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Thursday, December 16, 2010

this, that, and the other thing

I've been pretty good about posting everyday, but this week has gotten away from me. It's true that time speeds up the older you get. Remember when you were 10 and the days took forever (especially the school days)? I could use a couple of days like that right now.

We are still trying to finish up Christmas gifts - being the year that I quit my job, we are doing all homemade gifts this year. I'm hopeful that we will finish everything up this weekend and get it shipped on Monday.

I finally found a topper for the tree - well, at least something that works as a topper now that I cut the bottom off. So, FINALLY, the tree is done. I want to wait and take a picture at night, so I will post it tomorrow.

And I found the item that will be the giveaway item. I'm anxious to show it off, but I really think it would be better to wait until after the holidays, so look for that around the first of the year.  In the meantime, maybe I will find a second item and pick two winners.

On a completely separate topic...earlier in the year I bought a Groupon (if you don't know Groupon, you have to check it out - http://www.groupon.com/) for a discovery flight. By way of background, a have a slight fear of flying (as well as a fear of small spaces and doctors, the latter of which can be a problem since I'm also a slight hypochondriac!). I think my fear of flying is a control issue - I have none when I'm in a plane and I have no idea what's going on, so that makes me fearful. Anyway, I thought taking the discovery flight would quell my fear of flying if I knew essentially what went on in a cockpit.  Well, I loved it!! It was one of the best things I've ever done. So, since then, I've wanted to take flying lessons. Problem is they are expensive (it's about $9-10k to get your license). The other problem is that I discovered this desire after I had given notice at work so I didn't even have the opportunity to decide whether it was worth it to stay in my job a little longer in order to take flying lessons. Of course, they are completely out of my price range now. But I still really want to do it.

So, the question is, do I take the money out of my 401k to fulfill what has become a dream of mine or do I just wait and hope that someday I can afford to do it without taking money out of my retirement investments? Which really brings up another question for me (and this is not a new question, but one that recurs every so often) - is it better to live the life you want to live now or to secure your future? I could get hit by a bus tomorrow. And Jeff and I don't have kids, so I have no need to leave anything behind. I would be fine dying penniless, but only if I don't have to live the last years of my life that way.

By quitting my job, I already made a huge argument this year in favor of living the life I want to live now. So, maybe I'll put off the decision on flying lessons until next year - one major decision per year :)

If you have any thoughts on the topic, I'd love to hear them! Have a great day :)

5 comments:

  1. Wow Amy that is some heavy thinking on a December day. Ok, well I lost my job a year ago so I'm 'retired' now. I'm 60 and while I do have children I also think it's important to live your life daily. We never know what tomorrow will bring. I wouldn't dip into my 401K unless there were no penalties..ie are you old enough to do this? Then well it's really up to you! I would take some time and think about it. Probably not a lot of help here but I think it's an interesting question. I guess I need to think about my goals and what I want out of the next season of my life!

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  2. lol, linda, i guess it is kind of a heavy topic! i'm not old enough to withdraw without penalties - and i'd have to pay taxes on that money, another negative. i used to think that i wanted to retire as soon as possible, but now i realize that i just don't want to work a conventional job forever. lots to think about. sometimes i think life would be much easier if we knew our expiration date! :)

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  3. Oooh, deep thoughts... My first reaction is that you are way too young to be thinking about your final days! While I think that seizing the day is important, and being unhappy is disrespecting the great life that we have been given, I think it's also important to ensure that our future responsibilities are taken care of. I think since you're not UNhappy with the current situation, you can always wait till things stabilize in the financial department before taking the leap... There's something to be said about working towards a goal and building up the excitement. What do you think?

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  4. I am suddenly all over wanting to live the life I want to live now. I will probably totally regret it when I get old.. but like you said - I could get hit by a bus tomorrow!

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  5. sixballoons - there is something to be said for delayed gratification. i know that i learned to appreciate things more when i started saving up for them instead of buying on credit.

    angela - i like the way you think! :)

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