Lying Awake at Night Worried about the Bills

I read the comment about tuition not being more than 10 percent. I have to tell you that even that is a lot for families. My husband is a full-time teacher and he loses a lot of money every year that’s being deducted for his CPP. It’s thousands of dollars that we don’t have, but it’s calculated for tuition. Years ago we qualified for a government daycare subsidy, and it was always calculated on the net salary. I thought that was a much more accurate assessment.

I believe that the school that we deal with for tuition  is kind to us because I give countless hours in ‘free’ time to the school in many different ways. However, we pay a little above 10 percent of gross, but that’s way too much for us.

I can’t pay my hydro/water bill even though I’m up all night doing laundry to make sure it’s the cheapest rate…
I barely buy my kids clothes–all hand me downs… or I find amazing clearances. Then I sell the clothes when I’m done.

I price match groceries.
I constantly call our service providers to negotiate better rates.
I watch every penny.
And still we have to dip into our line of credit every month to cover expenses.

We have five kids in a tiny three-bedroom house, and although I’m grateful for everything we have, it’s very stressful for me. I find that I’m often lying awake at night worried about the bills. I also work, but only part time because I have a baby. G-d willing, once she is older, I will find full-time work.

Felt good writing that!

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Read other stories:

• I Cried when I Got Our Electricity Bill
• We Cannot Afford to Buy Red Meat
• We Almost Moved
• We Fight about if We Can Afford to Have Another Child

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We are sharing personal stories about how the affordability issue affects families in our community. We are posting these stories anonymously.

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