Whew! what a relief...my husband I can can officially say this month that were are out of credit card debt!!! (yay!!! times a thousand!). We still have a loan to a relative we are paying off but this, being a direct withdrawal, will be over in August as well : )
Prior to the last couple years I was never one to rack up any credit card debt. I was the "envelope" girl. I would put something on my credit card and then put the money to pay it off in an envelope...and then at the end of the month I would pay it off...in full of course! Yeah, until REAL life came knocking! lol!
Graduate school time came. Fred and I were living together and I was highly encouraged NOT to work during this time by the school. Well, of course looking back on it I COULD have worked and SHOULD have worked...but I took the guidance of the school and put all of my energy into my coursework. It paid off in most respects. I kept a 3.96 GPA, I got a 12 credit per semester scholarship for the entire four semesters of my program, and I believe being a good student was what landed me the job I currently possess at the school. But, not working for two years did come at a price.
My husband (fiance at the time) makes a moderate living -average for the area we were living in. However, as most families know these days one income is not usually enough to support two or more people. And in this case it came close, but we ended up using the credit card for groceries for almost two years. Yikes, I know. But, no big deal, we thought. I'll graduate and get a high paying job soon after and we'll be fine. Again...until reality struck!
The very month of graduation my husband and I went on our long awaited honeymoon to Greece. A trip we had saved and budgeted for, for a year and a half. We did NOT put this trip on our credit cards. We had enough saved to pay of the trip in its entirety...or so we thought... Six days into our trip I came down with a DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis). Now, a clotting condition runs in my family but I was told prior to leaving for this trip that I tested NEGATIVE for this clotting disorder. The lab results were read wrong. While we did purchase trip insurance it was only enough to cover MY expenses in Greece for an extra 12 days, not my husbands. And, at a time like that, you certainly do not want to leave your loved one half way around the world, sick and alone. So, screw credit card debt. He stayed with me and it cost us.
At the time the Euro/ US dollar exchange was $1.50. So, for every dollar my loving husband spent to stay with me, we ended up paying a dollar and a half. When we returned we found ourselves deep in a type of debt I had never known before and with jobs scarce (I did not obtain full time employment until fourteen months post graduation, EVEN with my stellar grades and resume...it just didn't matter. This was Michigan and we're in a recession) we were in pretty deep. I would sob on my way into work while the creditors called my cell phone telling me what a horrible human being I was and how irresponsible I was. I now understood why people do such drastic things to get out of debt. It feels HORRIBLE. It feels like a bull standing on your chest that you feel responsible for putting there yet know that was not your intention at all. Did we rack up debt buying things we couldn't afford? Not really.
Sure, we should have not taken a trip to Greece and instead used that money to supplement our income. But at the time we made these choices it was before the bottom fell out in the economy. MANY people made choices thinking things would stay the way they were...but they were wrong and so were we. Did we go to Greece expecting to rack up thousands in debt because of a massive medical condition? Certainly not! I was told I did not have a clotting disorder before leaving. That mistake costs us thousands...triple the debt we had leaving for Greece...now was that our fault? No.
Now that we are on the other side we have set ourselves on a strict budget. And that is much easier to do now that our income has more than doubled. We spend less than we make and we're careful about our choices. We have not been on a real vacation since Greece and I don't know when we'll be able to take one. We take short trips in our state and save our money...because we are being responsible. What this lesson has taught me is that debt and bankruptcy and mismanagement of money is not always because people are irresponsible or buy things they can't afford. Sometimes people make calculated decisions and take calculated risks (like the risk to have another baby, or go back to school, or stop working to be a stay at home mom or dad) and sometimes it just doesn't work out. And sometimes your life doesn't go as planned.
Sometimes both people lose their jobs and can't get new ones for a year or longer...sometimes people get sick and can't work...but will your mortgage company or credit card companies care? Not one bit. All you can hope is if or when this happens you have been fortunate enough to be working long enough, and making enough, to have savings to fall back on. If you're in that position, you are better off than most and you should count your lucky stars. I think this is part of the reason my husband and I do not take our jobs for granted for one second. We may complain about being busy or having a rough week but we are so LUCKY to have decent paying, somewhat secure jobs in this economy. I will NEVER take that for granted. Because knowing the alternative is sometimes the only thing that makes you truly appreciate what you have.
Next, it was time to explore the apple orchard. He loved it! He found a trusty stick (and a trusty side-kick as you can see) and enjoyed whacking the apples (that were already on the ground) with his stick!! such a boy!!
And Sunday morning, when our weekend was almost over we awoke to a very happy little guy- so I decided to get some pictures of him in is Halloween costume. Is he not the cutest, happiest little man?!?! L.O.V.E. !!!
Mr.Chicken also explored the woods for the first time.
After lunch we decided it was Dune time!
Then it was on to our first "official" destination, Ludington. The major draw to this area was the small town feel and the Ludington State Park- voted the Best State Park in the mid-west....and I can totally see why!
The lighthouse in Ludinton- a 1/2 mile down the pier off of Ludington Beach.
Ludington State Park- where we hiked and fished and enjoyed the outdoors. It was a very, very foggy day and a bit colder than we would have liked- but we made the most of it and had a good time.
Fred fishing in Hamlin Lake
Then it was off to Traverse City, but we took our time and stopped in Manistee on the way up- here Fred and I are on the Manistee River.
Stopping at another state park on our way up to have another picnic lunch - while we looked out at Lake Michigan.
Our first night in Traverse City we took in the sunset and a hot air balloon show on West Grand Traverse Bay.
The next day we explored the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive which gave us some amazing views of Sleeping Bear Dunes, Lake Michigan and the surrounding forest area.
the most beautiful views of Lake Michigan....
we loved the forest and interesting trees....
We spent the second night in Traverse City on Old Mission Peninsula's Harbor Bay enjoying a beautiful, yet cloudy, sunset.
Our third day in Traverse City we explored more of the Old Mission and Leelanau Peninsulas- above is Fred getting friendly near a 200 year old tree in Northport, Leelanau 
Standing at the 45th parallel (half way between the equator and north pole)...there signs about it everywhere but I was like "yeah, and?!?!" lol!
I love my hubby. He is such an amazing man- he made sure all of us had so much fun and he took care of most everything. He is so good with Chicken, I hope one day I get to see him with his own little man...or little lady. He would be such an amazing father.