It could have been worse
I have been reflecting on situations I’ve been in that could have gone so much worse. Financially. My time in university is high on the list. Going into a field that had no chance of getting a job spending the money to live on campus and go to classes for five years and then walk away with a minor debt load. But I have worse. When we decided to buy a home we were not planning to do so. We went out of curiosity to what was termed a Home Show where various manufacturers and realtors and all the associated noise were showing potential homeowners what was out there. Product printed presentations. And partway through the afternoon we ended up talking to someone who worked for a local home builder. I think we were unprepared for all the positive arguments he presented. And about 12 hours later, seriously, he took us for a drive to a small subdivision and showed us the only lot left. All the rest had been sold and in many cases already had structures on them. And without really understanding the math involved we decided that this would be our future home. Right there, on that corner. The one covered in boulders, left behind by others in the area. He showed us a floor plan and told us about how the houses were built and like fish in a pond wee bit hard. Now, in retrospect, it all turned out for the best. We stayed in our eventual home for three decades. We came out with a fully reimbursed mortgage. But given our total lack of knowledge in the field it could have gone so much worse. I am not someone who believes in angels but if there are such creatures they were watching out for us because we were totally over our heads. And yes we had to pay someone to cart away all the boulders.
