Raising the Dead

There are so many cliches to describe the phenomenon.  "A blessing in disguise".  "Every cloud has a silver lining".  "It is darkest before the dawn".  It's just that this hopeful concept is so hard to remember when you are cowering in the scary part of the dark before the dawn.  I'm a firm believer in the "larger plan" but I often live deeply rooted in the terror of today's narrow perspective.

I've said often to my daughter, Tessa, when she finds herself in difficult circumstances. "What are you supposed to learn?  Now she says it to me, "Ok, Mom.  What are you supposed to learn?".  Ugh.  You're ruining my pity party, kid!  But she's right (and so was I when I was in the prettier shoes). 

What I've just learned from my recent experience of being "fired" from the realty is that I probably should have shopped around a little more before I chose a realty in the first place.  Or maybe it's just that I was supposed to have trusted the process and had faith that something better would come along for me.  Still, the free-fall is scary and painful and it's hard to have faith and trust as you fly downward and watch things go by on the decent.

Yesterday I met with another realty.  They have better support, better structure, better supervision, better perks, and, essentially, if I choose to join up with them, I get a raise.  Yes, I thought I got fired but, instead, I seem to be getting a raise! 

They pay a starting commission of 70% (that's a 70/30 split with the realty on the buyer or seller agent portion of the total 6% commission on any given transaction, to be specific, if you care).  I was at a 52% rate before. 

Granted, the new realty charges a $78 monthly fee but that is easily compensated for.  $78 a month adds up to $936 a year.  The difference between a 52% commission and a 70% commission on the sale of just one $175,000 sale (the average sale price around here) as the buyer's agent (the buyer's realty gets 2.7% of the total 6% commission on a sale while the seller's realty gets 3.3%) is $945.  An entire year's fees could be covered by just one sale.

Another compensating factor is that realtors with this particular realty can get a 25% discount on their AT&T phone bills.  That would amount to saving $87.50 per month for me -- $9.50 more than the $78 fee.  Either way, it it makes the fee tolerable. 

I haven't decided for sure that I'm going to join up with this realty or even if I'm going to continue in real estate.  I'm pretty sure I will because real estate is something I really want to pursue, it has the potential to pay periodic four-figure commissions what are far more desireable than the dead-end $10-$12 an hour I can make elsewhere, and, as I've said previously, the decision to quit or stay in real estate will be made by ME, not by my former broker. 

A week ago, my real estate career seemed dead.  Now I've essentially gotten a raise, or at least the potential of a raise.  Within a month or two I'm hoping to have the $600 that I need to reinstate my license and pay for everything I need to go back to real estate with this new company. 

My suspicion that I was supposed to be in real estate somewhere else is probably going to turn out to be correct.  I feel as if I have been plucked out of one situation and am about to be plopped down into a better one -- kind of like when you pick up a bug and move it to a safer location for its own good.  The bug doesn't know you're trying to do it a favor by moving it from here to there.  It has to go through the fear of being picked up and not knowing what's going to happen next.  I'm always happy for the bug when it figures out that it's been done a favor.  I guess I'm the bug at the moment.  I am very grateful for the favor.

Stress In A Basket

I've been reading Sarah Ban Breathnach's Peace and Plenty: Finding Your Path to Financial Security.  As you probably remember.  She walks the reader through the steps of dealing with our difficult financial situations as she walks through her own after things didn't go so well with the millions of dollars she earned from her best-seller, Simple Abundance.



In one chapter, she says to gather up you bills into one place from the pile on the kitchen counter or the bag in the closet or wherever they're stashed.  "You are going to collect every bill sent your way and bring them all to the party," she says.  Check.  I have the pile on the counter, the stack in the bench seat, and big basket lurking near my bed for the ready accessibility and convenience of my nightmares.  I know I need to sort through them and throw away the many duplicates.  That will wrangle them all into the one basket.  But I know what's there.  I don't need to open them.  The figures have each worn their own deep path into my brain. 

Not pretty.  I considered going back and taking a prettier picture.  But why?

Then, she says, put the bills into three piles:  Current Bills, Past Due 30-60 Days, and Old Debts.
I have basically two piles:  Bills I Need To Pay This Month (or something will be turned off) and Old Debts. 

Next, she says "Once you have budgeted for the essentials -- food, clothing, shelter, child care, savings, transportation, and insurance -- you will have a good idea of how much money you can put toward debt reduction.  This become the pot of money you dip into to pay the rest of your bills."

SAVINGS?  INSURANCE?  Clearly, Miss Sarah does not understand my situation.  Savings is that thing I'll have someday after my debts are paid.  As for insurance, I have done without health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, auto insurance, and property insurance for a very long time.  Oh, and that AFLAC policy I'd love to have too (Quack!).  Recently, I was able to get auto insurance again through Mark's business fleet policy.  That provides much relief as the first thing I did when my auto insurance expired last February was back into a car.  That is one of the bills I am now paying on monthly ($50 a month on $1800). 

Next she says "If there is a particular debt that bothers you, then take 1 to 10 percent of the pot and make an honor payment toward the balance owed."  Right.  The only way I would have extra money to put in the "pot" to pay debts with would be if I went without basic utilities, food, or the fuel that gets me to work.  "Ok kids!  Let's not eat this month so we can pay off some bills!"  Sure. 

But then, I must remember Sarah's perspective.  When her financial troubles descended, she had to move out of her castle.