Let's be frank.
Its fun being rich.
More than that, though. I mean, being rich certainly is fun when you choose to do things like travel internationally on a monthly basis, or try new restaurants every few days. But separate from being fun, it is simply pleasant. When you have more money than you need, you are able to weigh all of your options and choose the one you like the best. Therefore, you end up living somewhere you love and eating food that matches both your values and your taste and health preferences.
The adjustment from rich to not rich has been challenging.
Dave's salary dropped dramatically in April. And then we started paying for housing in June. Not only have we been absent that line on our budget for the past 4 years, but we also began paying for that housing in the greater D.C. area. According to Kiplinger's 10 U.S. Cities With the Highest Cost of Living, Washington, D.C. rings up at #7. Housing eats up over half of our monthly income.
Preschool is expensive. Travel to the Midwest is expensive. Groceries are surprisingly expensive. You know all of this - its certainly true in your household as well. And after a few months of it, we had gotten it figured out. By December, our household operated off of a tight but beautifully functional budget. We did not draw out of savings, and we felt good about our frugality and self-control.
But January got messy again. Insurance costs went up, as did our contribution to our medical savings plan. We chose to begin tithing out of our monthly budget. And we began to look ahead to our time in Venezuela.
Because of the frequent shortages off of the grocery shelves there, we are allowed what is called a Consumables Shipment. That means that part of our household shipment to our new post will include weight for groceries. We will bring along shampoo and chocolate chips - much like we did in China. But we'll also bring along flour and diced tomatoes and olive oil. So, in a sense, we will have the opportunity to do 2 years of grocery shopping at the end of this calendar year.
For a number of reasons, most of which I don't really know, most things cost more money in Venezuela than they do in the U.S. So we would be wise to bring along anything we know we will want while we're there. Suggestions are things like clothes and shoes for the kids; decorations and wrapping paper for all holidays; books; birthday presents. All of these things would need to be purchased by the end of this calendar year.
So Dave and I have spent the last week or so poring over our savings, our retirement contribution, and our monthly budget, tweaking things here and moving this over to there. Making changes and making plans. We believe we have made it work, but its going to be tight.
A year ago, if I told you that I couldn't afford something, what I really meant was The price I would pay for that is more than its value to me.
For the next year, if I tell you that I can't afford something, what I really mean is If I pay for that, I won't be able to buy groceries by the end of this year.
I've gotta tell you - it was really pleasant being rich.
Its fun being rich.
More than that, though. I mean, being rich certainly is fun when you choose to do things like travel internationally on a monthly basis, or try new restaurants every few days. But separate from being fun, it is simply pleasant. When you have more money than you need, you are able to weigh all of your options and choose the one you like the best. Therefore, you end up living somewhere you love and eating food that matches both your values and your taste and health preferences.
The adjustment from rich to not rich has been challenging.
Dave's salary dropped dramatically in April. And then we started paying for housing in June. Not only have we been absent that line on our budget for the past 4 years, but we also began paying for that housing in the greater D.C. area. According to Kiplinger's 10 U.S. Cities With the Highest Cost of Living, Washington, D.C. rings up at #7. Housing eats up over half of our monthly income.
Preschool is expensive. Travel to the Midwest is expensive. Groceries are surprisingly expensive. You know all of this - its certainly true in your household as well. And after a few months of it, we had gotten it figured out. By December, our household operated off of a tight but beautifully functional budget. We did not draw out of savings, and we felt good about our frugality and self-control.
But January got messy again. Insurance costs went up, as did our contribution to our medical savings plan. We chose to begin tithing out of our monthly budget. And we began to look ahead to our time in Venezuela.
Because of the frequent shortages off of the grocery shelves there, we are allowed what is called a Consumables Shipment. That means that part of our household shipment to our new post will include weight for groceries. We will bring along shampoo and chocolate chips - much like we did in China. But we'll also bring along flour and diced tomatoes and olive oil. So, in a sense, we will have the opportunity to do 2 years of grocery shopping at the end of this calendar year.
For a number of reasons, most of which I don't really know, most things cost more money in Venezuela than they do in the U.S. So we would be wise to bring along anything we know we will want while we're there. Suggestions are things like clothes and shoes for the kids; decorations and wrapping paper for all holidays; books; birthday presents. All of these things would need to be purchased by the end of this calendar year.
So Dave and I have spent the last week or so poring over our savings, our retirement contribution, and our monthly budget, tweaking things here and moving this over to there. Making changes and making plans. We believe we have made it work, but its going to be tight.
A year ago, if I told you that I couldn't afford something, what I really meant was The price I would pay for that is more than its value to me.
For the next year, if I tell you that I can't afford something, what I really mean is If I pay for that, I won't be able to buy groceries by the end of this year.
I've gotta tell you - it was really pleasant being rich.
1 comment:
I am at an expensive post too (Vienna) and I've saved a lot by ordering groceries and dry goods from Amazon. If you sign up for Prime, you don't pay shipping, and you can have things you use regularly delivered automatically. The prices are usually half what we pay locally, or even lower. It's absolutely worth it!
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