Thursday, November 17, 2011

Going back to the beginning...

Every now and then, I look at our financial numbers and ask myself "How did I get here?"  These are the answers I come up with:

2005:
I was just coming out of a relationship of 6 years.  During that relationship, I was too trusting and generous and allowed my BF to have supplementary credit cards under my name.  The last few years were long distance and although I tried to control the BFs spending, he managed to rack up his credit cards over $5000.  Unfortunately he had no honor and wasn't a real man, so he didn't feel the need to pay me back after we had broken up.  Coming out of the relationship I had close to $20,000 in consumer debt.  No mortgage or car payments.  

2006:
I worked on paying off the debt but I wasn't making much progress.  Met DH and we had a great first year together.  We were always out and about, always watching movies, going out to eat and just being slightly irresponsible with our money.  We traveled to Minneapolis and Las Vegas this year.  Later in 2006 we found out that we were pregnant.  At the request of my parents, we decided to get married before the baby arrived.

2007:
This was a huge year for us.  We got married, bought a brand new house, furnished the entire house, bought a brand new vehicle and had a baby.  And just before baby arrived, we traveled to Toronto.

2008:
I was sent to London, England for work and DH and T came out to stay with me for 10 days.  Although my accommodations were paid for and I had a food allowance, we still had to pay for their flight and some extra food.  And of course there was money spent when we would go sight-seeing and shopping.  We also found out we were pregnant with our second child.  We also went to Las Vegas when we came across an incredible flight and hotel package deal.  

2009:
We had baby #2 and I traveled to Vancouver twice (once with the family and the second time with friends).

2010:
There were some family-related emergencies that required us to use our line of credit.  Then there was the trip to Saskatoon.  We also traveled overseas for a 1 month vacation.

2011:
Not much travel this year, just one trip to Minneapolis.  This was the year that I really wanted to start paying off our debt.  The past 4 years have been incredibly busy and the kids, the wedding, the house, the vehicle, none of that was planned for.  So there were no savings funds for any of it.  

So I know why we're in the financial situation that we're currently in.  And I should be fortunate to say that we're in this financial situation because we chose to splurge.  We spent money like it was going out of style.  I'm lucky to say that there weren't a number of unfortunate events that put us in debt.  It was our reckless spending.


It has been without a doubt, an amazing 4 years.  And because we were able to do so much, I know that I can re-think our spending now and be more responsible. 

2 comments:

  1. I like looking back. I think it helps prevent any future "stupidity" on my part.

    Nice recap.

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  2. Your history is somewhat similar to ours. I look back at the trips and goodies we put on our credit card and wonder what the heck we were thinking.

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