on being fiscally responsible

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Josh and I got a notice from one of his student loan providers last week. The notice was to inform him that he would have to begin paying back his loans next month. I logged into the website to check out what the damage was. I added the payments up and pretty much hyperventilated. Uh, the monthly amount was close to a mortgage payment. We can't afford a real mortgage, how could we afford this!? Once I started breathing again, I realized we could consolidate a few of the loans together. This lowered our monthly payment but unfortunately it's still a staggering amount.

After receiving this discouraging news, Josh and I started a month long experiment where we do not spend any unnecessary money. This means no trips to Old Navy, no new shoes (like these that I really, really want) and no bike stuff. We decided that we couldn't completely cut everything out so we figure that if we're near a Starbucks we'd allow a coffee or two.

Basically we just want to see where we are at money-wise. This new monthly payment seems daunting, considering that some months we don't have extra money for anything. (But we do usually allow ourselves dinner out or new clothes here or there.)

The funny thing about all of this is that Josh and I aren't crazy spenders. We don't buy ridiculously expensive items and don't spend money we don't have. Most of my clothes are purchased from Old Navy on sale, I've never bought a designer purse in my life, and our furniture is either hand-me-downs or from Ikea. Our hobbies (bicycling and photography) can be expensive but we don't go crazy with them even though we'd like to.

Honestly I'm not sure how most people do it. Sometimes I think people look at us and think that we don't spend our money wisely. Do people think, "Why can't they afford a house?". Believe me, we can't! About once a month I look at our budget to try to figure out where the extra money for a mortgage could come from. You can't save money that isn't already there, am I right?

Most days though I really like the idea of living more simply. What can I do with more stuff? Do I really need more stuff? What good will it do me? I also remind myself that not having a house has it's benefits too. Why do I even need a house right now? I'd hate to move so soon after redoing our bedroom! And really we have enough room for all of our stuff. Things that I don't have room for and don't need that often (like Christmas decorations) is in storage at my parents. If something should break (like our stove), the landlord would have to replace it. (Even if it took awhile to get a new one...)

So in Josh's words, we're trying to be "fiscally responsible". Really it can't be that difficult to not spend money... I mean, I've got an awesome husband who I could just stare at all night and we have a Wii. What more do you really need?

Labels: apartment living, moolah