So something I haven't talked about a lot on here is money, which is rather surprising. I am a money person, I am a budgeter and a re-budgeter and all things. My first blog I ever followed was a personal finance blog (Get Rich Slowly, which I still love) and I tend to have lofty financial goals.
I like to be in control of my money, instead of my money being in control of me.
I don't make a whole ton of money, and Toronto isn't exactly a cheap place to live (within Canada at least). With Bunny back in school and only working freelance a few hours a week, things are tighter than the have been before. We rearranged our budget load to accommodate for that, and it puts a lot more financial pressure on me.
Here's the thing, though. I pay back my student loans somewhat aggressively, although currently with the wedding coming up and Bunny in school, I have somewhat scaled back on that. I put money aside into savings with every paycheque. I give myself a reasonable allowance out of what is leftover after all the necessities are paid for. Sometimes if something special comes up I'll adjust my budget for the month and swing things around to better allow for different treats. Not often, but sometimes.
Do I wish I had more money? Heck and yes. I'd love to make enough to not have to worry or think about the basic expenses, to be able to make more splurges. I'd love to have a membership to a yoga studio, and take pottery classes and have a personal trainer and buy millions of books and purses and shoes and coats. I'd love for Bunny and I to each have our own laptops, and to get an iPhone and have a downpayment for a house and be able to afford to go to Spain for the honeymoon, instead of just an all-inclusive Carribean vacation (which is a heck of a lot of fun and very needed, but not the sort of travel that either Bunny or I crave.) I want to be able to go back and get as many more degrees as I want (masters and MBAs and additional undergrads - I would like to be a full time student), and take a year off to travel the world. Own a sailboat and spend my summers on the seas. Have a house with a little backyard and a garden, have more real art on my walls, be able to buy the more expensive furniture that's very much to Bunny and my tastes than general Leons and the Brick stuff that we have. It'd be awesome to have the designer wedding dress, and have full day photography coverage at our wedding, have orchids and peonies and all sorts of beautiful flowers exploding everywhere.
There are a million things I would like to have that all cost money. The thing is, that list up there, none of them are needs. I want all those things, or they are things that Bunny and I want together. At the end of the day, though, Bunny and I can afford everything that we need (shelter, food, transportation to and from work/school, a semblance of a social life) and quite a few of our wants. We can afford to have a wedding that fits very well with what we want. We can afford to live in a house that has a few extras. I can afford to buy the occasional coat, or purse or pair of boots. It was no big deal for us to replace Bunny's work computer last week when things kind of exploded.
Bunny was able to quit his high paying professional job and go back to school for a career that he loves, without us taking on any additional debt, or dipping into his retirement savings.
We have everything that we need, and we are able to prioritize our wants to have all the most important of them. We don't have everything but we do have enough.
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