My Financial Background - In Debt
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One of the challenging things about trying to manage finances as a couple is the differences in our financial backgrounds, and the consequences that this has on our current attitudes and behavior. This is a summary of my (In Debt’s) background.
When I was growing up, debt never really affected me negatively. I was vaguely aware that there were times when my parents were trying hard to pay off credit cards and other debt, but it never seemed like it was a big deal, since it didn’t change much besides how often we would order a pizza or go to see a movie.
In my teen and college years, I ran my own business. Though I did incur a little debt for business equipment, it was an investment that allowed me to make much more money over the long run, and I always paid off the loans ahead of time.
Thanks to a combination of scholarships and income from my business, I never had to deal with student loans at all.
After college, I quickly moved into a technology related job that paid reasonably well, but continued living at my parents’, thus avoiding the expenses of rent. Because the job was a bit of a distance, I also had to upgrade from my old pickup truck to a relatively new car. At my job I saved, put money into an IRA, and worked to pay off my car loan.
Through all this I…
- Never had to deal with a loss of income
- Never had to deal with much in the way of fixed expenses
- Never had to deal with real debt
As a consequence, I had a very relaxed relationship with money, and just wasn’t used to thinking about financial discipline. If I saw a book I wanted, I’d just buy it.
Then came this fall. Young and I are from different parts of the USA. And despite the pitfalls of long distance relationships, we were in one. It became clear that if we were actually going to make things work, it was time to be close enough to see each other frequently. So I quit my job and moved, expecting that I’d find a decent job relatively quickly. That’s not quite what happened.