We're through with one of our loans, finally. If the remaining one goes off in another year or two, I can peacefully retire. Of course my husband has other designs, but I guess he'll have to manage them alone. I don't like my job so much anymore and don't want to slog at it the rest of my life. It's more to do with my inability to cope up than the job itself probably but...I'll hope for the best.
I do think it's quite remarkable that we managed to knock off so much of loan so quickly. Of course both of us work but we have the typical expenses too - Kid's fees, medicals and not-so-well-of relatives who would be glad to be helped and not to mention the mounting cost of city-living. And many a times we are penny wise and pound foolish too. I mean, I would be holding back on my clothes and things like that and then we do some bad planning and end up thousands on air travel. But I think we've managed well so far somehow.
You would think people who've grown up in scarcity would be cautious in life when they grow up and see some better days. I've been one such myself most of my life. But after seeing my maid, I've stopped making any generalizations. 90% of their family income is what she earns working in our house but her first desire after making some money was to buy a mobile phone. I had to remind her that she'd better get an electricity connection first as it wouldn't be a nice thing to depend on neighbours for charging the phone. Even some of the girls back home also aren't any wiser for their tough life. For them style is more important than substance anyday. Quite disappointing actually, especially for P. He feels he's failed to set a good example to them but I feel it's up to the individual to take in the right thing.
The kid is crazy about buses. Thanks to him we've got used public transport which I'm sure we would've avoided whenever we could. He thinks buses are grand and his outings become much more enjoyable when he rides in one. Actually speaking I don't find BMTC so bad now. The frequency is quite decent and the quality is also good. Even the crowded buses remind me of my college days when I used to be a pro in travelling in them and it makes me smile.
I do think it's quite remarkable that we managed to knock off so much of loan so quickly. Of course both of us work but we have the typical expenses too - Kid's fees, medicals and not-so-well-of relatives who would be glad to be helped and not to mention the mounting cost of city-living. And many a times we are penny wise and pound foolish too. I mean, I would be holding back on my clothes and things like that and then we do some bad planning and end up thousands on air travel. But I think we've managed well so far somehow.
You would think people who've grown up in scarcity would be cautious in life when they grow up and see some better days. I've been one such myself most of my life. But after seeing my maid, I've stopped making any generalizations. 90% of their family income is what she earns working in our house but her first desire after making some money was to buy a mobile phone. I had to remind her that she'd better get an electricity connection first as it wouldn't be a nice thing to depend on neighbours for charging the phone. Even some of the girls back home also aren't any wiser for their tough life. For them style is more important than substance anyday. Quite disappointing actually, especially for P. He feels he's failed to set a good example to them but I feel it's up to the individual to take in the right thing.
The kid is crazy about buses. Thanks to him we've got used public transport which I'm sure we would've avoided whenever we could. He thinks buses are grand and his outings become much more enjoyable when he rides in one. Actually speaking I don't find BMTC so bad now. The frequency is quite decent and the quality is also good. Even the crowded buses remind me of my college days when I used to be a pro in travelling in them and it makes me smile.
