Rambling
This will be something most will just skip so...
It was a Civic Holiday here in Canada yesterday so I was able to relax on sunday a bit, and then monday do my regular sunday chores.. which made for a really odd day as I am used to the other routine, so I was a bit thrown. But none the less, I got laundry done and was out at my parents house which was very nice. I even spent a few minutes chilling under the tree at their place, which is something that I don't really have a chance to do all that often.
I have had a lot of time to think about things and I am pretty satisfied where my life is going these days. Of course there could be room for a lot of improvement but what kind of life would I lead if there wasn't? I have decided to change a few things, and fix a few others, so it should be interesting. The second biggest thing I need to fix is my debt.
Not many people here may know this but about 6 years ago I was just shy of $30,000 in debt. This was a combination of being young and earning a lot of money at a bio-tech company, so I spent beyond my means in many cases, mostly with things I just wanted, not with things I needed.. Pretty classic story really.
So I tightened my budget, worked with a credic councellor, and killed off that entire debt in 5 years. It was tough, but it was so rewarding. The freedom you feel when you make that last payment is beyond anything I can describe. I was very happy that I had done this and was able to live without guilt and even save some money for the next year.. Then in June of 2010 I was laid off.
I was forced again to live within a meagre budget, and that part was not that terrible, as I had done it for a long time while paying down debt, so it was almost second nature really. Eventually though, my bank account dwindled, and my one credit card (with a very low limit) was starting to incur charges again. This was going against everything I worked so hard to change. It all disappeared all that hard work was gone with swoop. Now I am back to work, and back to still living on a ghetto poor amount of money just so that I can pay back that credit card, and also pay my parents back some of the nearly $4k that I borrowed from them to keep my truck running and help out along the way.
I want to do this.. I need to do this, to show myself that I am able to bounce back once again, and start saving. To start down that road that I began when I paid off my debt the first time, the road to home ownership. I am tired of living in an apartment that is a piece of crap, with no water pressure, or hot water half the time. I am sick of paying someone else for something that I can't change to suit my needs. I hate paying money for a place that is far to small for what I own, and I most of all hate the fact that I don't own anything.
Sure I have a truck, and I have some cool things, but I don't really own anything. A vechile depreciates in value every day you own it, and eventually after thousands in repairs, and gas, you have to get rid of it simply because it doesn't work anymore. You then step back onto that roller coaster only to do it again with yet another car. This is not owning something, it is mearly paying for its temporary use and never getting out of it what you put into it.
Owning a house for me is different. It is something that only appreciates in value over time and it is tangible. It is something that I can stand out in front of today and have it still there tomorrow. Sure it will need upkeep and maintainence, but it will never depreciate like a car would, and every penny you sink into it is a penny you can get back after you decide to move.
In my family my parents didn't own a house of their own till much later in their life. They were almost at retirement age when it happened for them. I don't want the same fate. Of all my cousins, of everyone else in my family only 1 owns their own house. I need to become the second. Come hell or high water, I will be that one..
That is the kind of stuff you think about, when sitting under a tree, at your parents house, in the summer breeze on a holiday from work. The rewards of working for something. I am fired up again to make this work, I need to do this.. and hopefully by the very near future.. the next monster post you will see from me will be me complaining about how long it took to get my new hot water heater installed in my house.
prplhaze
It was a Civic Holiday here in Canada yesterday so I was able to relax on sunday a bit, and then monday do my regular sunday chores.. which made for a really odd day as I am used to the other routine, so I was a bit thrown. But none the less, I got laundry done and was out at my parents house which was very nice. I even spent a few minutes chilling under the tree at their place, which is something that I don't really have a chance to do all that often.
I have had a lot of time to think about things and I am pretty satisfied where my life is going these days. Of course there could be room for a lot of improvement but what kind of life would I lead if there wasn't? I have decided to change a few things, and fix a few others, so it should be interesting. The second biggest thing I need to fix is my debt.
Not many people here may know this but about 6 years ago I was just shy of $30,000 in debt. This was a combination of being young and earning a lot of money at a bio-tech company, so I spent beyond my means in many cases, mostly with things I just wanted, not with things I needed.. Pretty classic story really.
So I tightened my budget, worked with a credic councellor, and killed off that entire debt in 5 years. It was tough, but it was so rewarding. The freedom you feel when you make that last payment is beyond anything I can describe. I was very happy that I had done this and was able to live without guilt and even save some money for the next year.. Then in June of 2010 I was laid off.
I was forced again to live within a meagre budget, and that part was not that terrible, as I had done it for a long time while paying down debt, so it was almost second nature really. Eventually though, my bank account dwindled, and my one credit card (with a very low limit) was starting to incur charges again. This was going against everything I worked so hard to change. It all disappeared all that hard work was gone with swoop. Now I am back to work, and back to still living on a ghetto poor amount of money just so that I can pay back that credit card, and also pay my parents back some of the nearly $4k that I borrowed from them to keep my truck running and help out along the way.
I want to do this.. I need to do this, to show myself that I am able to bounce back once again, and start saving. To start down that road that I began when I paid off my debt the first time, the road to home ownership. I am tired of living in an apartment that is a piece of crap, with no water pressure, or hot water half the time. I am sick of paying someone else for something that I can't change to suit my needs. I hate paying money for a place that is far to small for what I own, and I most of all hate the fact that I don't own anything.
Sure I have a truck, and I have some cool things, but I don't really own anything. A vechile depreciates in value every day you own it, and eventually after thousands in repairs, and gas, you have to get rid of it simply because it doesn't work anymore. You then step back onto that roller coaster only to do it again with yet another car. This is not owning something, it is mearly paying for its temporary use and never getting out of it what you put into it.
Owning a house for me is different. It is something that only appreciates in value over time and it is tangible. It is something that I can stand out in front of today and have it still there tomorrow. Sure it will need upkeep and maintainence, but it will never depreciate like a car would, and every penny you sink into it is a penny you can get back after you decide to move.
In my family my parents didn't own a house of their own till much later in their life. They were almost at retirement age when it happened for them. I don't want the same fate. Of all my cousins, of everyone else in my family only 1 owns their own house. I need to become the second. Come hell or high water, I will be that one..
That is the kind of stuff you think about, when sitting under a tree, at your parents house, in the summer breeze on a holiday from work. The rewards of working for something. I am fired up again to make this work, I need to do this.. and hopefully by the very near future.. the next monster post you will see from me will be me complaining about how long it took to get my new hot water heater installed in my house.
prplhaze