With our current budget, I've decided to let Eva cut and style my hair.
Well, ok...maaaaaybe not.
UG. Money. I know it can't buy happiness, but having enough that every little decision doesn't have to be made around how much or little we have WOULD buy me a certain level of freedom that I currently am so missing. I'm trying to figure out how to spin through this whole topic without sounding ungrateful or spoiled.
I'm frustrated that at least 75% (a highly researched and accurate number of course!) of the people I know are working their a-double ss off and are still living paycheck to paycheck. These are people in just about every job imaginable. They have respectable jobs with decent benefits. Ryan and I have expensive college degrees, great jobs, and good connections - as do most of the people I know in our situation. We are making decisions that make us tight - the biggest one being that I stay home full-time with our kids and we live on one income. But Ryan works 3 jobs - teaching, mental health work at Prairie View, and tutoring. Plus sometimes works with Zach on Bridgewater jobs. We are good people who make smart choices. I make my grocery list based on a menu for the week. We don't take vacations. We rarely eat out. We get sitters only once in awhile. We wear hand-me-down clothes. We drive second-hand cars. We use coupons. We don't shop for fun gadgets like new phones or clothes or dishes or furniture.
We have all we need and so much more. We are usually quite content. We are healthy. We love our home. We have more than most of the people in the world. That's really something. My parents help us out. A lot. We are able to give money to church and friends who need it. We are lucky to have friends that don't make us feel bad when we have to say no to doing things that would cost money.
But I feel such frustration on behalf of myself and the many other people I know with the same money concerns. It is so clear that its true that in America, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. And then there are those of us in the middle that are trying so hard to just plain stay in the middle.
Ug. Not the most uplifting blog post ever. But its what I'm thinking on a lot right now, and I'm guessing if you fall into that 75% group of people, you are too.