So I've decided what to do about my recent stickiness:

1) Staying in my house. It's going to be a bit scary...this neighborhood isn't the greatest. When my ex moves out, so does his truck and his dog...both good deterrents. But the upsides are that I do have a monitored alarm system and once the garage is finally clear, I'll be able to park in there!

2) Not using the $20k to pay down the home equity loan. Either I need to completely get rid of that monthly payment, or just keep slowly chipping at it.

I got the first "installment" of the gift, $5k. Put in a transfer of $2k to give my ING a boost. I'll stop building it up once it hits $10k. Should take just a few more months. Once that's done, I'll stop the monthly transfer of $100.

So between that, also getting out of my work's ESP Plan, removing the ex from my health insurance, downgrading garbage, satellite TV and my gym, in a few months my income should be up about $100/mo, and expenses down around $160/mo. That should help a bit. I'm still very worried.

I have a lot that needs to get done around here. Need an electrician to install ceiling fans and install another motion detector light outside. Also, just had a landscaper out to give me an estimate on building the fence, and finishing up priming the flowerbeds...they are currently mostly clay and rock...very hard...there's no way I can dig it up myself. These things need to get done if I'm to improve the value of this house at all...right now it's just bare dirt and weeds. Also, I will feel better about living here.

Ah!!!!!!!!!!!!