Thoughts on Money

I live in a great little neighborhood. It's one that I've lived in off and on since I was born in some area or another. It's near a Mennonite university and a retirement home so we have a really interesting mix of older and younger people as well as families. We also have an interesting mix of money. While no one would really be considered "poor" in the area, it ranges from apartment dwellers to some really expensive and large houses. There's one particular hill of really fancy homes that has been there since I was very young and grown over the years.

I've always been in awe of this hill of homes. My Kindergarten "boyfriend" lived on the hill for a while as well as some of my other classmates in elementary school. I've walked the hill many times over the years and admired the beautiful houses and nice cars in the driveways. I have always wanted to live on the hill. My tastes have changed over the years and so I have a different favorite house depending on when you ask me. I always thought that if I were living on that hill I would know that I've made it.

I walked that hill last night and something had changed. None of the houses were my favorite anymore. Sure, they are all still beautiful and I don't fault a single owner for wanting to own them. But I don't want to live there anymore. I realized that the desire to be at the place where I could live there has caused me to make stupid choices and pretend like I had more money than I really do. It has put me into a horrible financial place, one I never thought I'd be in...ever.

My dream home has really changed in my mind since the beginning of my financial struggle and this process of decluttering my home and my life. It's much smaller and a lot less fancy than those houses on the hill. I'm not suggesting that if you can afford a home like that or still want to have one one day that there's something wrong with you. I'm just saying don't pretend like I did. Make smart choices to have what you desire and don't sacrifice on your way there.

And while we're talking dream homes. A blog dealing with minimalism wouldn't be complete without some videos of people living in tiny homes. Could you do it?