Reality Check...

Sometimes among the mountains of papers from school, laundry, dishes, walls that need to be painted, doors to be stripped, roof that needs replacing and bills to get paid...we just have to start laughing. There are days that Kari feels they may have to carry her away in a straightjacket. The children have peanut butter and jelly stuck on their faces as we go into the store...we now know why the thumb lick was started...mom's in all the craziness just don't get the faces washed. In our dream world the house projects would only take half the time we planned instead of twice or three times longer or the laundry would wash itself. Sometimes we lay down to bed at night and hope maybe the shoe maker can loan out his elves to do our dishes while we sleep. The boys always seem to want to wrestle in the kitchen when dinner is being made and what is it they do to get that crud stuck on them? In the hustle and bustle of a family of 5 (oh wait, and the dog) we think..."wow this is quite a task!" What were we thinking taking on our finances amidst this chaos?!  

Then the reality sets in...if we had stopped and looked around...really thought about this 10 years ago we wouldn't have to be learning new money habits now. This is a kicker...one of those that if you could kick your own behind...you would! We know we have to learn our lessons so we can prosper; and, that failure is really the road to success. But hindsight being 20/20, this one is tough to swallow. Living within one's means is a simple but annoying concept. Sometimes living within your means is hard work, its difficult and just plain old boring. There are so many fun things to do, to buy, to see, and to eat. With credit just a swipe away why not? Ummm...sure...how about NOT because our Europe trip in 1998 just got paid off or because we are paying credit card payments on who-knows-what that is who-knows-how-old!

We have learned that the #1 reason why we have had to work twice as hard to dig ourselves out of this hole is because we spent a long time with our heads in the sand while the hole was getting bigger. The change in our economy is a wake up call that the status quo isn't going to work anymore. We still have a ways to go to get the rest of our debt cleaned up and start making up for lost time to save for retirement and college. But that's just how it is. We can sit here, play the victim or have a pity-party. Instead we have pulled up our boot straps and stepped into the slop...with a lot of time and effort and a whole lot of laughs over the last several months it finally feels like we can see level ground.  

This week we are celebrating having what it takes.

Comments

[Rachel]

I LOVE this ---> "We can sit here, play the victim or have a pity-party. Instead we have pulled up our boot straps and stepped into the slop"

I think that the 'woe-is' me and 'self - entitlement' attitude is what got me into debt into the first place. Everyone has struggles in life and some have it harder than others - but dwelling on these hardships only attracts more hardships. I am so glad I’ve realized that I am responsible for my financial future.
Great blog guys!