Saturday, April 12, 2014
Friday, April 11, 2014
Signs of Spring
I had my first tulip blossom yesterday. I came home from work a lovely peach colored bloom stood all by itself in my triangular flower bed near my front door. I love weeks like this when the weather is good and warm and the flowers respond.
May there be many more to come.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Not Like I Was Raised
There have been some interesting discussions at work recently that revolve around financial responsibility. From what I have heard, I came to a conclusion that I was raised to be weird.
I am the first to own that I AM weird. That was never the question. But I kind of discovered that I was raised this way.
A colleague who recently moved, left his house on the market--without selling it--and apparently had no issue with just walking away from it. This, from what I was told, isn't the first time he has done this. And declaring bankruptcy is also something he had done before, and he is "eligible" to file fro it again in just a few months. So, that made it another option.
Another coworker, who has been down similar paths as the first in terms of bankruptcy and walking away from a house, had to get a loan to get his wife's car fixed. I know it was a big repair, but I was surprised that it would require a loan.
Here is where I know I am weird. I couldn't do any of these things. I couldn't leave unpaid a mortgage I signed off on. I couldn't live paycheck to paycheck so that when there was a localized, financial emergency I couldn't help myself. And I certainly couldn't continue spending with things like this hanging over my head. this is exactly WHY we have no boats, four wheelers or other "toys" in our little family.
For one, I feel that financial responsibility is part of my integrity. And that is priceless to me. I tell the truth, I take it on the chin, I pay my bills. Is that always easy? Of course not. Have I been able to get whatever I want when I want it? No way. I learned I can scrimp and save and exercise patience to get what is worth getting.
This, perhaps, is my hold back in going on this fabulous trip this summer with my family. My gracious mom and dad have paid for Genius Golfer and I to accompany them on an Alaskan cruise to celebrate their 50th anniversary with my sister and her husband. The cruise fare was our Christmas present. It was an incredibly generous gift. And that was the only way we could go at this point in our financial lives.
I could put everything on a credit card I didn't mean to pay off each month; we could do that. But that is not using your resources wisely. We didn't have the time to put money aside to save ourselves enough to go. And we are still refilling our emergency fund from the two years GG was unemployed.
But other people must do this differently. I just never realized HOW different I was. The other benefit of this realization is that I am profoundly grateful GG sees this the same way I do--sometimes maddeningly so. If this was something we fought about, I'd likely be single.
So, world. I'm WEIRD and I'm loving it. I'm financially responsible. And that must also make me "boring" to a lot of folks. And I am really OK with that, as I can sleep at night knowing I I have nothing hanging over my head. There is already enough to keep a mom up in the night without inviting potential financial ruin into my worries.
I am the first to own that I AM weird. That was never the question. But I kind of discovered that I was raised this way.
A colleague who recently moved, left his house on the market--without selling it--and apparently had no issue with just walking away from it. This, from what I was told, isn't the first time he has done this. And declaring bankruptcy is also something he had done before, and he is "eligible" to file fro it again in just a few months. So, that made it another option.
Another coworker, who has been down similar paths as the first in terms of bankruptcy and walking away from a house, had to get a loan to get his wife's car fixed. I know it was a big repair, but I was surprised that it would require a loan.
Here is where I know I am weird. I couldn't do any of these things. I couldn't leave unpaid a mortgage I signed off on. I couldn't live paycheck to paycheck so that when there was a localized, financial emergency I couldn't help myself. And I certainly couldn't continue spending with things like this hanging over my head. this is exactly WHY we have no boats, four wheelers or other "toys" in our little family.
For one, I feel that financial responsibility is part of my integrity. And that is priceless to me. I tell the truth, I take it on the chin, I pay my bills. Is that always easy? Of course not. Have I been able to get whatever I want when I want it? No way. I learned I can scrimp and save and exercise patience to get what is worth getting.
This, perhaps, is my hold back in going on this fabulous trip this summer with my family. My gracious mom and dad have paid for Genius Golfer and I to accompany them on an Alaskan cruise to celebrate their 50th anniversary with my sister and her husband. The cruise fare was our Christmas present. It was an incredibly generous gift. And that was the only way we could go at this point in our financial lives.
I could put everything on a credit card I didn't mean to pay off each month; we could do that. But that is not using your resources wisely. We didn't have the time to put money aside to save ourselves enough to go. And we are still refilling our emergency fund from the two years GG was unemployed.
But other people must do this differently. I just never realized HOW different I was. The other benefit of this realization is that I am profoundly grateful GG sees this the same way I do--sometimes maddeningly so. If this was something we fought about, I'd likely be single.
So, world. I'm WEIRD and I'm loving it. I'm financially responsible. And that must also make me "boring" to a lot of folks. And I am really OK with that, as I can sleep at night knowing I I have nothing hanging over my head. There is already enough to keep a mom up in the night without inviting potential financial ruin into my worries.
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