When we moved into our new (to us) house we’d planned for some renovations.  First on the list – but not the first we could afford – was a new garage.  I didn’t want to own the ugliest garage in Edmonton and our original (circa 1950’s) monstrosity certainly qualified for the moniker.  Last year we put a new roof on the house.  This year the plan was to replace the garage and blow insulation into the ceiling/roof.  While both plans are still going to go ahead, it’s going to be tight around here for the next few months.  The estimate that our contractor gave us a few months back was what we used to try and save our pennies so we could afford the new garage.  Today we’ve learned that the cost of removing the demo detritus and pouring the concrete is at least 100% higher than the original estimate.  The cost of the garage package has increased as well.  The new plan is to subsist on Kraft dinner for the next few months so we can afford to save enough for the cost of the garage.  We haven’t even addressed the planned addition of insulation to our ceiling/roof.  Originally I wanted to do it over the summer but I think it will need to be pushed back until September to give us additional time to save enough $$ to pay the bill.

What really sucks about all this is that I was supposed to get a promotion and a raise at work seven months ago.  It has yet to materialize.  Sure, when it’s finally processed I will get back-pay.  However, the government will take a big chunk of that amount in taxes so I’ll be lucky if it covers the costs of the new insulation – and that’s assuming that it even materializes by the end of the summer.  I’m getting the feeling that it’ll never be processed before my next contract ends!

Remind me again why I continue to work where I do?

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