Our lease is up end of March, so I've been trying to find another place to rent. I have high hopes but little faith in the industry I have chosen, so I can't risk buying a house at this point in time. So we will rent yet again.

Having a roof over one's head is easily, and by far, the largest contributor towards our high cost of living. (We spend in excess of $4000 each month). It's very difficult to lower it, as I have been trying to do for a while now. If we could somehow get rid of our two dogs, 1 of the vehicles, cancel the cable and lower our cell phone plan, and then find a cheap (<1400) apartment or condo we'd probably be better off. But I cannot seem to do any of that.

The dogs are our responsibility.. I knew getting them was a bad idea, and I said so at the time of adoption, and I've complained about them ever since.. But I cannot seem to give them up. They are a part of the family now. I was strong enough to say NO when we got them, but not enough to enforce it. Besides, legally I'd have to return them to the shelters... one in Texas and one in Cali, and that's certainly not worth the drive. I tried Pet Finder up in Boston and came very close to giving away Sebastian. I'm pretty sure I blogged about that though.

I can't risk only having one vehicle. If it breaks, we're screwed. And even though Violet drives hers fairly infrequently, its almost worth keeping it until its paid off, which should be sometime this year. Mine isn't worth selling.. I owe more than its resale value is, so I'm stuck with it. Which sucks because the fuel level thingy broke, so I have no idea how much fuel remains. I just refill every 250 miles or so now.

We need internet access, for Violet's job.. that's a need. TV, not needed, but stupid Comcast package deals are such that we wouldn't be saving much by canceling it. Same for our cell phones. We tried eating from home, but I don't think that works. Our grocery bills are 80-150 bucks.. much higher than going out every night.

Sure the kid isn't cheap, but I knew that a long time ago, and the little guy is worth it. Have you SEEN his pics on Violet's blog? D'oh, he needs me right now, so that's gonna cut this blog short. I was gonna ramble about figuring out ways to earn more money since I can't seem to reduce my outgoing expenditures, like canceling my 401K and making my # of W-2 deductions really high. But I'm not gonna do either. For now.