Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Thoughts on Money for the New Financial Year

No one talks about money, not how much we earn, not how we managed to afford our house...

But on occasions people will open up.
Like Wittle, he and Angelica went to the Easter Show and ran into a very determined salesman who proceeded to get them to sign up for a $4500 saucepan set. What the!?!?!

At times like this I am tempted to share about Husband's and my frugality and how we managed a 25% deposit on our house. But then, that would alienate people, and I cannot do that.

But sometimes, I am sick of people thinking we are stingy.

We are not, but we are careful. Husband and I had to tell his parents that, no, we couldn't afford to fly ourselves down to Adelaide for a weekend to go to a cousin's wedding. Sorry, we just bought a house and we cannot afford it.
I know that they thought we didn't have our priorities right, for my parents in law, family, especially the really obscure people who you only see once in a few years, are very important. So important, we should blow a couple of thousand on airfares and accommodation.
So, they proceeded to pay for Husband and I to go. I felt so very guilty, but Husband accepted their gift and it was a good weekend.

But I do wish that people would talk about money more openly. I belong to a website Simple Savings it is a website that has hints and tips and the best forum ever. It is a place where you can find tips to clean your shower with vinegar as well as some other, less common ways to save money.

It is also a safe place to speak about struggles with money and somewhere where you can be proud to announce, you have paid a little more off your mortgage this month.

I am working on transparency in my life, trying to be more open with the people with whom I speak. On many fronts, but I do hope that one day I will be able to freely and honestly talk about money to my friends and family without being judgmental or offending.

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