Money. It's called "the root of all evil." Boy is that the truth!As a kid, my father always told me that money was everything. Told me constantly. Said it's just as easy to marry a rich girl as it is to marry a poor one. When I was little, I would scoff at him. But, in actuality, he was right for the most part.
If you have money, there are a lot less issues in a family. Vacations aren't a problem, food, mortgage payments, clothes...it wouldn't be a hot point. I went through a period, a long period, that money was an issue. Work was in the tanker. Money wasn't coming in. We weren't on vacation in almost 4 years. I wrote about how I felt and how things boiled over in a blog post: The Damn Jones'. I got a lot of good comments on that post...supportive, saying I was doing the right thing. Not only do I know I wasn't alone, but there were a lot of people way worse off than me...losing houses, unable to pay for food, etc.
Thank god things have changed. I started a new job, and things really are on the up swing. We took an amazing vacation recently, and finally got that flat screen TV my kids were pining for. Good things come to those that wait.
But there are still going to be things that come up. Dinner's out, fancy clothes. I've been to the edge..I've seen the drop off the cliff. Thank god I didn't fall. But, we can't spend like there's no tomorrow anymore. I won't do it. Yea, we can go on vacation..we can buy some things. But, I won't and frankly, no person should ever spend like there's a money tree growing somewhere. It happened once...it will happen again. Those that survive are those that are better prepared. So, we don't go crazy with spending, buying things, unless it's in the budget.
For the most part, my wife is pretty good about buying things. She doesn't go crazy. I know that there are others out there that every argument is about money. This is probably the number one argument in a relationship.
Tomorrow: Healthy Perspective
