8. Do you ever fear that your employer, family or friends will learn the extent of your total indebtedness?
Employer and friends, I'm not to worried about....family though??? It does kind of suck that my sister and her husband are multimillionaires. There house is paid in full (1,300,000.00), all 4 cars (BMW SUV, Lexus convertible, Cadillac SUV and Ford King Ranch that there 16 year old just got for his birthday
). He just built a nice cabin (cash) at the duck club he owns, all three sons have top of the line 4-wheelers (paid cash), all three sons college is already paid for (youngest son is 8), they just got back from spending 2 weeks at Turtle Island and looking at buying Real Estate there. I could go on and on.
Let me correct myself....i do NOT mean that it sucks that they are so dang wealthy.....I am very very very happy for them. They have worked hard to get where they are at (granted his work hours are very minimal these days) and I am very proud of them. I guess it is more of a pity party for myself. I think of times in the past where I've had to rob Peter to pay Paul or sacrifice things to make ends meet and knowing that they know of my past hardships( that stemmed from my divorce) is sometimes embarrassing! I don't believe I have too much pride, but it can be disheartening to tell your child No, you can't have a brand spanking new Ford King Ranch like your cousin has. Or NO, we can not have a 100,000.00 pool in our backyard like they have, No you can't have an 800.00 paintball gun, your 300.00 one will have to do. Yes, there kids are spoiled, but I must say they are awesome kids. They are all honor students (so is my son
) and all very Christian. They appreciate but do not expect everything they have.
With that said and done, I am proud of the long road I have traveled. Hard lessons learned along the way, but as my mother says..."It only builds character". I am now a proud homeowner (in my name only), I drive a nice reliable car, have a great job, i have a college fund set aside for my son that I contribute to every month, a little cushion in my savings account, and have alot of "materialistic" things that I have worked hard for. My son has everything he NEEDS and most of what he wants ( within reasonable limits). I don't say that to "boast", but to remind people that where there is a will, there is a way. As long as you work hard, pay your bills, have emergency money set aside, I see nothing wrong in splurging on things that are not a necessity in life, as I see it as only rewarding yourself for the hard work you've done!!!
Now...if I could just reach my Fico goal, life would be grand!!!