Time to Evaluate

My apologies for not posting here for a while.  I've had a family emergency/crisis.  Its been dealt with; all that remains now is to step back, evaluate, and rework the plan with the new situation factored into the equation.

When the call came on Sunday afternoon, I was severely lacking sleep, having just worked a night shift and short-changed myself on sleep in order to be able to sleep the next night so I could make the change over to days by Tuesday.  All the shift workers reading this know exactly what I'm talking about! 

The call turned my world upside down, emotionally and financially.  It required an urgent trip to Quebec to 'retrieve' my 19 year old daughter who suffers from depression and had made an attempt at taking her life.  By Sunday night the severity of the situation had sunk in and I was scrambling to make arrangments to go there and bring her to live with me. 

This is one of the few times that not having a credit card was a real hinderance to me.  I needed to rely on a nephew to book the flight there for me with his card; he offered and I was hesitant to accept the offer.

That was $375.

A niece picked me up in Montreal (thank goodness for family!) and drove me the three hours to Quebec City.  That was $50 for fuel which I will be paying her in mid-October when she visits Manitoba for a wedding.

The day and two nights spent in Quebec City was relatively cheap as I stayed at my daughter's apartment.

Getting from Quebec City to Winnipeg involved the use of my mother's credit card and set me back $900 for myself and my daughter, also to be paid back in October. 

Taking my daughter's gorgeous little puppy on the plane cost another $56, paid with debit card, and dipping into my rent money.

In order to be able to make this trip a possibility I will have to cash in an RSP to repay the family members who so generously offered to help us out. 

There was no option but to make this trip, and I economized in every way I could possibly do so.  We didn't simply book the first available flight, we looked at the two different airlines and looked at different flight times in order to find the cheapest seats for specific dates.  While the tickets we booked were not the absolute cheapest that I've ever seen them, they were the cheapest for the days required. 

My daughter is now living with me.  Since she is 19 she is financially responsible for herself, but will require a few weeks to begin the recovery process and find a job.  In the meantime, she is reliant on me for the essentials, and that includes medication to treat her depression. 

This is one of these times that being broke has caused me a lot of pain, and that pain will be causing a reevaluation of my finances.  

I will keep you posted.