Off to Lubbock, Texas…no, we’re still in Fresno!

We lived carefully on our budget. We kept our lifestyle within our income. But those crazy one-time expenses just beat us up. We had no resources left and had to do something.

With the need to regain control of those past expenses we decided to refinance our house. I could then get a job and make the new payments. I had never had difficulty finding jobs, and I had the same skills as before, but it’s different when you’re 75 and looking for a job. Employers see an old man, not a guy who can contribute. I searched for 10 months with no success. Finally, our funds were running out. We only had a few months left. We both knew something drastic was going to happen but we both dreaded the answers and avoided talking about it.

I had explored moving from Fresno so we could sell our house, use part of our equity to buy somewhere in a less expensive market. Gemini helped me. I gave it three requirements: less than $200,000 for a house, weather would support a koi pond, and there is a substantial LDS community. I came up with 9 cities. I quickly narrowed it to 3 that had temples.

Kathy and I finally sat down to discuss it one Monday morning. We both recognized that the only option we had left was to sell and move. I shared the research I had done and we selected Lubbock, Texas, as our destination. By the end of that day we had signed up with a realtor. We were heartbroken but knew we had to make changes.