In my family, I have seen first hand how money doesn't need to be the main focus. With the economy the way it is, my parents haven't been making as much money as they use to when I was younger. I remember my step dad always bringing home gifts from his business trips and taking us to restaurants for dinner a lot. We even took a fair amount of trips during those times and hotels almost became a second home to me. (Not really, but we did travel quite a bit :). I was in 6th grade when the economy took a crash and all of my step dad's company that lived in eastern Idaho got laid off, which included him. He was only 2 years away from FULL retirement. I could tell this was EXTREMELY stressful on my parents. They used every ounce of their savings and retirement money to provide for us kids until he was able to find another job, and being 2 years from full retirement became nearly impossible. The jobs that my parents have had since then never brought in as much income, in fact we have struggled quite a bit. But as crazy as it sounds, it has been a blessing. I know my parents are reading this thinking I'm psycho and that there's no way it could be a blessing, but for me it is. My parents were always able to provide for us. We never missed a meal, there were always shoes on our feet, clothes on our body, and even presents under the Christmas tree ;) My mom and step dad made ends meet on the income that they had. They did have to cut back on a lot more expenses and take the cheaper route when it came to groceries or anything else, but it always worked. And the blessing behind it is that it has taught me how invaluable money really is, and the fact that we were able to have our daddio around a lot more(: We grew closer as a family because we weren't spending our time worrying about the materialistic things. We didn't need the money that we had when my step dad had his bigger income. Money didn't buy our family bond, or the handshakes we made up with each other, or the songs that my sister and I would sing every night before bed, or even the mornings that we spent laying with mom when we were little :) haha ---------->>>>
There were several times when I wanted something but we just couldn't afford it. Now looking back I don't remember a single one of those things that I wanted, because they didn't matter.
I'm not saying it's bad to have money. Lots of money does not make someone a bad person. It's what they choose to do with their money that becomes the important part. Same with poor people. It is important to manage your money and not let it take over the marriage, no matter how rich or poor you are. Make the best of it! It could always, ALWAYS be worse.
Thanks for reading(:
Hasta La Vista!