There are (at least) three things I know I want in my life, but am in no way, shape, or form currently ready for. They probably wont be a shock to you. It’s still funny, though, to think about things you want so bad, but know you aren’t ready for. Guess it’s kinda like wanting to drive a car when you are 12. Driving would be awesome, but reality is you better wait a couple more years.
House:
Girl Ninja and I are playing grown-ups this weekend and we are going open-housing with some close friends. But wanna know something? We still don’t want to buy a house. We know eventually we do. Like real bad, just not yet. We like our cozy apartment. We like our hectic lifestyle. And we like knowing we can move somewhere else tomorrow. The stability and sense of ownership will be awesome, but is not something we need at this stage of life.
Babies:
Of course babies. Thousands and thousands of babies. Or one. Haha. In reality GN wants four, I want two. But we have both agreed we will start with the first and take it from there. Most of our Seattle friends are parents now. It’s so awesome getting to see them be all responsible and change diapers and stuff. Sometimes Girl Ninja and I get baby eyes. Something tells me within a year GN will start getting pretty antsy. I’m hoping for more like 2015 🙂
Dog:
Holy crap, more than anything I desperately want a dog. Like real, real, real bad. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, our landlord has a “no pets” policy in place. This is probably for the good since our lifestyles are not really conducive to being puppy parents. We are gone too many weekends, out too late at night, and just terribly selfish with our time right now. A dog would bring immense happiness in to our life, but probably bring an equal amount of frustration. For this reason, we probably wont get a puppy til we have a kid.
What are some things in your life you desperately want, but just know would not be a smart decision for you at this point? Things like buying a new car, when your current one works just fine. Or maybe playing the stock market, before you’ve paid off high interest debt.
Alright, time to go put on my Spongebob underwear and make some Kraft macaroni and cheese 🙂
Favorite nail from yesterday: Awesome Time Lapse and Tech Support.
Definitely a house. A nicer car would be a bonus. And taking time off – a career break if you like – to travel the world.
Beware the kid thing. My wife wanted four, while I wanted two. Rather than compromise and come up with an average like 3, we ended up with four girls and two boys. Apparently we are bad at math, although we do multiply rather well.
My aunt has five boys. Tried five times for a girl. Lucky for me I am her only girl! She loves me a lot 🙂
I really want a dive school. Mrs Scot and I want to move to an island and run our own dive school – but it is not the right time for this yet. We need to save and pay off a large portion of our new mortgage! 🙂 I am still only 23 so got some time….
I want 3, hubby wants 2. We have one right now. We will see what transpires. We also both want a house, so we got pre-approved after saving money for a good down payment. Now we just have to find a Realtor…
I’m definitely not mature enough for a baby.
Dogs are cool and all, but you’re better off with 2 cats (they can kep each other company). Cats are awesome and they are pretty much self sufficient. They don’t care if you come home late or are gone for a day or two. Just leave them food, water, and clean litter. Give them plenty of love and they will be your best friend for life. As an owner of 5 of the little darlings, I speak from experience.
As for what I want now, believe it or not, 2 more cats! But we (the wife and I) KNOW that it would be too many! Maybe when we get that house in the country with the huge, fenced in yard….
I reaaally want to get out of student accommodation and into a studio flat, but it would be way too expensive for me right now :(.
I want to take a job that would be half my pay and likely fewer/worse benefits. Like really want to take it. But that would throw a big monkey wrench in the ability to retire before I keel over and die. I’m hoping I can justify it once my mortgage is paid off (4 years).
I REALLY WANT TO GET RID OF OUR DOG…but the wife & kids won’t let me! Wish we would have had a NO PETS policy in the HOA…
I WANT to build a state-of-the-art custom recording studio (for voiceovers, not music) in our spare bedroom. But (for the stuff I want) that would be a $20k+ investment. Instead, I really need to start off with some basics & build it up one piece of equipment/furniture at a time.
