Makes the World Go Round

I was thinking about money today.

I tried to remember if finances were a factor for us when considering children.  I'm sure money wasn't the first thought I had, and I don't think my wife and I ever really talked about the financial implications of having children to any great depth.  Though I'm having a really hard time pinning down a specific time/conversation that revolved around children and finances pre-Hoss, I think we talked about it...maybe?

Before we were married, though, my wife and I talked about money and being financially stable enough to enter that stage of life together.  Our final conclusion, and one I've held most of my life (which may be why we have so much school debt), is that if we wait around on money, we'll never get married!  I think my fear was that I would get too caught up in the money game:

'Let's get married next year when I get that raise at work and we'll have a couple thousand more than this year.'

~one year later~

'Let's wait 6 more months because my mid-cycle review is coming out and I could get a boost financially.'

~six months later~

'Let's just forget about it because I'm making too much right now!'

That's a little bit of a jump at the end, but hopefully you are picking up what I'm laying down.

And I've heard people say things similar to that when they are just considering marriage!  That's the joining of two incomes (most of the time)!  Just think of the monkey wrench that gets thrown in there when you bring a third, unemployed person into the mix who is going to definitely be needing more than just your money!

Let's face it, a lot of dads out there between the ages of 23-35 are trying to live a lifestyle that is outside of their financial means.  They have the house with all the stuff that it took their parents years to build up to, but they think they should have it now.  They have a lifestyle that it seems like most people have, but really it's all held up with the false security of credit card debt.

And when you factor in the need to be financially secure for the Should We Try To Get Pregnant equation, I would be afraid that there would never be a solution!

There are undoubtedly a great many parents out there who waited for various reasons, with some being financial, and I'm not trying to condemn them at all.  The last thing I want is for anyone to walk away from this blog feeling like they've made some horrible mistakes.  Or they walk away really angry at my sometimes ignorant opinions.

I think I'm just saying that I'm happy we didn't wait until everything was in order financially.  In fact, having a child has really helped us set up our efforts in being better stewards with everything we have, not just money.

We have definitely learned a lot more from having less money than when we had more.  We see the value in everything we have, not just the numbers on a piece of paper from the bank.  We see the over-abundance of non-material blessings we have, like a peaceful loving home.  We see opportunities to be generous with more than just finances.  And we see the silliness of money in the grandest scheme of all: eternity.

Not that we are against having money.  We just don't let it affect the most important decisions of our lives.

How about you?  Do you feel differently?  Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below!