Finance Pressures

There have been many times when I've thought to myself, "If only I was rich I wouldn't have to do..." or "If I had more money I could..." Let's face it, I married a guy with an outdoor recreation degree, not exactly a big money making degree.

And me, having an accounting degree, can't help but think about money. Or the lack there of. My husband and I have successfully paid off 2 of our 4 credit cards, his car (a few months early), and are close to having a 3rd card paid off. Each month we set down a hefty chunk of change to pay off the card as well as move money to savings. But even when we pay off those cards we still have student loans to pay off.

I am constantly worrying about what would happen if I couldn't work anymore. Honestly, I make about twice as much as my husband makes. Sometimes I feel the tension. I know my husband doesn't want me to feel like I have to work, but in all reality I do. His paycheck would only be able to pay for our student loans and rent each month. That means our car insurance, cell phone, electricity, groceries, gas, and medications would go unpaid.

My big concern is when we have children. I want to have my own children but I don't know what we would do in regards to work. I can't really do my work from home and I don't have family nearby that can watch my kids and I don't want to leave my kids at childcare to be raised by someone else.

I have considered working part time, which is most likely going to be the best choice for me, since I probably can't bring my kids to work and we will need more income than my husband makes. I guess leaving my kids at a daycare for about 4 hours won't be too bad. It will give them a time to play with others and give me a chance to work a few hours. Yeah, I think that would work well. I can't believe I didn't think of it before.

I'm not planning on having kids yet, we want to have all our credit cards paid off and some money in savings. We're thinking that towards the end of next year we should be ready.

But then comes the consideration of buying a house. Of course we can afford houses in our area, it's just a matter of finding a house that is big enough for 4-6 kids and not too expensive. But when to buy one? We're not sure, but some day.