My #1 Reason

During the past week or so, I have spent a lot of time with my niece and nephew. Although Cody and I are nowhere close to being ready to start our family (We would, of course, be excited if we accidentally stumbled into parenthood, no matter how it changed our plans. That's part of being married), I can't help but think about my future as a mother when I'm holding a precious little baby. The number one reason we are living and planning the way we are now is so we can set up the most stable foundation possible for our family in the future. For me, this means organizing our circumstances so that one day I will be able to stay at home with our child(ren). My parents chose to make financial sacrifices so that my mother could be a stay-at-home mom to me. Now that I am an adult, I realize how that sacrifice was the greatest gift they could have given me. I want to do whatever I can now to facilitate being able to cease working when we decide to have a baby. In a perfectly planned, no curves in the road world, this is how things would go: 1) In the next year or so I will begin working as a teacher. The majority of my paycheck each month would go directly into a savings account designated for the purchase of a house. 2) Within four years, Cody and I will have enough cash in savings to buy an older, modest home without a mortgage and without completely draining our savings 3) Without any monthly expense designated to rent or a house payment, I would be able to discontinue working 4) After our child(ren) are old enough to begin school, I would hopefully begin teaching again , subsequently saving my salary for a future home, more property, retirement, new vehicles, etc.

Ok, that is the first time I have put those plans in writing although I have been thinking about them for quite awhile. Hopefully, seeing this periodically will encourage me to keep us on track and remind me of our long term goals.  I just turned twenty-two. With all of this taking place in the next  four to five years, I have a lot to do before I am twenty-six!

Now, let's see how all that works out...