Sunday, April 25, 2010

Perspective



I was discussing retirement with my DH the other day and told him,




"If we live just like this with a few new (used) cars and some newer clothes we will have X amount of money in our retirement when we are 40."




This time, he nodded in agreement. Last time I said this to him, he disagreed. He thought maybe a bigger house, some late model cars, some nice vacations, a new set of irons...




You get my point.




I pointed out to him that we were both raised by single parents and most likely have more now (at age 28) than they did. I reminded him how we both grew up--not getting most things we wanted, but things we needed. I reminded him of how happy we both were growing up in our small town. Without designer clothes, without I-phones (because they didn't exist), with a few hours of Super Mario Bros a week and no cable.




I reminded him that we have 1000 square feet on the main floor and barely use the basement. So why would we need more space? Except a home office or a child's bedroom someday...it just doesn't make sense to me.




I was thinking today as I was getting ready that rather than expand, we need to simplify. We need to consume less. It has nothing to do with a green movement for me (as anyone can tell you I'm not up on trends), but I do think we would all do well to consume less. Less food, less space, less emotional energy (facebook status abusers...I'm talking to you).




So you're thinking...she is making fun of facebook status oversharing and then coming here and writing all this in a blog. My excuse is that you have to actually seek out my blog in order to read it, my thoughts do not generally assault your facebook news feed.




Unless something funny happened. Which I think requires a status update.




So DH and I discussed retirement for awhile and slowly came to the realization that by the time we retire, we will have been generally frugal our whole lives.


And old habits die hard...so will we even spend the money we save?



I still think at retirement I'll sell my house, buy a ridiculously expensive motor home and drive to all the National Parks in the United States.




2 comments:

kwambomb said...

I agree with many of the points you’ve listed here. Being the first person in my family born in this country and being raised by a single mom I’m always cognizant of my roots and try to keep my goals in site at all times. Because of this I’m committed to saving and continuing to build up my retirement as well. I think this is also why Abbie and I moved out to Lincoln, NE from NY. We wanted a place where we could raise kids, and have family and friends from back East come visit. We also chose to buy an older home rather than building so we could enjoy putting our own touch on it and ultimately make a smart investment. The tough thing for us is that because we’re renovating a large house we decided to take our time decorating and filling each room. I have friends in NYC that take years to fully decorate their apartment because they want to do it the right way and not simply throw things into the mix that don’t work or represent their style.
So far the house is coming along well. We’re looking forward to completing our first round of renovations. Since we moved here in October we’ve fully renovated the kitchen, utility room, 3 of 5 bathrooms, dining room, office, 3 of 5 bedrooms, put down tile, nailed down bamboo floors, painted every room, replaced numerous light fixtures, rebuilt a wall, put in a security system, replaced windows, and replaced every appliance. It’s been a while since you guys have been over, you should stop by to see how we renovated and filled many of the rooms.
Anyway, every family has to make a decision on where they choose to live and regardless of the number of bedrooms or square footage in your home I think the most important thing is to live within your means and to be happy overall. So far I think both you and Tony and Abbie and I are doing well in both of those areas. I will say that I wish I wasn’t travelling so much for work. But like you said you have to plan for the future and that’s why I continue to stick with my company back in NYC. Although travelling pays the bills I have my eye on the big picture. Making this sacrifice now may put me in a position later on to stop travelling and focus on setting up a business in Lincoln and eventually not work at all which would be great. Speaking of which I have some work I still need to finish, so I’ll sign-off now but hopefully we’ll see you guys soon!
Thanks,
Kwami

Kara said...

I can't wait to see what you guys have done, I know you have been really busy working on the house! I know it has been a hard transition in lifestyle for you guys but am glad that you have been able to follow your goals/dreams for your life (and I'm glad they brought you to Nebraska!).
I totally agree about taking time to decorate, because if you don't--your house looks like a furniture showroom. That's why it has taken me so long to work on my living room. I want it to be me, not some marketer's idea of what I should like/be/have in my house.
Hope you didn't think that post about the house was about you guys? I know you're planning on a family someday which will fill that big house up pretty quickly with little feet running around.
The post was really precipitated from talk of finishing our basement, which would be nice but as we are both students and with Tony working full time and a two year old--we just don't have time to undertake at the moment. I was commenting on a want rather than a need for more space.
Seems like life is all about sacrifices and choosing between different priorities at different times in our lives. I have great respect for everyone who chooses activities based on the well-being of their family.
I didn't even know you read this...thanks for commenting!