You know what’s really hard to do when you do not have home internet access? Update your blog. A couple months ago my rate shot up and the company was not willing to negotiate and because I am only home and awake a few hours in the evening, I decided I could get by without it. Instead, I would take my laptop to a wifi spot and update, except I have not been as organized to get my photos and text ready ahead of time and I still need to workout.

The good news is, I am saving money for my next financial goal. More good news is I own my car. I made my last payment last month. I accomplished this ahead of schedule because I had been paying extra on it.

Someone once said to me, “I’m not going to miss out on life because I can’t afford it, so what it I have credit card debt?” I almost vomited on the person (and I like the person!). Couple that statement with one from my Gramps that echos in my head often, “If you can’t pay cash for it today, you can’t afford it. You do without.” Now, you might understand why I was sick to my stomach.

Even the conversations I have with my Gramma about buying a house, she reminds me how they only had a mortgage on their first house and after that houses and cars were paid in cash.

I have taken a slightly different route of pursuing two degrees (neither of which have a high earning potential), run my own business, bought a car, never carried credit card debt, saved for retirement and now want to buy a house. The one thing I have never done is relied heavily on another person to support me so it came as a big surprise to me when I heard an extended family member say it was easy for me to be laid off, because I lived rent-free at home. Really?! because when I was laid off I was paying rent to my parents, temping at jobs (even those unrelated to where I wanted to end up) to cover all my bills, scaled back on my expenses so as to climb into debt and running my own business to teach myself new skills.

I am very much the do-it-yourself type, not just in crafting and cooking, but in how I finance my life. I know people will think what they want to make themselves feel better.

If you want to know more about my thoughts on living with one’s parents after college, read my post I was a Boomerang Kid.