My Family’s Money

My vacation was a smashing success for anyone interested – and I got to take home some pretty amazing spoils. It’s good to be king. It was also the only vacation I have had in recent memory where I actually felt rested and relaxed when it was over – can I get a w00t? We mostly laid low and did some minor hanging out with my wife’s family, which always involves a LOT of picture taking and some minor yard work. I’m not the biggest fan of lots of picture but it sure can be fun to walk away with a beautiful woman …
Vacation also gave me a chance to do some thinking about my job. My current job isn’t very fun, fulfilling, or challenging – it could be time for a change. Right now I’m thinking of becoming an accountant (dunt dunt duuuuh!) with a view to being a CPA. This change wouldn’t take place for over a year (I majored in History), but it excites me. I took some test at an accountant website-thingy and it said I should be a forensic accountant. I don’t know if I will actually go through with the extra schooling to crack into this field, but it may fit better with some of my skill sets and how I like to manage and watch things grow. My wife checked out an accounting book for me so I can check out what all it entails at a very basic level. I’ve also started perusing the internet for as much information as I can find on the topic. If there are any accounting peoples out there who would be willing to fill me in on some of the ups and downs, ins and outs of accounting as a profession as well as any tips on being one I would greatly appreciate your thoughts.

Another thing we did on our vacation was drive around and look at houses. It was predictably boring. We didn’t even go into any houses. All we did was just drive around and see what neighborhoods had houses for sale and see if there was any literature about the houses available, which there wasn’t. We did stop at one house and peer through the open windows, but that was nothing special. I did learn a few things though:

1. Growing up in suburbia has spoiled me to the “charm” of small houses. I much preferred the houses we saw on larger lots of land that had porches or columns or even a second story. We probably couldn’t afford a house like that right now but I still preferred them nonetheless.
2. Housing is way cheaper where my wife’s parents live. I mean it is really cheap. Just today they sent us a listing of a 3 bedroom, 1 bath for $50,400. A simple Google revealed this comparable listing here in San Diego for a whopping $219,000. That’s 335% more.
3. Having your own spot of land is really appealing.

And finally, vacations that are free really rock. I hope we were weren’t guilty of being children who take, and take, and take … but it sure was nice to travel for free (parents had unused vouchers), lodge for free (we slept above the garage), eat for free, get a hair cut for free (just my wife), and buy clothes for free (again, just my wife). I think it was especially nice for my wife who actually got to go shopping and buy stuff with her mom and sister. I simply can’t provide that type of company. When all was said and done we probably received at least $1,500 in parent subsidies for the weekend. Their actual cost was significantly less than that, but it saved us a ton! Thank you generously subsidizing parents-in-law!