Too Many Metaphors
Whew! It seems like our bank balance is finally moving in the right direction. It's been a frustrating past two months with both of us finally working again - ostensibly filed under "yay" - and yet our bank balance seemed to continue to deflate despite money veritably "pouring" in. Of course I know very well that good financial health has considerably less to do with how much you earn as how much you spend. Still, that little platitude can go jump in a lake when it's reality and not just a clever saying!
My return to the working (and earning) world happened to coincide with several big ticket expenses. Ian and I took a vacation to DragonCon, which was not terribly expensive all things considered, but time off also meant lost opportunity for wages since I'm a contractor. (Ah, Opportunity Cost, you saucy minx, we meet again!)
(THIS JUST IN: I KNOW THE SEX OF KAT AND MARK'S BABY!!! Now just to talk them into "Von Doom" as a middle name....)
Anyway, trip 1, then $1,000 for four new tires on the Rat Mobile, then Kermit and Caitlin's wedding, and of course the obligatory, "ZOMG! I HAVE MONEY AGAIN! I CAN ACTUALLY BUY STUFF!" totally insane trend of conspicuous spending for awhile... deep breath... Fortunately, both obligatory planned large expenses like trips and tires are behind us, and the phase of conspicuous and compulsive spending seems to be going out of fashion at last. It's a relief, really -- the perception of money to spend with both of us working, blowing money on luxuries was a fun vacation; it's nice to get home from that, as it were.
Ian and I are now both making retirement fund contributions again, yay! Hello, Roth darling, how I've missed you....
Today is also an important and much anticipated financial landmark: Today I started the trend of paying extra on Ian's student loans to get those suckers paid off. I'm very happy - grateful, really, just to the universe - that while I was unemployed and we lived on a shoestring budget in Austin, we never fell behind on our bills, not even a little bit. We've kept up-to-date with Ian's student loans, our only debt in the world, hallelujah! We always said that when we were both working, we'd pay extra to eliminate even that perceived chafe of any debt whatsoever. Go us for making good on that promise! I'm ashamed to say, however, that while we were in a place where I perceived that we "could not" make extra payments, I didn't pay as much attention to the monthly balance as I normally like to since I didn't feel I had the power to affect it positively. We paid the monthly payments, so I'd check only to see that they received them and we were good. I do not know off the top of my head the exact balance of each of the loans. Once our oddly actually extremely busy social life (no sarcastic hyperbole this time) settles down after this weekend's NERO event, it's time to get my ass in gear to watch that like a hawk. I'm sure I'll have to call them monthly to say, "No, really, that extra money should be applied to principal. Yes, I really mean it." I'll make myself like a little charity drive thermometer to monitor how close we are to paying off each of the loans!
Like I needed to further drive home this point -- This is good news. It represents another moment in life of being further unburdened, of a deep breath of fresh air, stretching out after long confinement. It's part of a veritable salad bar of potential metaphors (see what I did there?). Good stuff!
Life is good. It's one thing to breathe those words unthinkingly. It's another thing to take inventory of one's life and really, deeply, daily appreciate the sentiment that one's life is a good place to be. Heh heh, c'mon, folks! You know me better than to think that I state that it's a good place just because the monetary situation is good! Money certainly ain't everything. I've been happy as an impoverished clam, and I've been screaming silently on the inside while rich. Lemme tell ya, it's better to be a happy rich clam than a poor clam, and definitely better to be an internally screaming rich woman than a screaming poor woman. Still, at this salad bar, if you have the choice, it's much better to aim for "rich clam" if you have the choice... okay, took that too far. Moving on now.
I drive westward into the panorama of the now snow-capped Rocky Mountains every morning and watch a flight of hot air balloons merrily bob along the horizon. If I believed in God, I'd thank him consciously every day for being in a world of wonder. Since I don't particularly think anyone else is listening, I talk to the prairie dogs instead. I say hi to every single one of them (yes, out loud, how else would they hear me?), and I wish them a nice day of sunbathing and finding nice things to eat. I smile, and live a few conscious moments of gratitude every morning. Life is good.
Trace
My return to the working (and earning) world happened to coincide with several big ticket expenses. Ian and I took a vacation to DragonCon, which was not terribly expensive all things considered, but time off also meant lost opportunity for wages since I'm a contractor. (Ah, Opportunity Cost, you saucy minx, we meet again!)
(THIS JUST IN: I KNOW THE SEX OF KAT AND MARK'S BABY!!! Now just to talk them into "Von Doom" as a middle name....)
Anyway, trip 1, then $1,000 for four new tires on the Rat Mobile, then Kermit and Caitlin's wedding, and of course the obligatory, "ZOMG! I HAVE MONEY AGAIN! I CAN ACTUALLY BUY STUFF!" totally insane trend of conspicuous spending for awhile... deep breath... Fortunately, both obligatory planned large expenses like trips and tires are behind us, and the phase of conspicuous and compulsive spending seems to be going out of fashion at last. It's a relief, really -- the perception of money to spend with both of us working, blowing money on luxuries was a fun vacation; it's nice to get home from that, as it were.
Ian and I are now both making retirement fund contributions again, yay! Hello, Roth darling, how I've missed you....
Today is also an important and much anticipated financial landmark: Today I started the trend of paying extra on Ian's student loans to get those suckers paid off. I'm very happy - grateful, really, just to the universe - that while I was unemployed and we lived on a shoestring budget in Austin, we never fell behind on our bills, not even a little bit. We've kept up-to-date with Ian's student loans, our only debt in the world, hallelujah! We always said that when we were both working, we'd pay extra to eliminate even that perceived chafe of any debt whatsoever. Go us for making good on that promise! I'm ashamed to say, however, that while we were in a place where I perceived that we "could not" make extra payments, I didn't pay as much attention to the monthly balance as I normally like to since I didn't feel I had the power to affect it positively. We paid the monthly payments, so I'd check only to see that they received them and we were good. I do not know off the top of my head the exact balance of each of the loans. Once our oddly actually extremely busy social life (no sarcastic hyperbole this time) settles down after this weekend's NERO event, it's time to get my ass in gear to watch that like a hawk. I'm sure I'll have to call them monthly to say, "No, really, that extra money should be applied to principal. Yes, I really mean it." I'll make myself like a little charity drive thermometer to monitor how close we are to paying off each of the loans!
Like I needed to further drive home this point -- This is good news. It represents another moment in life of being further unburdened, of a deep breath of fresh air, stretching out after long confinement. It's part of a veritable salad bar of potential metaphors (see what I did there?). Good stuff!
Life is good. It's one thing to breathe those words unthinkingly. It's another thing to take inventory of one's life and really, deeply, daily appreciate the sentiment that one's life is a good place to be. Heh heh, c'mon, folks! You know me better than to think that I state that it's a good place just because the monetary situation is good! Money certainly ain't everything. I've been happy as an impoverished clam, and I've been screaming silently on the inside while rich. Lemme tell ya, it's better to be a happy rich clam than a poor clam, and definitely better to be an internally screaming rich woman than a screaming poor woman. Still, at this salad bar, if you have the choice, it's much better to aim for "rich clam" if you have the choice... okay, took that too far. Moving on now.
I drive westward into the panorama of the now snow-capped Rocky Mountains every morning and watch a flight of hot air balloons merrily bob along the horizon. If I believed in God, I'd thank him consciously every day for being in a world of wonder. Since I don't particularly think anyone else is listening, I talk to the prairie dogs instead. I say hi to every single one of them (yes, out loud, how else would they hear me?), and I wish them a nice day of sunbathing and finding nice things to eat. I smile, and live a few conscious moments of gratitude every morning. Life is good.
Trace