My kid’s idea of a fancy dinner was to have me make pizza bagels with a chicken tender stuck into the hole. He even posed for a picture with it.
One thing I’ve learned over the past 13 years is that the parts one thought would be easy were actually hard. But the things one thought would be hard are actually very easy, namely “fancy” meals and other “luxury” every day stuff.
I’m currently redoing the bedroom of my oldest kid (removing an ancient bathroom so he gets more space, and rebuilding a wall for extra soundproofing. It surprised me how happy he was about learning these two nuggets:
- He gets to choose any color he wants for the walls.
- His ceiling light will be dimmable.
After my last grandparent passed this spring, the final stages of dividing up the estate on my fathers side is now in full swing. As my father died around a decade ago, his share is divided equally among my siblings and I. My aunt is in charge of the estate, and last week she looked at all the accounts, and I was pleasantly surprised at what was in them.
While my grandparents weren’t rich by most standards, their generation was simply really good at saving up. Despite my share only being one third of a fourth (my dad had three siblings, I ha e two), it was enough to pay down all of my debts except the mortgage and then leave a decent rainy day fund.
The ones who claim that money can’t buy happiness obviously didn’t account for situations where lack of it is what’s keeping you from being happy. I’ve been financially stable for a while, but I’m officially no longer living paycheck to paycheck.
Reduced financial stress is s really nice gift. I hope i can leave that for my kids one day.
That’s great news!
Hurricane Milton didn’t make anyone in my family homeless.
