Stuff

Stuff is a funny thing.  Stuff fills your stomach when you're hungry.  Stuff entertains your children when they're bored.  And stuff can help you go places and do things that you would not otherwise be able to do without that stuff.  But stuff comes at a price, too.  First you have to buy the stuff, then you have to store the stuff, then maintain the stuff, and then dispose of the stuff responsibly.  Oh, and then you have to MOVE the stuff.

As many of you know, we are in Sunny (at least this weekend) Seattle now, and have moved into a furnished apartment for the next couple of months while we get our bearings and find a more permanent residence.  Everything that we wanted to have available to us over the next 2 months (because whatever the moving truck took is going to be put into storage) had to be taken along with us on our flight.  With 2 small children in tow.  You see where I'm going with this.........

Picture, if you will, a family walking through an airport towards the car rental desk; Mom is pushing a 2-seater  stroller with a large car seat somehow strapped to the back-end (under the stroller handles).  While pushing this monstrosity, she is somehow also dragging along a suitcase on wheels next to her, while she continues to trip over it at turns.  Her husband is pushing a rented luggage trolley that one can only assume was built more for the convenience of weekend travelers not wanting to carry their meager possessions than for the family of four looking to survive on the contents of their bags until Halloween.  The toddler boy in front is yelling "nah nah nah nah!" and the little girl in back is screaching, "but I don't WANT to sit down!" at which point Dad takes a turn a bit too tightly towards the elevators and the entire contents of the precariously stacked trolley spill out all over the hall, blocking the path for all travelers waiting to enter and exit the elevators.

But, in spite of all of our adventures getting out here, we did, in fact, make it and the kids gratefully went right to sleep.  And then Dad went out and bought MORE stuff: bananas, eggs, bread, and the like to ensure that our morning did not incite a revolt when there was nothing to eat.  And then after breakfast, I went out and bought MORE stuff from the grocery store.  And then, after bedtime that night, I went out and bought MORE stuff to help settle into the temporary home (and to organize some of the OTHER stuff we already had).

So do we really need all of this stuff?  There were several times I asked myself that question during this process (and not just of the items that we packed on the plane).  Then I sat and drank a cup of coffee this morning while my daughter quietly drew with her new markers and my son bounced up and down contentedly on his new riding toy.  I don't know about need, but in many cases, it's probably worth the cost.

Welcome to Financial Mommy!

So this blog has been several years in the making....at least in my head.  Being a stay-at-home mom is fantastically hard work, and for many moms that also means managing the family checkbook.  But what about the bigger financial decisions that need to be made for the family?  Stuff like insurance coverage, wills, investments, retirement savings.......

.....zzzzzzzzz.....right?

Well, the whole process can be a little daunting, and alot boring.  So my hope is that by sharing with all of you an occasional glimpse of the financial decisions and topics that pass through our family, you'll gain a little knowledge without having to use a pillow or other soft device to catch your nodding head.  And, of course, if you know us personally and want to find out how the family is doing, or if you don't know us and want an anecdote or two to remind you that you're not the only mother of small children who is cleaning peanut butter out of your son's hair tonight, we'll have a little of that, too.

Why now?  Well, as I speak, there are movers in my home, packing boxes and preparing us for our move from the Chicago area to Seattle and the great Northwest!  So what better time to talk about financial decisions and tell family stories than when you get to start a new job, buy a new home, and take 2 small children on a 4-hour flight right after they've missed their mid-day naps (EEEK!).  So stay tuned, and I'll try to share the best and the worst of this roller coaster of family change in the making......