Heading for financial solvency

News flash: Life is expensive. Education, kids, house, cars, all the other things that fill life with either happiness (vacations) or just doodads (souvenirs).

Actually, when I think about it my education expenses could've been a lot worse. I went to a private liberal arts college and paid out-of-pocket via summer jobs and student loans the equivalent of less than what one year of my tuition, room, and board cost. Then I went to grad school, which deferred my loan repayment but added to my overall debt since my assistantships and extra employment (at the library, what a surprise) didn't fully cover my life expenses. Bygones, it was worth it in the long run since grad school led me to (a) Ken and (b) my current career.

Getting married and buying a house definitely put a crimp in the ole cash flow, though the generosity of our wedding guests boosted our downpayment nicely. Just as we were feeling confident with our newest financial situation, we started our family and had to rework the system all over again.

If you don't use day care, then you may not be aware of the shocking price of various day-care options. I'm not comfortable with in-home care (just my personal opinion; to each his or her own) so we have always used centers. The first one we used seemed pricey to us at the time, but in retrospect it was not that bad, and you get what you pay for. Ahem, after I got through the initial period back to work of thinking I'd be unhappy with any day-care situation, I realized that I was unhappy with it because the center truly was subpar.

We found a new one, with a steeper price tag but one that was well worth the cleanliness, safety, and educational value provided. And that is the center we use to this day. Of course, once you add a second child to the day-care bill, as we did in 2007, you are going to have to start selling your internal organs to make the weekly payments. Don't worry; I sure I didn't need my left lung or that lobe of my liver, anyway.

Oh, and did I mention that right before we started our family, we needed to buy a new car because we had two unreliable ones? So we threw that into the mix. And in between having baby #1 and baby #2, the second vehicle needed to replaced. We bought used that time, but there's still a loan involved.

The only good news is that having all these commitments has made us uber-focused on what we owe to whom and how quickly we can possibly pay it off. I'm happy to report that my car is finally paid off, and we're 5 months early on that one. While it's tempting to make a pile of money in the middle of the family room and roll in it a la Scrooge McDuck, I will simply be earmarking the freed-up cash for speeding up the payments on my almost-done student loans.

I feel like we're making progress here, which is heartening given the economic situation we're now in across the United States, but I won't feel truly good until any and all education-related and (even worse) consumer debts are wiped out. Then I might, just might, make that money pile. But probably not because by then I'll be paying for sports and God-knows-what lessons and such things for the boys. There's always something, which is fine as long as it makes us happy and doesn't just drain the coffers.