An Unwanted Gift

Something was confirmed this morning that has been hinted at the past few weeks, that I will be receiving a not insignificant sum of money in very short order.

My financial plan might seem shaky to some, but it works for me. I continually walk the edge of a precipice, spending money today that I don't have, but which should be there when the bill comes due. Somehow, I'm always right, my faith is always justified, and the money appears. I have a lot of big expenses coming due the next seven months and I had a meticulously laid out plan for dealing with everything. In the back of my mind, I knew the chances were I would be inheriting before the year was through, but I didn't spend with that in mind.

When I first learned that this sum was forthcoming, I couldn't breathe or move, paralysed as I was by all the things I needed to pay and those I wanted to buy. How could I make sense of any of this? Financial advisers have never been much help because I have too few assets and I didn't feel I was ready to turn to one at this stage.

So, I sat down and made a list of all the things I owe or am about to owe, all the purchases I've been putting off, all the things I want, and I made a priority list that I feel covers the essentials and leaves enough for a dream or two, but which will give me a solid enough financial base for the second influx of money to be used solely (or almost) as a house down payment.

I'm grateful that my father who never had a cent in his life worked in circumstances that permitted him to leave His Girls with something on which to build a solid for their lives, but, frankly, I was doing okay treading water and I'd rather have my dad.