolve things two years back by having Dom have his own separate account where he could do his hobby and transfer a portion of his paycheck to his personal account so that whatever was left in the joint could be primarily for bills which is what it should've been in the first place.   But then Centier decided to require multi-factor authentication to log into the account which fucked Dom over because he had no clue how to log into the account.   So instead of transferring some money from the joint, he started doing all his hobby stuff on the joint which led to the situation I'm ranting about today.

And of course I'm the one that's left to bail him out.  I guess I made that choice when we got together but sometimes I feel so frustrated.  He just doesn't seem to care.   And then he still talks about spending money on things even in the midst of this happening and it's enough to make me scream.   That's why I'm not feeling great about him doing early retirement potentially.   He claims that he would cut his spending but I don't believe him.   

His hobby has gotten in the way of him paying for other things, like his medical bills and car maintenance.   I'm still pissed about my own medical bills that I had to pay because I didn't have health insurance prior to getting my job (which is another rant for another time...*LOL*).

He has the nerve to get on my case whenever I decide to go to the casino.  I know 99% of the time I wind up "donating" money for them to keep the lights on.   But at least I'm not spending almost my whole paycheck at the casino which is doing for his hobby.

One positive financial thing happened at least this month.   I knocked out one of my two credit card debts.   So now I can focus on knocking the other one down.   It'll be a little harder since I'm using that card to pay my medical debt as well as making various purchases but I'm hoping putting more money into it (basically taking the money I spent to knock down credit card #1 in addition to what I currently pay on my other card) will knock my debt out or at least put a huge dent in it by this time next year at the earliest.

I really wanted to replace a few of the windows this year.   But the thought of getting more debt has delayed that.  Plus it would pretty much fall on me to get it paid for.   I will do it eventually (along with a few other house repairs) but I think I'll table it until next year when hopefully by then I put a nice dent on card #2.   Maybe Blackberry may finally pay off by then too and help me out...*LOL*.  (A brother can dream, right?)

My planned trip to San Diego in October sadly won't help the debt cause either.   But I haven't been on a plane since September 2018.   It'll be nice to take a trip again even with this crazy COVID mess we have to deal with.   So maybe September or October 2023 on the remaining credit card debt being paid off...*LOL*.

I received more sad news last Saturday when Trina texted Tasha and I to let us know that our Dad fell down in the hallway and was being taken to the hospital.    It took almost two days for him to get a room.   Trina and thankfully Tasha have been taking turns visiting him in the hospital.   I was planning to go to Detroit that weekend but wound up not going.

Dad wound up breaking two ribs in the fall.  Unfortunately his dementia has gotten worse and may have played a role in the fall.   Trina was in her bedroom when it happened so she didn't see the cause.    He's going to unfortunately have to go to what they coin a "rehab center" which in reality is a nursing home to heal up.   There's no telling how long he will have to stay there or if he'll even come home.   It may get to the point that Trina and Donovan won't be equipped to take care of him.   It's just sad all around.

I hate to know that Dad is slowly slipping away from us.  I guess it's the cycle of life and one day it'll happen to all of us.   He's lucky that he has three kids that he can fall on.   Who will have my back when my time come?

One of the things my Dad lamented about from time to time over the last decade or so is not believing that's he at the age now where he's considered an old man.   I mean when I think about it, he was 42 when I was born.   That means that when my Dad was my current age, I was only 7 years old.    It's just crazy how life goes by so quickly.

That's why I guess it is good that Dom has his hobby that he enjoys.  I just wish he thought a little more about the future as well (however bleak it may be).  Dom's already said that he wants to die first.   Life of course has no guarantees that it'll work out that way.   So perhaps that's why he's not really that concerned about saving.   At least that's how I'm trying to rationalize in my head.   That's the way the cookie crumbles.