I am normally a person who likes to look forward and not back… No crying over spilled milk and all that 😉 I love to dream about the future and what it will bring (only good things of course), but once in a while, normally when money are tight, Dear Husband and I have the conversation about “what if”.
Many (!) years ago we were both in our twenties, finishing up our academic degrees, having just bought our first apartment and both worked at ok jobs, earning an ok salary. We had no kids, a low mortgage and no car. That means that we had ok incomes and fairly low expenses. Did we do the responsible thing and grabbed the opportunity to have the means to put money on the side and save up for the future? No, we used it all every month….
So we had the possibility to go out a lot, and we did and to buy a lot of stuff as we also did. We spent a lot money on things that I don’t think made us happier or more satisfied with life than if we would have saved up at least some of the money instead. I don’t know if I really regret it, but sometimes I wish that we would have done it differently.
What if we would have started to put money on the side then? Would it make the years that came after easier? And would it have made the present time easier?
Because towards the end of my twenties came the big change: the kids! I have to admit that I had no idea how much they cost. Suddenly we were paying NIS 5,000 (US Dollars 1,450) for childcare and that was not even including diapers, clothes, food and all the rest. It was very difficult on our economy and that was a time that I really think saving up beforehand would have helped a lot.
Anyhow, there really is no need to cry over what was, just hope that it did teach us something that we can use in the future. And then there are always the kids – maybe I can teach them not to make the same mistakes I did!?
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