When Life Throws You Challenges

by Matt Spillar · August 30, 2019

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challenges

I’ve been a little radio silent lately, because frankly I just haven’t been in the mood to write. My wife and I have been going through some challenging times recently, with the biggest one being the passing of our beloved 14-year old dog, Chloe.

In early July we noticed she wasn’t herself, acting very sluggish and quivering. We knew it wasn’t a good sign, but figured she had just tweaked her back from jumping off the couch. Unfortunately after many tests and X-rays we received the bad news: our pup had cancer in her spine. Our options were either to have her undergo chemotherapy or simply put her on pain medications to help keep her as comfortable as possible.

Considering her age and how extensive the chemotherapy treatments would be (both in time and cost), we opted for the pain medications. On average, dogs with this type on cancer live for another 7 months. Unfortunately, the next month she regressed rapidly, and ended up having to be put down on August 12th, 2019.

Remembering Our Pup

Our hearts are broken and it’s been extremely difficult for both of us. It truly was one of the hardest days I’ve ever experienced, filled with many tears. My wife has had her since she was a puppy, 14 years of love and memories.

5 years ago, part of the agreement for Mrs. Spills moving up to the Bay Area was that Chloe got to come along. Me, not being a dog person begrudgingly agreed. Initially I resisted, but within a matter of months she captured my heart.

From Nov 2015 – May 2016 I was unemployed and hunting for a job. Mrs. Spills would go off to work each morning, and I’d be at the apartment alone – submitting job applications and feeling down about myself. This little pup refused to leave my side, helping me not feel so lonely.

She would always look up to me with love in her eyes, excitement whenever I got home, and wanting to cuddle up whenever I was on the couch. We had a special bond that I’ll always treasure. I never understood how pets could become such an important part of a family, but this little pup showed me how. I truly believe she made me a more loving, patient, and joyful person and I’ll be forever grateful for that. Our house feels a little quieter and emptier without her, and we still miss her everyday.

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Fighting Through Challenges

Life is not easy sometimes, we all encounter difficult challenges that we have to fight through.

Processing this grief has made me more aware of some of our blessings in life. So many people reached out with love and encouragement, and it has made these hard times a little bit easier. My grandma sent me an email, and some of her words have been in my head constantly since reading it:

“Anytime we love someone or something it opens us up to suffering when we lose them. However, life without love would hold no joy.”

Such wise words to live by. Going through hard challenges doesn’t mean we should shut ourselves off from what life has to offer.

Where Money Fits In

What started me off on this whole money journey in the first place was wanting to provide the best life possible for my family. I wanted to remove the stress of money from our day-to-day lives and be good stewards with what we had been blessed with. I wanted to get our debt paid off, build up an emergency fund, and give generously to others.

We’ve come a long way in our 5 years of marriage, and I feel grateful for the journey we’ve been on. We’re now debt free after paying off $55,000 and have built up our savings and investments. I feel very blessed that while enduring the grief of losing our pup, money didn’t have to factor into the equation. We had the savings to cover the vet bills, we could make the decision that was best for our family, and we could grieve without the additional burden of wondering where the money would come from. It’s why we’re pursuing financial independence.

It isn’t lost on me that many others may not have been in a similar boat. With two-thirds of the country living paycheck-to-paycheck, unforeseen vet bills could be catastrophic. While I haven’t been in a writing mood lately, I still have a passion to help spread financial literacy. I want others to experience peace in their finances and reach their lifelong goals.

As always, thanks for following along my journey, and there’s much more to come!

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