I took the final last night and I have officially passed and finished my course! I have 3 more to go, but I'm going to wait until April to start the next one. These classes are tough for me, and take a lot of time. I need to catch up on the rest of my life for a bit before I dive back in. Not to mention that I am paying for them myself as tuition reimbursement has been reduced to a pittance, so I want to build up more savings before I take out the full tuition.

I am in the process of refinancing my vehicle. It is at 1.9% but if I get the same rate at my other credit union they offer a $250 rebate! I figured I might as well go through the paperwork to get $250. Hopefully, though, they still honor the offer when all is said and done.

SO and I have decided that we will all move when she gets her new orders in a few months. 4 years is just too long to be commuting on the weekends and school holidays. If we had no other choice we would do it, but I don't want to put our lives on "hold" for so long. The new area has an excellent school district and lots of "big city" opportunities for my girls. They don't want to move, but it is only 3 hours from our hometown, so we can visit frequently. Plus I still get school holidays and summers off so we will be spending lots of time back home during these breaks. I have a one bedroom beach condo that I can keep available to stay in for these trips. The condo is very inexpensive, and once the tenant moves out it will be empty. The kids of course would be staying with their dad during these visits, but I can stay in condo.

I'm very excited about the career opportunities for me in the new area. I've been stuck at the same first year teacher pay for 5 YEARS, since there was a salary freeze right after I was hired. I've spent lots of time and money trying to become the best teacher I can be for my students, but honestly it makes absolutely no difference to my financial situation.

The great news about this new location is that teachers of my experience and education make...$20,000 MORE than I am making now!!! Yes, cost of living is higher, but not that much higher. Plus SO also receives cost of living increases as well. Not only that, in this new area I will have ample opportunity to get the supervision hours I need for my long-term goal of becoming certified. So this move should be a very good financial and career move for us.