Warning: this post is about money, a controversial and "hot" topic at best

I have been thinking about money the last couple of days. Well, truthfully I guess it's something I think about all the time. I think everyone does, right?
DH works hard and he provides a nice life for us. A blessing I am very grateful for. We have a budget and live in it (mostly). We try to live in it always. We save, tithe, pay our bills and have some left over for wants. I feel we are very fortunate. We are not expert at living within our means and sometimes buy on credit but we both are united in a goal of getting rid of that bad habit and paying off our debts etc.
It's always a balancing act. Everyone has to prioritize and decide what to spend their resources on. Whether the resource is money, or time, or energy.
So, why the extra attention to the topic now?
Two reasons. First we had an issue, whose root is money, in our family this week.
Second, next week I will have been blogging for one year and I am going to slurp my blog into a book to save for posterity. I thought some useful information would be good to include. I don't know how much useful stuff there is but here is my 2 cents.

A couple days ago we booked our trip for next summer. Both my brothers are coming with us and one sister. Three sisters could not. We actually didn't even invite the two youngest. They are in college and working and young still (18 and 21 years old) and even though we love to spend time with them they are really kids still and not on their own financially or otherwise. My other sister has had some set backs and whatnot over the years and isn't in a position to go right now. She was not excluded, in fact we told her we'd love to have her come and we all would. Still she is upset that we didn't keep her in the loop in planning as much as she wanted and that we didn't plan around her. I didn't talk to her that much about it because I was trying to be sensitive to her feelings. And we didn't plan around her because right now a luxury vacation is not feasible for them. We did talk about changing our plans to what she wanted and decided that if we did she still couldn't go and then we'd be going some where that wasn't our first choice. In a nut shell.

Yesterday she and I had a conversation that I found upsetting. I love her and her family very much and it saddens me that they are struggling. I also gave a lot of thought to the things she said.

This is turning into random babbling, as usual, but anyway.
When I was growing up we were not rich. I am the oldest of a lot of kids and dad is a teacher. He taught at the high school and night classes at the college. Mom stayed home with the kids sometimes doing daycare or teaching piano lessons but she was mostly home when I was a kid. We vacationed seeing our grandparents or camping at the beach. I baby-sat for spending money from the time I was young. My brothers had paper routes, raised dogs, did odd jobs. We all got jobs when we were older teens. It was a normal, happy life.
When I was in later high school mom went to work teaching too and then we had a bit more money. My sisters took more dance classes and had more expensive prom dresses but still we weren't rich. I think I got a good work ethic from my parents, and a good appreciation of the value of money and spending it wisely.
When I was ready to go to college my parents told me I needed to get a scholarship because it was too expensive. I didn't. I went to community college, which I paid for. After one semester I got married and stopped going. Shortly after Dani was born I wanted to go back and so I did daycare in my home in order that I could stay home with her and pay tuition to go to school at night. A few years later I had been going part time semester after semester, baby after baby, when my MIL came to me and said she wanted to help. She thought our marriage was in a lot of trouble and her son wasn't a good husband/father. She offered to pay for my junior and senior year of school. She said it was not only for my future but for her granddaughters. Education is the key to security. This was the greatest gift she could have given me. I was so grateful and I accepted that help with a keen sense of obligation and responsibility. I was a good student and had already shown that going to college was important to me but I continued with a further resolve to not waste that chance. I became a teacher.
Before I finished school I did end up getting divorced. Then my parents offered help and shelter from the storm for the girls and I. We lived with them while getting on our feet. Again I was so grateful. Again I didn't want to waste their help and kindness, I wanted to use that time to make sure I could stand on my own. Fortunately I was almost done with school and was able to become gainfully employed and after a little over a year was able to move out on my own and take care of my children. I feel so blessed to have had that help when I needed it. I am so glad that I recognized the need to get an education and even though it took a long time that I could stick with it and have the security we needed. I hope I am paying forward by teaching my kids the same thing.
You have to get trained to do something skilled. It doesn't necessarily have to be 4-8 years at a university, it could be becoming a great plumber, or x-ray technician or whatever but it has to be something. You have to pay the price at some time. I was talking with my brother about this and he told me that he went to night school for 6 years while working full time as an enlisted guy in the Air Force before he got accepted into the PA program and went to school full time for two years. Then he was an officer and now he works in private practice and is doing well. He said it was hard but he wanted better for his family.
So, posterity, take note. You have to take advantage of getting as much education as you can. You have to have a plan and pay the price. Being a good person isn't enough. Look at Nephi, he starts out I Nephi, having been born of goodly parents and having been taught....
We are commanded to seek wisdom out of the best books. To learn and to know all we can.

I know I am very blessed and very fortunate. I am aware of that and try to make good choices with my resources. We are lucky as well because DH's family spoils us and we enjoy fun things that we wouldn't have otherwise been able to. Fun shopping trips with Nana, a dream Disney vacation! (Can't wait), cool toys. BUT, we live a comfortable life because DH spent 6years in college studying hard, and studying math (who wants to do that??). And the values we want to pass on to our children are those of getting a good education, working hard, saving money. DH's family does that~ has those goals, helps with that and supports that in every way. My family does that~ has those goals, helps and supports. That is the real gift. A cruise is a perk, but an education is forever and the glory of God.

As for my dear sister. I hope she will be less mad. I hope she understands where I am coming from. I hope she knows that I think she is awesome and her family is precious and dear to me. We stand behind her, have confidence in her, and support her. By her I mean her and her husband and family, and by we I mean not only DH and myself but all the kids and our parents, ( I am 100% confident in saying ~though not authorized to speak for them this is just my own personal babble )
She is a hard worker and bright and wonderful. This hard time will pass. In the meantime. I love you.