Thankful for the hubby
This sounds absolutely awful and is probably the complete opposite of a lot of modern marriages today, but for the most part, my husband handles the finances in our household and I tend to not really know what's going on. It's not that he hides it from me or thinks I'm not capable of understanding it, but I just don't ask and sometimes certain things go over my head (investments, Roth IRA, etc.) so I find it easier to just ignore it. This is something that I definitely want to change because I realize that at any moment, I could very well be on my own--God forbid something should happen to Ryan--and have to deal with all of this myself. Also, I'm growing a little tired of my own tendency to walk away from things when I don't completely understand them at first. It's such a bad habit.
ANYWAYS. Up until recently, I was under the impression that we had some debt and not a lot in savings. I was very wrong. My husband just disclosed to me today that we have absolutely NO debt and so much more in savings than I had originally thought. That doesn't include our retirement either. My husband used to dabble in the stock market and is much more financially savvy than I am, so I can't say I'm too surprised about this news. It definitely is comforting and good news.
Maybe I shouldn't be too hard on myself, though. I'm not as financially knowledgeable as I want to be, but because of my upbringing, I guess I'm slightly more frugal than the average woman in her late twenties. I like to shop, but I refrain from it a LOT, and usually only make purchases when they're on sale. We eat out more than most families probably do, but only because we don't have kids yet. I try to balance it out with a lot of home cooked meals, too. I know a lot of women splurge (or maybe go into debt?) on designer purses or shoes--and while I definitely can say I'm into fashion, I have little desire to drop thousands of dollars on a single bag or pair of shoes. To me, it's like a car: they lose their value the moment you make the purchase. Speaking of cars, we also don't have any car payments, which I'm super thankful for. I used to admire people driving luxury cars thinking how suave they looked in it; but after Ryan started working for the collections dept at BMW and came home telling me stories of customers being behind on payments, trying to hide the car from repo agents or just being sleazy overall, I suddenly had a different outlook on drivers of BMW's or Mercedes Benzes.
Since my parents didn't have any debt when we were growing up, I didn't know what credit was or meant until college. The concept of buying things even when you didn't have the money for it went over my head. Living under our means was my family's lifestyle, and I'm really grateful I was able to witness that example.
This conversation between myself and Ryan came about because I've been harboring a desire to take a long overdue trip to Argentina to see my relatives and the idea that I could celebrate my 30th birthday there next year seeped into my mind. I personally think a year in advance is plenty of time to plan and save for the trip, but I think my husband disagrees with me and that's when he told me about our current situation. Which, in my simple little mind, seems to be an open invitation to take this trip (!) but my husband, I think, was trying to make the point that we are where we are primarily because we haven't gone anywhere together EVER and never do anything, lol.
I have a feeling most outsiders will encourage me to take this trip--maybe even splurge and not worry about finances concerning something like this; but I have to say that I really admire my husband for sometimes making unpopular decisions that usually result in wonderful outcomes for the both of us in the past, so I will also listen to what he has to say concerning this, too.
Which reminds me of another thing I'm thankful for: Choosing a really wise and intelligent man to be my husband. Sometimes we can annoy each other (we're both stubborn and strong-willed), but there's never been a real doubt that I married the right person.
With that, I'll leave you with a cute exchange I had with a new 4 year old student yesterday:
Student: "Ms. Gaby, how old are you?"
Me: "How old do you think I am?"
Student: "Nine."
ANYWAYS. Up until recently, I was under the impression that we had some debt and not a lot in savings. I was very wrong. My husband just disclosed to me today that we have absolutely NO debt and so much more in savings than I had originally thought. That doesn't include our retirement either. My husband used to dabble in the stock market and is much more financially savvy than I am, so I can't say I'm too surprised about this news. It definitely is comforting and good news.
Maybe I shouldn't be too hard on myself, though. I'm not as financially knowledgeable as I want to be, but because of my upbringing, I guess I'm slightly more frugal than the average woman in her late twenties. I like to shop, but I refrain from it a LOT, and usually only make purchases when they're on sale. We eat out more than most families probably do, but only because we don't have kids yet. I try to balance it out with a lot of home cooked meals, too. I know a lot of women splurge (or maybe go into debt?) on designer purses or shoes--and while I definitely can say I'm into fashion, I have little desire to drop thousands of dollars on a single bag or pair of shoes. To me, it's like a car: they lose their value the moment you make the purchase. Speaking of cars, we also don't have any car payments, which I'm super thankful for. I used to admire people driving luxury cars thinking how suave they looked in it; but after Ryan started working for the collections dept at BMW and came home telling me stories of customers being behind on payments, trying to hide the car from repo agents or just being sleazy overall, I suddenly had a different outlook on drivers of BMW's or Mercedes Benzes.
Since my parents didn't have any debt when we were growing up, I didn't know what credit was or meant until college. The concept of buying things even when you didn't have the money for it went over my head. Living under our means was my family's lifestyle, and I'm really grateful I was able to witness that example.
This conversation between myself and Ryan came about because I've been harboring a desire to take a long overdue trip to Argentina to see my relatives and the idea that I could celebrate my 30th birthday there next year seeped into my mind. I personally think a year in advance is plenty of time to plan and save for the trip, but I think my husband disagrees with me and that's when he told me about our current situation. Which, in my simple little mind, seems to be an open invitation to take this trip (!) but my husband, I think, was trying to make the point that we are where we are primarily because we haven't gone anywhere together EVER and never do anything, lol.
I have a feeling most outsiders will encourage me to take this trip--maybe even splurge and not worry about finances concerning something like this; but I have to say that I really admire my husband for sometimes making unpopular decisions that usually result in wonderful outcomes for the both of us in the past, so I will also listen to what he has to say concerning this, too.
Which reminds me of another thing I'm thankful for: Choosing a really wise and intelligent man to be my husband. Sometimes we can annoy each other (we're both stubborn and strong-willed), but there's never been a real doubt that I married the right person.
With that, I'll leave you with a cute exchange I had with a new 4 year old student yesterday:
Student: "Ms. Gaby, how old are you?"
Me: "How old do you think I am?"
Student: "Nine."
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