Spending the Benjamins

you may be spending all that money on HOUSING costs from what I hear it costs to live in Cali....

Paying back my school loan, finally sharing the load equally on the house payment, buying a car that has all wheel drive and is less temperamental than the base model Ford Escort that I have been driving for almost 8 years

I paid off my student loan and credit cards the first year and a half I was in California, then started saving for laser eye surgery and some vacations... Housing costs aren't bad when you rent.

My wife already has it spent on my 3 year olds "private" school.

My list is as follows:

70 Chevelle SS LS7,

GSXR 1100,

A month diving in Belize.

Not too much to ask for!!!

I probably won't spend much too much so I can save to buy a house, but I would want the latest Dodge Viper when I graduate. I probably won't get either anytime soon after I graduate.

I like to joke that I've got my first year's salary accounted for already. But there's some truth to it.

Figuring I'll be starting close to 60K a year:

A smaller more economical car than my 2002 Honda Odyssey. Perhaps a Honda S2000 roadster. heh heh.
The house needs loads of things... a roof. Paint. Gut and redo of the basement.
I've got a couple of motorcycles in the garage that need a few things before they can be road-worthy, so I'd fix them up, ride em a bit, and then sell them. Because....
My 1972 Buick Skylark ragtop needs a few things done.
Then I want to put money back in the bank since we're depleting our savings while I'm not working. I did not want to take out any loans, so I have to pay myself back instead.
I think my 4 year old needs a new iMac.
We need a new bedroom set. The unpainted furniture we got 18 years ago is falling apart... and is still unpainted.
We need 13 new windows and insulation upstairs.
We need a new bathroom. And I am going to squeeze a big-a$$ jacuzzi tub in there somehow. Maybe the one with the flat screen TV in it.
Oh, and we need a flat screen TV somewhere. Ok, we dont need one, but I want one.
I know there's more.
I want to be able to go to a restaraunt and not feel guilty about spending the money.
ditto movies
ditto shopping
ditto filling the gas tank on my 1972 Buick.

See, that ought to take care of my first year's salary alright.

But I'm going to have fun doing it. It's been 3.5 years living on one salary and while I'm luckier than many people to be able to live without scrounging every single penny, returning to having a combined income of a touch over 6 figures will be a welcome thing to me. Only this time, I really don't have to worry that it'll come to an end one day (like my computer consulting gigs), unless they figure out how to ship patients overseas for care, like they do with tech support, customer support, and almost everything else that can be sent over wiring.

ND

When I got my first paycheck 5 years ago, it seemed like so much money! I didn't know what to do with it all. Now with cable, internet, cell phones, private school, new car and retirement savings...I spend it all.

I got a couple plans for my first couple years out of school. So here is my christmas list to myself coming December 2006.

1. Dove hunt in Argentina
2. New shotgun for dove hunt
3. Ford f-150 crew cab 4x4
4. Move out of my parents house(I really can't wait for that day to come)
5. Titan t1 home gym
6. New four wheeler
7. and a bunch of other things I'm sure I'll find along the way.

One kid in college...another starting in 3 years...yeah, that should take care of any spending that I need to do .