Suddenly Having Money

I did it, I finally sold my house. It had been a 5-to-6 year process. I was supposed have sold it back in 2015 as part of the ( legal) process of getting my Dad into a nursing home. I'm not going to go into the detail as my memory fails me for detail, and most things these days and it was a long, very involved legal and financial process, a veritable pain-in-the-ass. All I know is that my fathers income I was using to pay the bills was gone, since I was very underemployed staying at home and caring for him and eventually he needed 24 hour care. I tried to find work in the niche I wanted to work in, part-time health care and/or clerical positions. I wasnt very sucessful as all these positions, most I sought through temporary hiring agencies and the positions they provided were full-time.

Then came the driving and food order apps, (I guess the reasons why unemployment was low , prePandmic!). I started with Postmates, I remember being nervous as all Hell but I took my Dads 2007 Honda Accord and went about earning some income. Again, my memory is fading to me as to other part-time gigs I had, at the time, I may have done some babysitting for a friend, pretty sure I did. I also signed up to do Dorrdash, drive and drive for Lyft but the latter didnt last long after I got into an accident ...with four passengers in my car.. Luckily I was not at fault. I cant recall exactly why I stopped driving for Lyft even after the car was repaired but it was pushing 10 years old and was starting to fail .

During this period of time the plan had been for my sister to move in with me to help with bills and so she could get out of an unfavorable lving situation she was in, have more access to things she needed access to since she didnt drive. It took a few more years for that to happen. I had finally acquired one of my dream jobs, walking dogs per my love, if not obssesion with them I was also driving for Ubereats but it very hard to find motivation to do this , daily. I had tired of these driving jobs and so had the car. I constantly ran into problems with it, dying on me while driving Lyft, brake problems, gear problems and they were fixes I never had money for. I borrowed left-and-right, did GoFundMe, my sister dug me out of multiple financial holes.

I eventually lost my dogwalking job and the first oart of the Pandemic, like many didnt work at all. Thank goodness for unemployment, stimulus checks, PPP loans so for part of the debacle I was able to stay afloat, flourish at times.

Soon all the money was gone and I was unable to pay any of the utilities, cable, cell phone. I lost my cable and went for a cheaper streaming option, actually went through a few of those. I still couldnt maintain those bills. Then I didnt have money to even fill my tank to drive Ubereats. i My life arrived at a true low, often depressed, full of anxiety about what Id do for income. I was constantly applying for dogwalking gigs, to work for other pet care outfits but they werent coming to fruition for some reason. I needed to sell my house.

My sister had finally moved in but wasnt very happy about completely taking over some of the bills and helping me out with my many emergency financial situations. One day I ran into a relative who had been living abroad and I didnt know was back in town. I hadnt seen, spoken to him in years. He said he could help me sell the house and help with expenses that would just be taken out of the sale of the house. I waited and waited and went back-and-forth with him regarding getting things going but it wasnt to happen. I had been dreaming of the day I would have all my bills paid off, reimburse those who had supported me but it wasnt happening. '

Meanwhile , my car, now 13 years old was failing me. Over the summer it kept overheating and I learned it wouldnt if I didnt use the air conditioning. We had some brutally hot weather over the summer and Im one of those people whos overweight and sweats profusely. It was a tough summer, especially not being able to go the places I like to go in the summertime per the condition of the car and lack of finances. It was emitting fumes, the suspension was out, among a myriad of other things.

I finally contacted a real estate agent who was related to the family who lived next door to us. Needless to say she had just sold their house, the house on the other side of us had sold, and the house two houses down was on the market. It was our turn.

I havent mentioned that his was the house my Dad grew up in. I had been through a lot in that house, turmoil caring for my Dad and then all the financial issues. It still had many treasured items my grandparents and my Dad held onto. Just to start, my Dad had a large file cabinet where he'd the birth and death certificates, a receipt for $25000 when my Dad had sold our house in Bedford, Ma back in 1970, a lot of our school records, grades, diplomas, paperwork from my Moms career as a nurse, my Dad and Uncles army discharge forms.. the list goes on. There was even more up in the attic I didnt know was there. I had a lot of old clothing and other items that had been up there for the 20 years I lived there but the right and left corners of one of the attic rooms held my Grandparents possessions. I found I box of China, some clothing , more letters, music and church programs ( my grandmother was a musician and played organ and directed the choir at a local church). The opposite corner held my Grandfathers old books, records, framed photos that were probably a good 200 years old. We didnt know who was in any these photos.

The house sold in a matter of a week. Had I had the funds to do the necessary work and upgrades it needed I couldve gotten a lot more for it but the amount I received was more money than I had ever had I dreamed of having a new car for quite awhile and the Accord was really on its last leg and an embarassment to drive since Id been in an accident over the summer which left the front bumper hanging and I had taped it up. I didnt have the money to pay the deductible and get it fixed. I hated driving it and the looks I got from other drivers, much less any of my friends seeing it. Once we were finally out of the house , had all the junk cleaned out and i had my check it was time to pay up.. and get a new car, once and for all.

I had been online shopping for one for months and had an idea of what I wanted, kept going back and forth , finally went into a dealer and bought the 1st one I test drove, paid cashIts not exactly what I wanted pretty much per the interior and exterior colors but ..it is what I wanted. Its a pretty, cute, sporty 2019 Honda CRV. My Dad who we lost in 2019 would be happy I bought another Honda.

The bills got paid, too, thought we were nearly 100k down from what O received from the house per debt owed. We are now living in a beautiful rental condo in Newton, Ma with lovely wood frame doors, stained windows, brand new appliances. This is quite a step up from the family home we left in Allston, Ma which was run down and a Boston neighborhood which also has a similar reputation being repleat with college students and rats and streets are fille dwith filth. It really wasnt all bad though, we were lucky to bein a location that was extremely convenient per public transportation and driving. My neighborhood was right at the edge of Allston, right before the Charles River and Cambridge. Harvard University, had, in fact encroached on and bought and built there, hence had ;brought the neighborhood up a bit. Theres a great Boston Public Library branch walking distance from my old house and a beautiful little park was constructed behind it as well as another park being refurbished around the corner ..and upscale apartment complex ( well, theyre everywhere) with a Trader Joes.

But I have really moved up in the World. I was someone who had absoltely nothing to my name a few short months ago and envied those who had cars that didnt look like they were going to fall apart as the drove, lived in nice homes, friends on Facebook who took vacations, even went out to eat, went to concerts, took road trips in the Summertime.. A lot of this was lost per the Pandemic but so was a lot of my life per the money I didnt have.

I honestly didnt think this would happen, I would FINALLY sell my house and come into some money, have a nice car and home, not worry about paying bills so . Its a dream I never thought would come true. I think about people in a similar situation, people who win money or some once famous musicians who blew it all way and ended up in horrible debt.

I still worry and stress that Im not employed and Im living off of what I made from the house and the plan is to buy a home once our lease is up. The cost of living is extremely high, here and there isnt much left to buy what I want ,where I want, my real dream home. Im afraid of having to 'downgrade' again into a less nice neighborhood. I dont want to be back there, again