Rent increase and worries

We had a visit from our landlord today for a quick inspection before we renewed our contract for the next 12 months. I was not totally surprised when she told me about the increase of rent to $15 more per week, but of course it was not a welcome expense given that I'm only on maternity subsidy in addition to J's salary.

I tend to worry about money when I think ahead. I want us to have our own home but would like to pay off all of our debts first. I can't help to think about the amount of rent we pay that could be part of a mortgage payment. Then again we don't have enough savings for a deposit either. We'd like to pay more than the minimum (5%) to get more equity and pay less interest. There's still the student loan that we need to tackle, but having a child is not cheap nowadays. I'm living it all each day and I don't want to quantify the expenses of child rearing in, say, 3 years. I feel bad as a mother and guilty of such thoughts.

In the last 2 weeks, we have dipped into overdraft again. We bounced back this week but it worries me that in less than 4 months we'll be paying daycare, which is another $800 a month, and that's the cheapest estimate I know. This must really be parenthood - worrying, budgeting, being poor :) I hereby welcome myself to it.

Despite all the worrying J and I are still checking out the property market online. We are keen about it cooling down. By middle of this year we will be checking how much we could be loaned for. All our 2008 goals - getting rid of debts as shown in the column on the right - are still realistic I believe. I hope to get a raise by middle of this year as well. Who knows, maybe I'll apply for that job that would allow me to work from home.

I just really want to vent right now.