by Beks
A major key to success in this life is to find good friends and surround yourself with like-minded people.
Chris and I went to an RV dealership last week. We decided that even if we don’t do the full-time RV living thing, we plan to travel a couple months each year. I’m a contender for a partially remote job right now and it would be perfect for this type of arrangement.
Our current trailer is low-end and isn’t intended for so much use so we are thinking of getting something a step up. No, I’m not talking about dropping $50K, but $5K – $10K would make a world of difference. I snapped a silly photo in front of a row of trailers for my Instagram and made a joke about a possible upgrade.
My friends went nuts.
Oh no, not nuts in a good way. It was like being a recovering alcoholic and making a joke about being in a liquor store. ‘Don’t go back into debt!’, ‘RUN AWAY!’, ‘There are no good deals on RV’s right now, please don’t go into debt!’.
The funny thing is, most of my friends aren’t debt-free. Most of my friends live in nice big houses and have huge student loans. They talk about the amazing interest rate they got on their new car and recommend dealerships or banks that give that rate. My friend who was the loudest was the one who just posted asking for references for the best RV finance companies. But they know I’m a proponent of the debt-free lifestyle.
They laughed and cheered at my photos of sleeping in truck stops last year so I could stay on budget for our trip. They laughed at the photo of me in Rite Aid picking outbox hair color saying it was dinner out with the family or a professional color job and I chose dinner. No, not every post is about money. In fact, very few are. But they know me. They know my passion.
I love that their response wasn’t, ‘Come on it! The water is fine!’ They are the type of friends who go to healthy places with you when you are dieting. They won’t drink alcohol around you if you are trying to sober up. And apparently, they will yell at me if I make jokes about possibly going into debt.
What I realized I didn’t make clear to them, or you, is that we’re 6-12 months from making any decision. When we make decisions that big, we sit on them for a while. If I got the perfect job tomorrow, we still aren’t going to be able to sell the house or move until October at the soonest.
We won’t buy a trailer until the market cools a bit which may be another 12 months off. But when we make big purchases, we plan them MONTHS and MONTHS in advance. We need time to save but more importantly, we need time to research. We need to make sure what we are getting is the right fit and the right price. I went back and posted that message on my Instagram and it was met with ‘Oh thank God!’ and ‘I was so concerned!’ type messages. Find good friends!
The experience was a reminder about how awesome my friends are. They are the cream of the crop. And I hope yours are too. I hope you are able to find good friends who yell at you for potentially dumb decisions and cheer you for good ones. Is that what you have?
Read More:
Finding a Summer Job During a Pandemic
Huge Inflation of Home Improvement Projects
Beks is a full-time government employee who enjoys blogging late into the night after her four kids have gone to sleep. She’s been married to Chris, her college sweetheart, for 15 years. In 2017, after 3 long years working the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps, they paid off more than $70K and became debt free. When she’s not working or blogging, she’s exploring the great outdoors.
Good for you! We need way more people in the world who plan for big purchases, save for them, etc. That statistic about how few Americans could afford a $500 emergency always blows my mind. Sad.
Good for you having such awesome friends too!