Fantasy Blog.....
This is a fantasy blog. I recently found an old rent payment stub as I was getting rid of old files. The rent was $1545 for our 1 bedroom apartment in Fort Greene Brooklyn. We lived there from 2003 to 2007. Derek and I look back at that time as the time before responsibilities. Sure we had our worries, but really they were of no importance. Especially when we compare them to our worries of today.
At this time we were earning salaries similar to what we are making today. The current recession has done a nice job of keeping our salaries steady over the past few years. (But who are we to complain, at least we have jobs.) The big difference is that we more than doubled our cost of living from renting to mortgage, and we have a nanny. For those of you also struggling with a mortgage, you know "house poor." But for those of you struggling with both a mortgage and a nanny, you know there is a whole other level of "nanny poor." Given our mortgage we have no choice but to both work, so we have to pay a nanny, and paying a whole other person's salary is brutal. It really pushes you to the limit.
So where is the fantasy part of this blog?... well... The fantasy part is what I would now do with the money that I had in that 1 bedroom-nanny-free apartment, that I spend on mortgage and nanny now - knowing what I know now. This is what I would do:
TRAVEL
I would go to Europe. I would buy Italian leather and eat pasta in Italy. I would eat French cheese and macaroons in Paris. I would eat jamon in Spain and wander around like a gypsy. I would go to Istanbul for Kabob. So yeah I would basically eat my way through Europe. Trips to Europe on our budget and with a toddler is not going to happen. I miss my window (for now) and I hope once the kid is grown and my budget is freed of nanny and mortgage I will get to tour Europe. (So no more World Wars or environmental disasters until I get there. Please.)
I would buy a timeshare in Kauai, so that we could visit every two years and pretend that we live there.
I would plan a trip to California, since I have never been. San Francisco, San Diego, and LA for good measure.
Finally I would go to other kick ass cities and party party party. Sure I can go to Nashville with Ruby and see the sights. But can I party there? NO. So I would hit cities like Nashville, Austin, Miami, Seattle, --- you get the picture and party, shop, and wander.
SAVINGS and INVESTMENT
What was I thinking when I was blowing all of my cash on things like a wedding? I should have been saving, so to not be in a future predictment. I would learn about investing and diversitfying. These things would help pay for travels and more saving.
PERSONAL TRAINER
I would have someone whip my ass into shape. Sure I go to the gym now, but I would have the meanest most brutal trainer yell and scream at me to move my fat ass.
Why didn't I do these things when we were mortgage and nanny-free? I am not really sure. I will go with blaming stupidity, because it was really stupid. I could write a similar blog, but I would replace "money" with the other thing that I lack, "time." And write another fantasy blog about what I would do with all of the time I used to have. But that is for another day. Money and time - people without mortgages and nannies. MONEY & TIME - spend it wisely.
This is a fantasy blog. I recently found an old rent payment stub as I was getting rid of old files. The rent was $1545 for our 1 bedroom apartment in Fort Greene Brooklyn. We lived there from 2003 to 2007. Derek and I look back at that time as the time before responsibilities. Sure we had our worries, but really they were of no importance. Especially when we compare them to our worries of today.
At this time we were earning salaries similar to what we are making today. The current recession has done a nice job of keeping our salaries steady over the past few years. (But who are we to complain, at least we have jobs.) The big difference is that we more than doubled our cost of living from renting to mortgage, and we have a nanny. For those of you also struggling with a mortgage, you know "house poor." But for those of you struggling with both a mortgage and a nanny, you know there is a whole other level of "nanny poor." Given our mortgage we have no choice but to both work, so we have to pay a nanny, and paying a whole other person's salary is brutal. It really pushes you to the limit.
So where is the fantasy part of this blog?... well... The fantasy part is what I would now do with the money that I had in that 1 bedroom-nanny-free apartment, that I spend on mortgage and nanny now - knowing what I know now. This is what I would do:
TRAVEL
I would go to Europe. I would buy Italian leather and eat pasta in Italy. I would eat French cheese and macaroons in Paris. I would eat jamon in Spain and wander around like a gypsy. I would go to Istanbul for Kabob. So yeah I would basically eat my way through Europe. Trips to Europe on our budget and with a toddler is not going to happen. I miss my window (for now) and I hope once the kid is grown and my budget is freed of nanny and mortgage I will get to tour Europe. (So no more World Wars or environmental disasters until I get there. Please.)
I would buy a timeshare in Kauai, so that we could visit every two years and pretend that we live there.
I would plan a trip to California, since I have never been. San Francisco, San Diego, and LA for good measure.
Finally I would go to other kick ass cities and party party party. Sure I can go to Nashville with Ruby and see the sights. But can I party there? NO. So I would hit cities like Nashville, Austin, Miami, Seattle, --- you get the picture and party, shop, and wander.
SAVINGS and INVESTMENT
What was I thinking when I was blowing all of my cash on things like a wedding? I should have been saving, so to not be in a future predictment. I would learn about investing and diversitfying. These things would help pay for travels and more saving.
PERSONAL TRAINER
I would have someone whip my ass into shape. Sure I go to the gym now, but I would have the meanest most brutal trainer yell and scream at me to move my fat ass.
Why didn't I do these things when we were mortgage and nanny-free? I am not really sure. I will go with blaming stupidity, because it was really stupid. I could write a similar blog, but I would replace "money" with the other thing that I lack, "time." And write another fantasy blog about what I would do with all of the time I used to have. But that is for another day. Money and time - people without mortgages and nannies. MONEY & TIME - spend it wisely.
posted by Alaina @ 11:56 AM
5 Comments:
At 1:55 PM,
Christie Farrar said…
holy crap that is a lot of money! Of course, I am in the Midwest and our economy runs on corn and dairy farms, everything is a lot cheaper here. Currently my husband and I live in a two bedroom apartment (998 sq feet) and our rent is $635.
We also found out the hard way to save money, we were cocky thinking we could just get something NOW on a credit card and pay it off in a few weeks with our high-paying jobs. Well, the job went away and we were laid off, now stuck with outrageous and extraneous debt! YAY!
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