I WANT to buy a new Yellow Corvette (one of the few sports cars I fit in) or an awesome replica of Green Hornet’s Black Beauty (60’s TV show, not movie version). But I’d be dropping at least $70k+ to buy either one. Instead, I should keep driving my Tahoe until it dies and put my money in the bank.
A dog! Like you, I’m desperate for one. But our accommodations aren’t conducive to having one. I live with my fiancée and our cat in a studio, and we are kicked out of it around Christmas and for the summer (it’s a complicated but very cheap living arrangement)… plus it’s already furnished, not good for a puppy. Doesn’t change the fact that I want one though!
I want a tropical vacation. I really really really want a tropical vacaion, and to move to a tropical place with a location independent lifestyle. Me. Hammock. Palm Trees. Sand. Surf. Laptop. Ok daydream over.
Dude… I felt the same way about kids. We are expecting our first in June and I couldn’t be more excited.
As for what I want… my kid to be perfectly healthy and become the next Tom Brady or Warren Buffett.
That’s a lot of pressure to put on your child.
It take a lot of pressure to turn a lump of coal into a diamond 😀
Your art work is hilarious. I always want the newest gadget when i should be focusing on debt reduction. I get a one track mind and that it consumes me until I get it, then next week it is on to the new thing.
At my age (63.5) I don’t know what qualifies as too “mature,” but there are definitely things I’d like to do that I’m too frugal to allow myself. – Travel: I’ve been to much of Europe, but would love to see China, India, and Japan before I die, as well as a lot more of France and Italy. – Art: Would love to acquire work by some artists presently beyond by means, such as one of Julie Evans’s more recent drawings. – Dining: Would love to blow a few hundred a night at some of New York’s more exclusive restaurants. – Home: More prosaic, but some day I’d really like to renovate the bathroom. – Dog: Unfortunately I’m not allowed to have pets either, and as a single person living alone I would not be the ideal pet owner. Meanwhile I have to content myself playing with my sister’s Havanese.
Larry, I like your comments. You seem like a cool dude! What is it about Julie Evan’s that you like so much?…What I like about art, even art I’m not wild about, is that no matter what it is there always seems to be an audience for it.
Well, thank you, Once. It’s pleasing to know that even at my advanced years I can be considered cool. As for Julie Evans, she is only one example from many, but at her best she displays a uniquely beautiful sense of abstract color and form, with influences from Indian miniature painting. I particularly like the work from her shows entitled “Cowdust” and “Lessons from a Guinea Hen”; the most recent work on her blog seems less interesting, and the earlier paintings from 2006-08 by comparison look busy and heavy, without the magic of a piece like “Toupe” or “Dragon Sprout.”
http://julieevans.blogspot.com/
I would also love to buy one of Jessica Joslin’s fantastical animal sculptures:
http://jessicajoslin.com/jessica/
But fortunately her book is affordable, as are her limited edition prints.
Larry, I’m in the midst of crossing Paris off my bucket list right now… typing as I’m in the City of Lights, a getting ready for a day trip to Bruges, Belgium tomorrow… then back home to Canada on Wednesday. Italy’s next on the Bucket List!
Bruges is a delightful small city. Don’t miss the Town Hall. When I was in Belgium (2002), I stayed in Brussels and took a day trip covering Antwerp, Bruges, and Ghent, all interesting.
I pretty much want that dolphicorn. Do a giveaway or something.
If you don’t get a dog now, I don’t think you’ll want one till your kids are old enough to help out with them. From my experience, people who get pets before kids often regret the move once the kid pops out. The dog gets neglected or given away. Good call waiting on that one.
I would love to adopt another dog, but financially, it’s just not in the cards. I love my dog dearly, but dayum, he’s an expensive bugger! We’re already spending hundreds a month on doggie day care (we work long hours and he’s 13 and I don’t wanna test his pee-holding skills), prescription dog food, a daily prescription, and general vet care, not to mention that the poor guy has had two surgeries thus far. I’d do just about anything for my dog, but part of that is making sure that I’m in a good fiscal position to do so.
