Inflation certainly didn’t help. But the main reason is that life got more expensive as my five children got older, and I wasn’t able to increase my income fast enough to keep up. One child wanted to do marching band; another wanted to play football; another was diagnosed with autism and required behavioral therapy; they all consumed way more food; they destroyed clothes and shoes way faster than when they were little; they were rougher on the house and on furniture; little toys from Walmart wouldn’t cut it anymore for birthday and Christmas gifts; the oldest kids started driving; et cetera.

We were able to tough it out on one income until our youngest got into 1st grade a couple of years ago. My wife went back to work and for the first time in our married life we don’t have financial stress. We can pretty easily meet every expense and need. We can actually go on a vacation further away than Bryce Canyon if we want. I bought myself a car that wasn’t 15 years old, and for the first time in my life feel like I can drive around without the constant dread of something breaking down in the car. Heck, for the first time I can pay for car maintenance without feeling like I need to try to do it all myself instead, or call multiple car repair shops to see if someone could do it for cheaper. We can pay our credit card bill every month.

Last week we discovered that my son had outgrown his suit and we were 10 days away from Homecoming; it’s not like we went bonkers and bought him a $1200 suit, but at the same time we didn’t feel like we had to try and mix ‘n match at the DI or wait for a huge sale someplace.

It wasn’t driven by greed, as some might suggest. We don’t throw money around wastefully. We live in the same small house as always where kids have to share rooms (though we did some significant remodeling). My wife going back to work has been a huge blessing in our life. We still have problems, but money isn’t one of them. My marriage is better, as we don’t have to have “tough conversations” about money anymore; my anxiety and worry is way down, and my wife is happier. Kids have their needs met and more.

I know money isn’t the source of happiness, but security and self-reliance sure don’t hurt. Experiences and time together as a family ARE sources of happiness and we can facilitate that now. Heck, I’m going to the game this weekend at Baylor with one of my kids and with my dad and my brother—an experience we wouldn’t have been able to even think about having a few short years ago.