financial zen

Jan (@ Queercents) wrote a great post that I think most people involved with personal finance forget about – those expensive decisions that are worth making – and they do exist! Sometimes you have to spend money to make money, and theses are where I feel it’s most true. I’m not necessarily duplicating her choices – but trying to keep them in the same line.

1. College – this is a no brainer. Some people can get by on their good looks, their luck, their parents, or their natural talents. Some of us need that piece of paper to get our foot in the door. I was lucky to know some people, and impress them with my skills, but I know that if I ever want to be where I want to be, I’ll need that piece of paper.
2. Living out of our comfort zone – This seems to be the story of my life. I moved out of my dad’s house before I was settled, I moved to the big city with just a job and a possible apartment room mate. From their I made it work – until I met a good friend that landed me an entry position at a good company. Then a guy I met there offered me a position at a great company – and here I am, working my butt off, trying to be father, husband, worker, student.
3. Lunch – I do business lunches. I eat with managers when I can, and co-workers, and people from other departments and businesses. I *never* say no to lunch with someone, unless I know the person isn’t worth my time (or if I’m extremely busy – I’ve never met someone that isn’t worth having lunch with at least once!). I don’t order the most expensive thing on the menu – I try to keep it cheap and healthy (even when we’re eating at Chipotle).
4. Traveling – Growing up, I’ve been to Canada, Disney World (with a friend), Florida (also with said friend), Virginia (family lived there), Tennessee (camping!), Washington (youth group), California (family again), Chicago (school), New York (friends), Colorado (family), Missouri (side trip) and the Bahamas (Honey moon). This year we’re planning on going to Niagara Falls (just because we’ve never been), New York City (to visit friends and celebrate a wedding) and Colorado (another wedding and vacation). All this, in budget!
5. Our Wedding – Okay, I can’t come up with a correlation here, but where our funds were involved, we didn’t skimp – but my wife found the best deals to be had. A local woman “who just happened to have gone to culinary school and loved making cakes” made us this gorgeous, three tier chocolate (with white icing) cake. UN-believable.

Let’s keep this going – what expenses have you made that are worth it?

Lo, and BEHOLD! I’ve been tagged in AskDong‘s 8 Things about Me(me) (who was tagged by goldnsilver)

1. Married to a girl I once went to grade school with (but never dated until I was out of high school).
2. Studied three forms of Martial Arts.
3. Lived in Chicago for a brief time.
4. Am expecting a son any day now.
5. Have a dog that shares my brother’s name (but was not named after him).
6. Am a huge fan of Raising Cane’s
7. Play guitar on occasion.
8. Design web sites for a living (and occasionally for friends and family).

That’s my random eight. I encourage you to participate in the comments, or throw a link back to me and post it on your blog!