When in our lives do we finally realize that what we really want is going to take time and effort then just getting it now and paying way more than we should. I bought Ben this beautiful Canon Rebel 12 mega pixel camera for his birthday. We have no debt except for our house and a student loan which will be paid off in August. We have a little savings but I felt that he deserved this camera because he works hard and has been talking about it for years. SO I did it. I actually totally surprised him and he loved it.
Now I am not sure who is the money obsessor in your family, but it's me in ours. I must have rubbed off on him because he suggested we wait a little while longer for this wonderful camera and he returned it and for half the price got a nice Canon point and shoot and a GPS unit for Geo Caching with the girls. We feel so good about it. We are actually really glad that we did this.
Our next dilemma was a car. We drive a 2001 Chevy Lumina and if you have lived by us in the last 5 years then you have seen this car. It seats six and we have been squeezing into it since last July since our 2 month old van was demolished. We went to buy another car and after a day of sitting in a dealership while some guy tried to convince me that he was doing his best to give me a "deal" even though his interest rate was higher than my preapproved one and he wanted me to pay 60 bucks more a month than I wanted. We walked away and do not want to do that again for a long time. My dilemma is do we continually sit on the edge where we have no debt, but a few things go wrong and I am right back into it. I want to get as far away from that line as I can. So we decided( well Ben is almost there) that if we put away that car payment for another year (sigh) and wait til next year we will have a lot to put down and have more pull at that dealership.
I just wrote a mouth full but I just want to remember this time where my view has shifted. I am learning what needs and wants are. I have gone almost a year with one car and have survived. I have received a lot of help and we have just had to suck it up and not travel a lot. It is a little easier here because it is a small town and there is nothing to do. I am grateful that I have a wonderful family and our focus is to do more things together. Which brings me to our pictures. We have joined the local community garden and I took some pics with our 2nd new camera. I thought they turned out pretty well and they girls love going and "helping". Our GPS as also been a hit except that Kate thinks dad bought it to find rattlesnakes ( not a good experience, lots of crying).
This is our plot
I had to throw in a cute picture of this girl. She just learned to clap!