Just a 47-year-old mom of 2 in Northern California. My kids are Monkey Monkey(MM) and Drama Llama (DL). I am married to Monkey Hubby (MH). My birthday is today - going to the sushi buffet - I should get a FREE lunch. 
I also wanted to get cheesecake from Marie Callender's (lemon creamcheese - YUM - it's tradition).
We will put those both on the AmEx (lunch date with dh - will have to pay for his meal). Both the cars have ample gas, and I foresee no other spending before credit card closes on the 4th. BUT dh wanted to get groceries, so I told him to put those on the visa. I can decide later if I want to pay those this year or not. (Visa closed like a week ago).
That means that this weekend I can crunch year-end numbers. & I am excited about that! (I can charge anything else and just pay it in January - which makes December pretty predictable).
Oh - we didn't fix dh's battery yet. More from being lazy than cheap. We can get that fixed Monday though.
I also charged the home insurance today, and made sure I had enough in checking for the property taxes. I will write that check today or tomorrow. Lots of money OUT.
Oh - my parents have also been cryptic about my birthday gift - which I saw Sunday and is merely in an envelope. Makes me wonder if it is a large check, though I don't see why it would be with my dad's jobless situation. Of course, I probably would have gotten it yesterday BUT there was a big bomb scare not long after my mom dropped off my birthday card at the post office - she said the card was involved, since she doubt it was picked up before the scare, but that no mail was harmed. Will see! It really should have been here yesterday, but now I know why it wasn't. I suppose getting it on my birthday is appropriate!
-----------------------------------------------------
I had an interesting conversation with the kids a couple of weeks ago. I'd say both my kids are pretty wise, but LM (age 6) says things that just astound me. So, BM says something like he wishes he was his friend. & I said something like I would never want to be anyone else. & LM was totally on the same page with me. Why would you want to be anyone else??? Astoundingly wise words for a 6-year-old. (I can't say I was that wise when I was 6). So, we were talking about celebrities and stuff, and I mention BM's friend, who has a lot of money. I thought better of it and backed off of the example. His friend's mom is going through some serious medical problems and I realized he probably didn't know and I probably shouldn't say anything. BUT, 8yo BM says to me that, "Yeah, so and so just thought I was his friend because he is rich. I didn't even know he was rich." I thought it was funny that 8yos would make that distinction. Especially since there isn't much difference in BM's lifestyle or his friend's. Not that I can tell. They have a bigger house (& 4 more kids?) and some fancy car, but otherwise aren't that much different. I only thought of them because they are some of the only *financially sound* people I have met in this city - in our peer group. Just from casual conversation, I was impressed, because usually it's kind of scary talking to people about their finances. They seem to actually live within their means - imagine that! So, clearly they are doing pretty well. I wouldn't have lumped them as *financially well off* otherwise - easy for me to assume that they are in debt up to their eyeballs like most everyone else. I just don't get that vibe from them at all - not from things that have been said in passing conversation.
Anyway, I was thinking about, because I have this client going through a very messy divorce, is not happy at all, and has more money than she knows what to do with. It's easy to look at the superficial and be jealous, but wow, money does not buy happiness. In this economy I find her situation extremely ironic. She doesn't want her fortune to go to her husband, works very little and the money keeps rolling in - only someone who doesn't want it could so easily make those millions - it is completely ridiculous!
Anyway, switching gears but along the same vein, I have known my dh for 18 years, and I found out that someone in his family suffered a huge tragedy about 35 years ago. In 18 years this is something that I have not been privvy to - it just came up in conversation. I Was dumbfounded. I started to think that his family has suffered a lot of tragedy in general. What the heck did I marry into? But frankly, if I look at my own family I can see a lot of the same. It's all different, but plenty of hardships. I was thinking about it in terms of the *luck* conversation that always comes up in finances. Are some more lucky, or do they just deal with hardships better? Isn't life about the hardships? Is there really any one out there who has a totally easy life? I find that hard to believe. Anyway, this was a good reminder that you sometimes never know what a person has gone through. It's easy to judge and think someone who has handled their hardships well has always had it easy.
On another note, I commented on the life insurance discussion in the forums that needing life insurance didn't feel that remote of a possibility to me, knowing several people who lost parents very young. Interestingly, this week, a friend's friend's husband was in a terrible traffic accident, and her cousin was purposely hit by a car while he was walking. Cousin is a single father of a very young child, not likely to make it. The other man seems to be pulling through. BUT, all I Can think is do these people have life insurance? disability insurance? health insurance? Probably not. One more reminder that being young and healthy is not a reason to not have any insurance. I would at least hope they have health insurance. But without life and disability insurance, the outlook doesn't look good for their families. & it's not that the money is more important, but a little bit of insurance can sure make these situations a lot easier to deal with. Like, not worrying about how you will support your family while you fight for your life in a hospital. *sigh*
Waxing Philosophical
December 1st, 2011 at 07:16 pm
December 1st, 2011 at 07:57 pm 1322769461
December 1st, 2011 at 08:01 pm 1322769712
December 1st, 2011 at 08:02 pm 1322769765
December 1st, 2011 at 08:21 pm 1322770882
December 1st, 2011 at 08:29 pm 1322771388
December 1st, 2011 at 08:57 pm 1322773045
December 1st, 2011 at 09:23 pm 1322774604
December 1st, 2011 at 11:11 pm 1322781066
December 1st, 2011 at 11:18 pm 1322781517
December 1st, 2011 at 11:39 pm 1322782768
December 2nd, 2011 at 12:14 am 1322784891
The rest of your post is so very thought provoking. Hmmmm... And a reminder that money doesn't buy happiness, or health.
December 2nd, 2011 at 01:37 am 1322789863
MMM... Marie Calendar's ... though my favorite thing to eat there was the cornbread
Great post!
December 5th, 2011 at 02:22 am 1323051743