Since starting this blog almost 2 months ago, I’ve spent quite a bit of time reading other Personal Finance blogs. It’s been fun; it’s been informative; and it’s been an eye-opening experience.

After this morning’s visit to my Google Reader, I’m come to the conclusion that I’m definitely a black sheep among the more popular personal finance bloggers. Being a black sheep does not bother me. Rather it’s the absence of voices sharing my opinions about money and my perspective on life and finances that worries me. Will all newcomers to the world of on-line personal finance advice come away with the impression that there’s only one perspective on how to relate to money?

Granted, I haven’t visited every single personal finance blog being maintained. But I’ve visited many. I make daily excursions on which I start by picking a big-name PF blog and spreading out from there by following its BlogRoll links and comment links on wildly meandering jaunts into the depths of the on-line personal finance community.

To be sure, the stories differ (I love reading these) and the writing styles differ (these are fun too) but the perspectives are becoming a bit boring, monotonous, and, as I stated, worrisome.

~o o O o o ~

Is there NO ONE out there in Personal Finance Blogdom whose ultimate personal goal isn’t to retire obscenely wealthy at 35 years of age? This obsession with retiring early is such a mystery to me. If all that you can think about is the day that you no longer have to work, you are in the wrong line of work my friend! I recommend that you take a good hard look at your priorities and your value system.

The Husband is 72. He is at this moment actively working toward retirement. But wait, before you draw a mental image of what his retirement will look like, let me explain. The Husband is the President of a Corporation. It’s a small, two-employee company (I’m the second employee) with a handful of stockholders. His version of retirement, which will most likely take another 2 to 3 years to fully implement, has him doing exactly the same work he’s doing now but without the stockholders to answer to. In other words, when The Husband retires he’ll continue to commute every day to his executive office space to do the same work he does today but he won’t have the burden of stockholders to answer to or shuffle paperwork for. My husband, like his father before him, won’t fully retire until God himself retires him.

The Husband is a product of the Great Depression and World War II. His values and work ethic reflect that. He provides for his family — that’s who he is; it’s what he does. I love that and respect that about him. He’s a quiet man. He’s a humble man. He’s a generous man. He’s a man who has twice survived cancer and is currently fighting it a third time and yet you’d never know it. He never complains. He never whines. His family is his first priority. He’s loving, and gentle, and demonstrative. He’s an involved parent; he’s changed a million diapers, wiped a million snotty noses, seen a million games, sat through a million concerts, squished into a million school desks to listen to a million teachers, spent a million hours at the kitchen table helping with homework.

If our son grows to be half the man his father is, I’ll be proud of the job we’ve done. If, as a grown man, he knows that the measure of a man is in his soul and not in his bank account, I’ll be proud.

One can work until death without working oneself to death. Isn’t there something wise said about idle hands…?

~ o o O o o ~

Someone, please tell me that I am NOT the only suburban mom who doesn’t consider DisneyWorld/DisneyLand to be the ultimate vacation destination!

Need anything else be said? We had the ultimate luxury of inheriting a condo on the Florida coast. We travelled with our children to Florida for 7 years in a row and never once considered making a stop at DisneyWorld or Epcot or any of the other theme parks in Orlando.

I used to be an eBay Powerseller. I swear to you, at least half of fellow eBay sellers I encountered on-line were involved in their efforts for the sole purpose of saving for their family’s next trek to a Disney theme park. Now I’m beginning to find the same financial goal on blogs.

It’s not so much that I judge this value — I believe very much in “to each his own” — but am I really the only suburban mother who doesn’t have a burning passion to buy that particular experience for my children?

~ o o O o o ~

And speaking of children (and this one really bothers me) I definitely appear to be a personal blogger black sheep in regard to children and money.

Am I alone in thinking that 1) children should not be paid for chores?; 2) it’s easy to teach a child to save for their own self-gratification but much harder to teach them to be truly generous?; and 3) learning to spend money is not the same as learning the value of money?

Everywhere I look PP bloggers are talking about their methods of giving children money so they can practice buying things. Isn’t it possible that this is the wrong way to go about things? I mean, come on, how difficult do we really think it is to teach a child how to save for 2 or 3 or 4 weeks until they have enough to buy themselves a coveted toy or electronic game?

I’ve got a 15-year-old nephew whose room is filled with expensive Lego sets that he has purchased for himself over the years. The most difficult challenge he’s been presented with is sharing those Legos with his younger brother. He doesn’t have a savings account and he doesn’t have any experience in spending his money on other people. When he goes to a party, him mom buys the gifts. To my knowledge, his allowance has never been spent on anyone other than himself. And I know that his situation is far from unique.

~o o O o o ~

If being frugal means consigning myself to a lifetime of self-deprivation, then count me out!!

We’re solidly into Autumn here in the Rockies which means that Winter is just a 1/2 step away. I’ve owned cheap flannel bedding before and I’ve made a personal commitment to never do so again.

I love that I can go to the grocery store and buy what I want to eat. I love using coupons and saving money on sale items but I don’t want to be controlled or feel restricted to coupon- and sale-only items.

When my children were little they were dressed entirely in thrift store finds and hand-me-downs. I’ve got nothing against thrift store clothing but rarely shop there any more. The hassles just aren’t worth it for me — allergies, clothing steeped in perfumes from detergent and softeners, having to look that much longer and harder for the right sizes and the right styles to suit the kids’ tastes.

~ o o O o o ~

I guess the truth is that personal finance is just that, personal. Blogging about my family’s finances for the past two months has brought me back in touch with my natural financial conservativeness. It has also caused me to take a good look inward and re-evaluate my values and goals as a wife and mother. After some pondering, I’ve decided that I’m content being a PF Black Sheep.

If you’re a PF Black Sheep, please give me a shout out (leave a comment) and let me know I’m not alone

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