On Friday, we worked on the house. I cleaned inside and Matt and Jake put up more fascia boards. It's starting to look much better out there! We are out of wood, so a run to the store is in order. We got a Lowe's card, but the wood is JUST too long to fit in the van, so we will have to get it locally. Driving a mile with the hatch open is not like driving 22 miles with the hatch open. So that will have to wait a little longer.
Matt's gig was last night, we had hoped for a substantial payoff, but the crowds were waiting for New Year's Eve and so he made enough to cover his gas for the practices and his lunches for next week. Not quite enough to head out camping for the weekend or to get more supplies for working on the house or any one of a dozen small things we'd talked about this week.
2011 seems to have been the year where we were lucky to break even. And we did break even, we did not go into debt, even got some things paid off. Jake's braces for one. That patience to wait until it's saved for, to get something paid off before getting something else-it's hard to do. It's hard to take care of something you mentally have decided to upgrade or replace, but it has to work until the money is there. Or you have to do without. It's how the country used to work, back when it was still headed toward being the most prosperous nation in the world.
Some debt makes sense-living in a house and making payments instead of renting and trying to save for a whole house. Driving a car that does not need repairs every month or two and that does not leak things into the environment while making payments on it. While auto debt is a horrible one, the depreciation alone should be a crime, it's still better for the most part to have something reliable. Medical and dental bills for things that just can't wait until you can save up for them. But other things-new electronics, new furniture, vacations, things for the house or yard...those can wait and be saved for.
Anyway, even if it is my blog and I get to say how I feel and what I think, I am not meaning to be preachy. It's just what I want for myself, for my children. To think of the overall cost of an item and decide how important it truly is. I am very pleased to say that before they spend a dime on anything, they talk it over with me or each other and decide how much use they will really get from it, if anyone is willing to split the cost, they look up prices online and read reviews and they decide exactly where it will go once it's bought. That's great stuff to practice. And they have been really resistant to sales, knowing if someone offers it at this price today, it will be offered again at the same price in the future. That's a hard one to keep in mind at times, Matt and I both have been guilty of 'grab it now' syndrome.
