My wife and I have an agreement. When I feel I need to buy an edge trimmer for my lawn, Jinx will buy a mini-van. Ahh, the mini-van. I'm not going to go into my fantasies of being a soccer mom, but I am more interested in the idea of how to finance a purchase of one.
We're doing ok financially, though we could always use more money. This month should be the first month we are making more money than we are spending, which is a good thing. I tried to put us on a budget, but it turned out that every month had a rainy day. Car needed a tune up, dog needed shots, I had a birthday. Always something that would drain our savings to cover the cost of the expense. So many bills, so little left for fun.
So this is how it feels to be grown-up. I remember back when I was a kid. My grandfather would give me a $20 bill and… o, the possibilities. Just knowing that a candy bar cost 25 cents and I could get.... um... er, well, I could get a bunch of candy or maybe that last Micronaut to complete my collection. Yeh, or better. I was halfway to having enough money to buy Missile Command for my Atari! O, the wonder.
Now, I think about how much I make a month and how very little I use to buy fun things. Sure, I might splurge and buy my kid a toy, but in the end, she'll have more fun laughing at herself with her head inside an empty cereal box. Which reminds me, the most fun I ever saw her have with a toy was the first time she placed a paper bag over her head. She would run around, laughing, bumping into things. She had a even better time when I finally cut eye holes for her. Anyway, the point is, buying toys can be a limited temporal benefit, not the long term pleasure that can only come with buying new power tools. Umm, electric powered scroll saw… with stand…hmm.
As I look at my bills, what really amazes me is how much money I use to pay for things that I hope I will never use or will definitely use in the future. Life insurance, disability insurance, social security tax, 529 saving plan, 403b retirement plan… I understand that I should pay myself 10% of my net paycheck, but when 20% goes to things I hope I never have to use or won't be able to use for decades, it's hard for me to have money left over use on myself. For example, I went out and bought myself some new sneakers and felt real guilty about it. How can I justify buying myself something when my daughter has been playing the same computer game since she was 1? Or my lovely wife hasn't bought herself new maternity clothes since the first kid was being incubated? I want the best for my family, but the best I can afford is the cheapest thing at Wal-Mart. Sure money isn't everything, but as I grow older, it sure would seem to play a large role in how I plan my life.
Last week, I had a conversation with a childhood friend of mine who exclaimed proudly that his CD had matured? This is the same guy who in college I shared mop-buckets full of beer? Oh, the fiscal responsibility. He was an Art major! How did he get to the point in his life where he had a CD mature let alone know the difference between a Certificate of Deposit and a Compact Disc?
And then there is me, living month to month, paycheck to paycheck, still thinking I don't need an edger, but the minivan... I could get one with Turbo and an MP3 player…