If dead set on getting a puppy, I’d say wait until they’re old enough to help out OR get one now and love/train/socialize it to be well-adjusted by the time the kiddies come along. Trying to care for a puppy and a baby at the same time is crazy demanding. I’ve seen plenty of households where dogs came before kids, and if it was truly a dog-loving household that knew just what a big responsibility it is to take a dog into your care, they don’t give away or neglect the dog after they have kids.
There always is the option of adopting an older dog – it doesn’t have to be a senior or anything, but there are plenty of 2+ year old dogs that are looking for a good home. Mine came already house-broken, yippee!
I want want want to buy a place. But having a 10% down payment vs. 20% tells me I’m not ready. But I want it! Right now! I want to decorate! Yup, I’m definitely not ready for it :). Who knows though, 2012 is still young!
In order of level of desire for said things: DOG, baby, house, dolphicorn. 🙂
We face the same issue with the dog: no-pets policy in the apt. Baby is in the five-year plan. But house may be a mythical creature for us, much like the dolphicorn. Living in San Francisco, that’s how it is. Unless, of course, we decide to leave the city. (Don’t make me go back to the ‘burbs!)
I have similar aspirations too. They don’t make sense to me. My hubby and I hate cleaning. Most of our fights actually happen when we have to clean our 500 sq. foot apartment! So, buying a house would mean more cleaning….and that would suck. But everyone’s dream is to have your own house and be settled down. We want kids, but that will not happen for a while. We are so young, and want to do so much else. Plus, I helped raise my younger brother, and babies are so much work. He is fourteen, still a kid, and I still help take care of him. My parents make fun of me because he listens more to me than to them. My hubby wants a dog. I have never had a pet, and I don’t really want one until we have a yard.
I want a Ferrari or Porsche! I want to move from our townhouse to a one story house. I thin k I have the rest covered. I may want a Ferrari or Porsche, but I realize it is impractical. The one story is likely in the next few years as I get older, I do not want to have to go up and down those stairs.
If “C the Writer” posted this thread on her blog, I am sure it would say a job.
Having had a puppy and now THREE kids…get the puppy first 🙂 LOL
Aside from kids my list includes the house (gasp…we are raising kids in an apartment…bigger gasp not everyone has their own room hehe). Definitely a puppy and maybe an SUV. I love the gas mileage I get with my Altima and Versa but would love extra room to drag my non-driving family members to the shore with us but so not ready for the increase in gas (and insurance for that matter).
I would say before you get the baby get the queen sized bed, cause once there are three people in the bed a full is small 😉 and I don’t know if I will ever feel mature enough for a house…
If you have the space, get a king size. I have a queen and a DBF and it’s a tight fit. A queen is only something like six inches wider than a full.I wish we had a king.
Another house. Mainly so we can rent this house out and live in a location I actually want to live in. But we have to get at least 20% saved for down payment on a new house and lower the interest rate on this one first. It’ll be 5 years till this happens but I just wish I could say whatever and do it now!
Kind of on the same page with you with the wanting a house but being freaked out about it. I’m spending all this time getting out of debt and saving and in one swoop I’m $250-325k in debt (San Diego, CA home prices).
I can wait for marriage and babies. If I could be guaranteed fertility and a healthy child at 40, I would totally have my first one at 40. Raising a child properly is also really scary (you only have one shot!) and I enjoy my freedom and of course naps! I do want a kid though.
Puppies are over-rated FYI! My first dog we got as a puppy and he was pretty much like a baby with sharp teeth and bad manners! Waking up at the butt crack of dawn, potty-training, yelping & barking, chewing, biting.
When he turned 10 months he miraculously became the most obedient and sweetest dog ever. I adopted my second dog when he was 1 year and he was past all that puppy stuff. Puppies are cute, but evil. So yeah get an older dog if possible and adopt!
We would like to have our fist home and a nice car. And of course, a vacation to have some time off from stress ad busy life. But we are still paying off a few loans and saving more to secure our future and retirement.