What I Won’t Sacrifice

I spend a lot of time thinking about our finances and our goals. Where we are, where we want to be, how to get there. Maybe it’s the upcoming birth of our son, but lately I find myself thinking about my other priorities and how they impact our financial goals. And I’ve decided there are certain things I’m not willing to sacrifice no matter how much they would help us toward achieving our goals.

Time with my family

I’m pretty confident that if he wanted to my husband could get a much higher paying job. The downside would be that he’d have to travel during the week. It would give us a nice boost financially, but he’d be in a job he dislikes (he doesn’t like that kind of travel) and we wouldn’t have much quality time together. And with a baby on the way, our time together as a family is the most important thing to me.

My dogs

We have three crazy dogs. Between food, vet visits and preventative medication (heartworm, flea and tick) I estimate they cost us roughly $1200 a year. I can think of plenty things to do with an extra $1200 in my pocket. But I can’t imagine my life without those three crazy dogs that wake me up at 3:00am to be let outside, that have internal clocks that know the exact minute it’s feeding time, that play ball until they’re about to pass out, and that compete with each other to snuggle up with me and Mr. Frugal as soon as we sit down. No, I gladly spend that $1200 because I can’t put a price on the joy they bring me.

These are the things that matter most to me and I’m just not willing to sacrifice them.

But there are plenty of things that I’ll forgo on our way to financial freedom:

Fancy new car

I drive a 12 year old Honda that gets 30 miles per gallon. As my friend John would say, my ride completely lacks street cred. There was a time that that mattered to me. Now I gladly trade that large car payment for a practical and fuel efficient car that is paid off. I will drive that car until it just won’t go anymore.

Designer clothes

I’ve traded my $160 Diesel jeans for the clearance rack at Old Navy and I’m ok with that. People don’t point and laugh when I go out in public so I figure my budget wardrobe is acceptable.

Accumulating things

Over the past couple years I’ve become very clear on what matters and it’s not anything that you can own. And yet, we spend so much time working for things that we sacrifice what really matters.

I’m a little late to the game, but I’m grateful to have my priorities straight now. Our path to financial freedom may be a little longer because of our choices, but it will be a more meaningful and enjoyable journey.

How about you? Is there anything you won’t sacrifice on your road to financial freedom?

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Tagged as: Happiness, The Husband