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Saturday, July 28, 2007

Objects in the Rear-View Mirror May Appear Poorer than They Are

I passed a woman while driving the other day. She was in a convertible with a beautiful scarf around her head to combat the actions of the wind while she drove with the top down. She was turning into a casino parking garage. My first thought as I passed in my "soccer mom mobile" was, "wow, I'd love to have a car like that, it looks fun." And surprisingly, for the first time EVER, my second thought was, "I bet she's in debt up to her eyeballs like the guy in that commercial." Of course his next phrase is, "Somebody help me."

I began to think what a turn around this was for me. From reading, both on the internet and finance books, I have come to truly understand that you never know what is going on just based on what you see.

Maybe that woman is in debt. Maybe she is married to a very rich man who just buys her whatever she wants. Maybe she saved every penny for that car (while taking care of all of her other financial responsibilities) and is now enjoying the fruits of her hard labor. It really doesn't matter what her situation is, it shouldn't have any bearing on MY life.

What it made me realize is that for ME in MY situation, I could not afford a car like that and still meet my other financial goals. For that reason, I am fine with my "van" (it isn't a van but my husband and his friends call it one to tease me) More than that I realized that I have finally gotten my priorities straight. Now when I see someone with expensive clothes and accessories, I imagine what her credit card balance must be- always higher than mine of course. And in all actuality, it probably is.

1 comment:

Shelby T said...

You are probably right about that lady being in debt, that's funny. You live near a casino? That would be dangerous, do you ever go gamblin'? I have a "I paid too much for it" SUV, even though a mini-van would have been better, but a mini-van...yuck! But, I hate that payment.