I was about bust 17 years ago. Started over and worked on the road for much of the last 17 and now I am about to retire set up better than I ever dreamed.
Hard work with God’s help can work wonders if you don’t live to impress the neighbors.
I've known you here on FR for a long time now. We run across each other's path now and then and I always thought you were a smart guy.
Once again you just proved why ... if you don't live to impress the neighbors.
Exactly right. We've lived well below our means for many years. The Bible tells us to prepare for the hard times, which we've always done. I've been fortunate that in the 27 1/2 years I've been married, I've only lost my job once. Even then, I was re-employed within weeks and that was during the 90-92 recession.
I don't drive the best or newest vehicle (mine is 11 years old, wife's is now 6) and we don't live in a house that one might think I would with my salary. We live in a very modest home in a modest area. I'm the guy most people look right past thinking I don't have the money and savings I do. Frankly I prefer it that way.
For a period of time when my kids were growing up, all their friends had the latest and greatest of everything. My kids always wondered why they didn't have "like their friends did."
This recession has caused quite a few of their friends to move out of their homes when mommy and daddy lost their job and couldn't afford to keep the house along with the rest of their lifestyle. Between my two sons, six or seven friends "had to move" when their homes were reposessed.
My kids NOW see why we live the way we do. They get the value of money, and they're learning entrepreneurial skills. The two of them cleared over $1,100 each shoveling snow this winter. From that, they built a customer list of lawns they're going to mow for the summer. See, they cannot find jobs around here. All the adults are working McDonalds, Panera Bread, and all the retail level jobs the kids would be working. So they've had to "make their own way" and find things to do to make money. They even scrap metal using their bicycles to haul metal back to the house. They probably collect about two tons a month which nets them about $500/mo ($250 per ton) also.
You and me, we have the right idea. The trick is to make sure kids learn the lesson also so they don't come back after college is over, live in our basements and play x-box all day, hihi!