It’s times like this that I wish I was rich. Heck, I don’t even need to be filthy rich. Just average rich would be outstanding. I’ve heard people say that rich people just have a different set of problems. Well, I’m ready to try those out for awhile. If I could just find a way to work my way in to that economic demographic.
Lately we’ve been really anguishing over our daughter being in daycare. She’s only been in there about 2 months or so, but I can tell you that they haven’t been our favorite 2 months. Between the extra driving to drop her off and pick her up, the endless colds/sicknesses she’s had since we put her in there and the crappy care she’s received at the daycare, we are really taking a hard look at whether it’s worth it.
We originally put her in daycare and had my wife go back to work so that we would have the cash to finish the lake house that we bought a couple months ago. We really didn’t want to take on any extra debt to finish it so the only real solution we could come up with was having my wife work. Having the extra money has made a huge difference in our ability to work on the house. We have roofed it, built the deck, installed garage doors and a bunch of other stuff. All this has been done with cash. It’s a great feeling to see the place come together and see our debt (money we borrowed to buy the place) go down. Since we don’t have any other debt other than our mortgage/equity line debt, it hasn’t been a problem paying for the second house on one salary. We just needed her money to buy the materials.
Well, all that is in question now. We are considering having my wife stay home and we’ll just take a lot longer finishing the place. Now that the roof is on, we really just need to get the siding done and we can slow waaaay down.
Through all of this, I find myself wanting to thank my daughter a whole bunch. She has been such a good sport about it all. She has had to adjust to being in a daycare, deal with being sick almost continually, and her whole routine has been turned completely upside down. I don’t think she has smiled any less than she did before though. She has taken it like a champ.
So, as you can see. It’s been kind of a stressful experience at our house. The next few weeks should be interesting as we explore other options.
But if you reread your post, you’ll see that you have no consumer debt, a house, and a second lake house. Compared to most Americans, that makes you fairly rich.
I think “rich” is just a matter of perspective. “Rich” is everyone who has more than we do, and “not rich enough” is however much we have.
I hear you. Lack of money makes so big a difference in one’s quality of life. I find myself being so much more grumpy and hard to deal with when worrying about finances. If only everybody could be rich, the world would be such a happier, sunnier place and everybody would probably be nicer to each other…It’s a shame that a lot of the rich are such jerks and so ungrateful about their status in life — must be the stresses of living rich or trying to stay that way. I’m almost amazed if I come across a “rich” person and they are actually grounded.
Here’s to becoming rich I say!
Yes, I thought about that after I wrote that post. I think we all strive to be better off than we are. We are VERY grateful for our situation but of course we are always striving to be in better shape. I’m grateful for our health, and our financial state. Just chalk it up to being a little whiney. It was a long week…… :)
Hazzard
Another perspective on time vs. money: ” . . . the more money people have, the more pressed for time they’ll be as they try to find ways to spend it all.”
http://www.utexas.edu/features/2005/time/index.html
The key to trying Rich People’s problems is that rich people’s problems will very likely lead you to rich people’s solutions as well. By finding what a common problem for rich people is, and then providing a product,idea or service that meets and solves that need, there is quite a bit of money to be made there. An updated example of this very thing happening is the free money, highest visited www.FreeMoneyPieRecipe.com that shows how one can get started making money on the internet with no initial investment.
I think having a kid in the wrong daycare environment can cause underlying issues that will have to be delt with later in life, such as lower self-esteem. Usually, you can sense it in the child’s behavior. Our neighbors 3yr old boy became scared around other men. We picked up on it, but it took a couple of times of pointing it out to them for them to see it. The husband of the in-home daycare was a former drill sergeant and may have been too hard on the older boys. Anyway, while you are benefitting monetarily, factor in if there is an emotional price being paid for this arrangement. Always go with your feeling. If you can’t find a good place for your kid, then it probably isn’t worth it.
Hmmm… A child’s well being vs a lake house. This is a no brainer in my book. Dump the lake house if you can’t afford it and stay home with your baby. I see no justifications to working if you don’t need two incomes for survival. You are never going to get this time back with her since they grow so fast. Houses come and go, but being able to watch your child grow up is priceless and worth the sacrifice. That is what it means to be a parent!!! Their needs and welfare above your selffish needs!!!
Interesting dilemna. I am not in the same boat – but I can understand where you are coming from. I think if I were in your shoes I think about the following:
1) Admit that you don’t want to keep your daughter in daycare anymore than you have too, but you would really like to get this lakehouse up and running for all the family memories.
2)Forget about using cash to pay the construction work and come up with a timetable for ending the dual incomes – you probably want to build up a little extra cash cushion before you go back to one income.
3)Consider doing more of the construction yourself or slowing down the pace – why not make this a 10yr project.
I know this older couple that bought a piece of lakefront property many years ago. They would spend their summers at the property. The 1st couple years they were basically camping at the property – they had no water, etc. Each summer, the husband would work on the property and add something – it was something like – year 1 was the shell (framing, roof, siding); year 2 was getting running water and a makeshift bathroom; year 3 was a kitchen (prior to this was just a camping stove); year 4 was walling and finishing the master bedroom and living room; etc. Now after 15 years it is a beautiful lakefront house that was built small piece by small piece with tons of memories their family has of putting it together. The way they tell their stories building the place has meant alot to them.
I think you could do the same thing. Something to consider.