I forgot to say that I graduated in 1980. I think I paid the couple hundred dollars myself. I was working at the time. One of my best friends who graduated in VA went with her class to Cancun, Mexico. She graduated 2 years after me and her parents paid thousands for her to go! Now kids go to Europe and Aruba. They also have more elborate proms, only a few "rich" kids had limos back when I was in high school. Now everyone gets one. I'm dreading the day when Lauren starts going to proms. I've already told her she'll be wearing the same dress to all of them or we'll be buying them used and cheap. And no limo.

preaching to the 'mom & dad CPA's & financial planners' choir here. no debt myself other than my tiny mortgage and i'm still up 200% on my house LOLOL. my DH has acquirred college loan debt but at only 3% interest after he's done. he just finished his honors BS in Mech Engineering, is 1/2 done w/ his MS and by Dec will be 2/3 done. college debt for the high earning degrees doesn't bother me but if it's not sciences or engineering i would not bother taking out $$ to do it and it's a waste of time of you are not in the top of your class academically. he has job offers pouring in nothing under $60K and they won't catch my attention until they hit $85K, some are coming close. ideally he would take a job where we live since my job currently pays for all we need. his job would then pay off the loans in a yr. but unfortunately the jobs coming close to $85K are in other states, thou all of them are significantly cheaper to live in. almost any state other than CA is going to be cheaper for us. my point in the above post was that these days most employers expect far more than they are willing to pay up for. hence my high demands for a great starting salary for DH other than he has earned it in spades w/ his special honors and i know the employer will get their works worth. back to the debt thing, back in 2000 i learned that lots of cash on hand is not as important to creditors as extensive credit history. i was starting to look for a house to buy and was buying an suv at the same time. it had been almost 7 yrs since i had used credit cards, they had nearly fallen off my credit record apparently. i was advised by banks to get some current credit history going so i could get a mortgage. even thou i had 6 figures in 401K and enough cash on hand to put 50% down if i had to on a house. i bought and paid cash for the SUV except for the extended warranty and that interest rate for $2k came in at 18% lol. i built up a bit of new credit, got my mortgage & house at what then was a good rate 7%. in 2006 i decided to pay off all credit cards and be done w/ credit. last yr i bought a new suv but instead of giving up my cash i put the amount for the car in it's own savings (pays 3% which balances out the 2% interest on the loan) and it auto pays ea month adding to my credit history which other than my house has become nill again. i will be wading back into credit cards now that all the new rules have gone into effect (been too leary), luckily i still have a high FICO and a perfect record althou not alot of different things and i do still get flooded w/ good credit offers. if i can get my DH to find a local job even part-time (i'd prefer that for another yr) and we stay in my house another yr we'll be set for life! ~ liz

I agree, gardengal. I am increasingly disgusted with the buy, buy, gimme, gimme season that we have grown accustomed to in the United States. Where is the original meaning of the holiday? (No flashing lights, winking snowmen, Santas, or candy canes on my front porch. A simple winter arrangement at the door and a nativity scene in the yard is ample for me.) Years ago I bought my boss a birthday gift and a Christmas gift. He was very uncomfortable receiving them, so I stopped. But he usually gave me a gift card for Christmas. That was fine with me. He was an old-fashioned authoritarian figure and I'm a female, younger than him, so I think that had something to do with it.

I’ve project managed for owners on vacation who didn’t want to live in the middle of the mess. 2-3X a week pictures for them, and I solve the issues. Because the design work was all done in advance, issues that need to involve them are exceedingly few, to none. I’m there on the job site for the important times and dates, and performing quality control, with adherence to the agreed upon design standards. And they are off visiting relatives or staying in an extended vacation spot. Bear in mind that “daily cleaning” means “Broom Clean” as the standard. It’s not your MIL coming for white glove inspection! Broom Clean is chunks swept up. The area under construction should be a no walk through zone, behind plastic, with an air scrubber exhausting out a window set up for any of the messy parts. That’s an extra line item, as it is an extra hassle and expensive that many contractors don’t do. The return air vents should have filters taped in front of them, and other air vents should be sealed. I insist on it on my jobs. I also insist on a post construction cleaning service. That is not a standard that many contractors operate under. Those that do this will not be the inexpensive guys, as it adds to their overhead. Which is why it’s called out in a contract as an Extra Service level.