Musings of a Wench

Gone...

My life savings? Gone. I got a bank draft for my part of our downpayment, stuffed it in an envelope with John and Vince's share, and sent it to our lawyer. Goodbye, money. Hello, real estate.
It's very shocking. I've never been in debt before. In my entire life. I'm serious. I made the choice to go to school in my hometown so that I could live at home (rent free) and pay for school by working full and part time in the summer, and part time during the school year. I got a credit card at 18 and have never carried a balance; I treat it like a time delayed debit card. I pay it off in full at the end of every billing period. The only time I've ever paid interest is if I've missed the due date by a day and had to pay one day's worth of interest. I don't have any car debt. (I also don't have a car, but who's counting.) I have always operated by the firm principle of 'if you can't afford it, don't buy it'. (I read all the time, in blogs and books, about people who say in one breath that they are so broke and in the next what they just purchased. It is a mindset so totally alien to me.) At any rate, I am debt free, and always have been.

No, I *was* debt free, and now owe something to the tune of 800% of my annual salary. Shit, that's a big number. I am now in debt for the next 25 years. (Give or take how many years we renew the mortgage for in 5 years...)

I am in debt! You have no idea how uncomfortable this is for me. It's new, and scary, and I don't like it at all. Sure, we get a house out of it, but still. Debt = bad. I am the child of accountants, and that math has always been pretty clear. And I just wrote a cheque of my life's savings, plus lots of money from my grandparents, and now have much less money than I used to. I'm sure my heartbeat will slow eventually, and my ulcer will recede. Just as soon as we get settled in our brand new spanky big house.

Just don't even get me started on the packing. I'm never, ever moving again, because packing sucks and spending all this money sucks and living out of boxes sucks and debt sucks and I'm cranky and really, really tired of being a grownup.

posted by Morgan @ 2:32 p.m.