My Life Plan

I feel like I've had a lot of marriage talks lately... and I'm only 20, and I'm still single. I'm not worried that yet.

One was from my grandpa... well, mostly my grandma telling me grandpa what to say. Grandma wants me to marry someone like Grandpa, someone who is hardworking and humble. Both of those are great qualities for sure. 

The next talk came from my dad... who doesn't want his little girl to end up with a bad boy. But his talk was more interesting... he asked me in the car, "So, what happens if you don't get married and you graduate college? Have you planned that out?" 

Have I planned that out, what a silly question! That is the only plan I have! Not because I don't want to get married, but because that's the only plan I have control over right now. Yes, I have a plan for the next 5 years. Want to hear it? 

I'm going to graduate college in June, but I'm going to start job hunting in January so that I have a job lined up when I graduate. I plan on living on my own, either with or without roommates, but preferably without so I can have a cat. I want to put most of my earnings in savings,  but I would like to get myself a nice car... preferably something sporty and red. :) After about 3 years of work experience I would LOVE to go back to school and get my MBA, and hopefully I can get my current job to pay for it and go somewhere amazing like Stanford. After that I want to climb the corporate ladder. 

Then my mom had the most interesting marriage advice of all. I think I have this irrational fear about spending the rest of my LIFE with someone else... I have a hard enough time with just a boyfriend! And she said one of the reasons my parents have such a happy marriage is because they started out with a little amount of debt. My mom was out of school working as a teacher, my dad was working at a National Semiconductor and had his car paid off and even owned a house. Of course, this was a little later in life for both of them, but I think that was the smartest. 

Money isn't happiness... but I think the lack of it or constant worry about it is misery. I have been raised to use my money smartly so that it doesn't become a worry. Therefore... I still want to follow my 5 year plan. If I have a job and am working on building up my savings, combining my life with someone elses is going to be that much easier. But I expect Prince Charming to be doing the same. I don't want to see my savings account go straight to my husband's debt payments, because I worked hard to see that go to something tangible like a down payment on a home. 

I guess I want my husband to have the same aspirations that I do. I don't mind living modestly as long as it is worry-free. When my kids ask for money for the next field trip, I want to be able to hand it to them and not worry if the check will bounce. 

That sums up my hopes and dreams for the future. What are yours?

Update: Grandma gave me yet another marriage talk this morning... "Be sure you know the guy really well because, well, eternity is really long time, and you don't want to end up with a crazie!" LOL