Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Crossroads

Its that time of the year again. School is fast approaching and I will have two wonderlings enrolled in and institution of learning. For two to three hours a day I will have time to myself. I am wondering what to do with that time. The choices are many:

1. I could use that time to clean my house and catch of on my morning talk shows.
2. I could go to the gym and obtain the hard body that I have always dreamed of.
3. I could get a job and help raise our standard of living and eventually get us in a house.
4. I could get pregnant and use that time to sleep and puke in private.
5. Start my own business
6. Go back to school

Each decision has its ups and down (like most). I would like to volunteer at my kids school as much as possible, but if I take on a job that may not be possible. My husband is having a hard time finding a job that will pay well enough to get us ahead so that we can save for retirement, home etc. (do you like how I put retirement and home together?) This factor also affects whether or not I will afford the gym pass and the hard body that I want. Then the kid thing. I am really looking forward to having time to myself to do as I please. I'm not sure what I please is gestating and eventually giving up that time for another 5 years making it that much harder to enter the work force, but I'm getting older and I'm not entirely sure that my family is complete. Going back to school and starting a business scares me because of the debt it might incur and for the past few years we have been almost crippled by debt. We are out of it for now, but I am really hesitant on going back there. Some of these decisions could be done concurrently says the optimist in me , but the realist says not likely.

So as you can see I am at a quandary and am seeking the advice of interneters everywhere. What would you do with a situation similar to this, or have you been in a similar situation? Do you have any ideas for making money (jobs etc.) If you have gone back to school what did you take and how long was your program?

6 comments:

hazelblackberry said...

Why don't you start out by just enjoying your time a bit and doing 1. Then maybe instead of joining a gym you could do other forms of exercuse to work towards 2. While you're doing these two things you might start to figure out which of the other options appeals to you most? Good luck! Also, please keep us up to date on what is happening on TV.

Anonymous said...

I say just have some fun. Go to the gym everyday and enjoy yourself doing whatever you want and volunteer at the school as much as you want also. At this point I think you deserve to enjoy yourself a little.

Hugs, Sonja

Sariah said...

I can't give much advice on this because I'm nowhere near your situation yet. however, here's my 2 cents worth anyway...

I vote that you do the gym thing (can you work in the childcare center at the gym and get a free or reduced price pass? I know lots of people who do that... just a suggestion) and get that awesome body you have always dreamed of, and while you're doing that, procreation would be a bad reason to stop. Then you can sleep and puke while you lose that new awesome body, but hey, you can also spend time catching up on morning talk shows!! AND I would get a new nephew or neice out of the deal, and I'm always for that.

Anonymous said...

My two cents Al,

Now is the time in Alberta to make money. The money in this town right now is staggering. I do not believe that we will have an opportunity that we have at the current time. With the price of oil surging higher and a destabilized Middle East... Now is the time!

The price of housing is not going to go down. Look for a duplex or a house that you can assume the mortgage on. The price of houses in the last couple of months has softened a bit because of the higher interest rates and the glut of new property entering the marketplace. It would be a good time to buy a fixer upper and start fixer uppering. That would be a good thing to do to start making money in an investment that you could turn around and sell within the next year or two...

I really believe as do a lot of market analysts that Calgary house prices are going to continue to rise but not on such a drastic scale that we saw in the last 8 months or so. The other thing is low income housing is at a premium right now and it is going to stay that way for the foreseeable future in Calgary especially when you have the majority of jobs in the city paying $15 or less people are not able to afford a big mortgage. The cost of living is going up in Calgary and it is going to continue to rise because of the demand on services.

In my humble opinion you should do something to build for the future. Debt is not a good thing but with little risk comes little reward. Debt is necessary to start a business of any kind (Sorry capital investment is what is required) and borrowing from your line of credit is often what is needed to get your business off the ground. There are lots of little businesses that start and some go broke, but some make it big. You are a smart chick and I know that you can come up with an idea (usually the simpler the better) that will be totally salable and you could build a foundation for a future on. Research your idea and get a good feeling for it. Get a mission statement and a business plan. Start with the basics. Use your idea to go and make money. If you do something, do it well, and do it with enthusiasm you could do anything. The two biggest things to stop people are 1) laziness 2) fear. I think that somehow those two are closely linked! Those two things are also tools of the devil. Step up to the plate and hit a home run. Even if you strike out the first time step up again and again and again. I read a study on wealthy people in the world, at least the people who worked for and didn't inherit their fortunes. The study showed that the truly exceptional entrepreneurs in the world had failed a number of times before they made it big. Look at Apple Computer Corporation. It was started basically by Woz and Jobs in a garage.

In my (not so) humble opinion you should go for it. Go for it with all your heart. Be the sugar mama! I know you are capable of it for sure!

Two Mittens said...

Maybe you could develop a few more personal problems, get a dog, and make your living from the internet like dooce.com!

Stefanie said...

I suggest taking time to pray about it so you can know what is best for you and your family. As far as jobs, is there anything part-time you can do at school so you have the same holidays as your kids? I have no idea how the school system handles hiring of any part-time position or even substitute jobs compared to my school district here. I am a playground supervisor and work a couple of hours a day on the playground. I still get to teach piano lessons and I still have time to do housework and run errands. Just a thought.....