[fabsroman]

Catdaddy,

My wife is a pharmacist and I am an attorney/CPA with my own practice. There is a pharmacist shortage throughout the nation, so my wife makes some decent money. For an attorney/CPA, I make decent money too. Not yet up there with the creme de la creme, but getting close.

Money was a little tight over the last year because we spent a ton on my new truck, the townhouse, and our wedding. We sat down the other day and figured out that we spent 100K of after tax dollars in a single year. I put 15K down on my truck and another 15K down on the townhouse. We spent 30K to remodel the townhouse the way we wanted it. Spent another 15K on our wedding, with 15K given to us by her parents. The payments on my truck and her car totalled 12K for the year. Our honeymoon was 6K, her engagement ring was 17K. I am sure I am missing plenty with furniture and other stuff, but it was up there. Now, the townhouse is finished, the wedding and honeymoon are over. The house is completely furnished, and everything is paid for. We are in a saving mode now. I drive an 8 year old Taurus with 145,000 miles on it and she drives a 4 year old Sonata with 85,000 miles on it and we will not be buying new cars until those two melt down. However, I just got permission to buy a top of the line Browning gun safe (which makes sense with all the money I have invested in firearms), an AR-15, and an AR-10. Don't have many more guns on my "wants" list, so we will be saving up for a house after that, and maybe a farm soon thereafter. Oh yeah, might be some kids in there too.

Yeah, both my wife and I each make more than our parents ever did. All 5 of my parents' children make more than they ever did. However, life isn't all about how much money a person makes. I am convinced that there is a lot more to life than just money. Personally, I judge people by what is in their heart, not their wallet. There are plenty of people that I want nothing to do with because they are just bad people. You find them throughout the class system (i.e.,poor, middle class, and rich). Some have lint in their pockets and others have wallets with cash busting out the seems.

At the end of the day, I like money, but I will not let it influence the type of person I am. I have two brothers. One calls me "disgustingly honest." Both of them were my best men, but only one gave a speech. To end his speech, he said that "I am the most honorable, truthful person that he knows, and he wants to be just like me when he grows up." Mind you, he is going to be 32 years old this year and he makes more money than me.

It is all about feeling good about yourself. Somebody will always be better than me at something. Somebody will always have more money than me, a bigger farm than me, a nicer shotgun than me, more geese/deer on his farm than me, bigger/more deer on his wall than me, etc.

This winter, I met 4 new friends/hunters at a farm I hunt on. It was two fathers and their sons. During our first hunt together, I asked them what they were shooting because their guns looked brand new. I asked them what they were shooting, just because I was curious, and they hesitated to tell me, almost like they were embarrassed. Eventually, they told me they were shooting Stoeger autos. They probably felt bad because I was shooting an Benelli SBE and my dad was shooting a Beretta o/u. Of course, the o/u is 11 years old and the SBE is 8 years old. We'll continue using them until they don't work anymore. Thing is, I could completeley understand their situation. My dad and I didn't start shooting those types of guns until I got out of undergrad and the rest of my brothers and sisters had pretty much finished with college. When I was younger, I was shooting a 20 ga. single shot that cost $50 at K-Mart and I was in heaven. Before that gun, I was shooting a.410 single shot that used to be my grandfather's. They called me three more times to hunt together before the end of the season.

Buy yourself a farm that you can afford. Enjoy it and live a good life. That way, when you are older, you won't be looking back and regretting anything. Whenever I think about regret, I remember an incident when I was about 10 or 11 years old. My youngest brother had soccer practice and my dad took me and my other brother with him to give my mom some quiet time. While there, my brother and I were playing around with a soccer ball, and he stole it from me. I am quicker than him and I was pissed, so when I caught up to him from behind, I kicked the back of his foot so that he ended up tripping. My dad looked at me disappointed and sat me down next to him. Then he asked me why I did what I did, and I had no answer. That was a terrible feeling and I don't want to experience it again. So, I try to live a good life.

Okay, I could go on all day and night about money and how it shouldn't mean as much as it does. I could go on about possessions and people's wants, but that would take me the rest of the day.