Dirty words

Money. The dirtiest word I know. It controls everything from our marriages, to our kids educations, to the type of pets we can own and where we can live. I don't know about you, but at least %75 of the arguments my husband and I get in involve money. Where does it go? How can we get more? We're slaves to a broken system that keeps the poor poor, the rich richer, and leaves the middle class to fend for themselves. After all, we don't need the tax breaks, right? We never need public assistance such as medicaid, right? My husband works 50+ hours a week. This should be enough. Should be. We live paycheck to paycheck, so one little slip and we're flat on our asses. Why do we need satellite TV? Cell phones with Internet? Cell phones at all? Video game systems, wifi, fancy cars, and steak for dinner? Why do we depend on these things to survive? They are all things we can live without, but the theory of keeping up with the Jones' is just to great. We cant help but want bigger, better and more. Perhaps we should take a lesson from our grandparents, and scale back. Pay cash, and and take pride in our credit. Why shouldn't a parent be able to stay at home with the kids? Why should we have to depend on two full time incomes, and allow our kids to be raised by Hannah Montana and MTV? The truth is, most of us can survive on a single income. We just choose to live more extravagantly than necessary. Of course, "stay at home parent" is a taboo phrase all on its own, but we'll save that one for another post. As I write this, my family and I have made the decision to move in with my parents. This is probably one of the hardest decisions we've ever had to make, but at the same time, most likely the best for our future. In about 7 months time, we should be able to get ourselves completely out of debt. At which time, we hope to get into a home of our own. I hate the thought of giving up my home. Even if it is a rental. Its my home. Its my kids home. I love my neighborhood, I love having my own bathroom, my own kitchen, and the think I may miss the most; central air. But its time to look at the big picture. Our money situation, and bad decisions, have given us 2 options; live paycheck to paycheck paying the minimum on everything and let the bills pile up while renting a 3bdrm townhouse with our family of 7, or move in with the parents, live in a cramped space for half a year, and moving on to bigger and better things. Obviously owning our own home is the better option, but the short term of that makes me shudder. I love my parents, but I sure do love my space. I hate having to be dependent on others. I hate asking for help. I'm the type who would rather wallow in self pity and drown in the financial pit Ive dug than admit I need help. This has been a long time coming, and a most difficult decision to make. But my kids deserve better than this. They deserve the security of a well stocked savings account. They deserve clothes that fit and look nice before school starts. I used to be so good with money. Not sure what happened. Time to get back to basics and start filling up this pit of ruin. I know we can do it. It wont be easy, but ask me in a year. Ill tell you what a great decision it was, and how much better off we are because of it. Ask me now, and well, I'm still struggling with the idea.