Wednesday, June 14, 2006
My parents set aside a small amount of money for each of their children's potential weddings. Nothing extravagant, but a nice amount.
One day over the summer, when I was living in Ohio, Mom mentioned that she had opened some of my mail ("I thought it was for me, I didn't even look at who it was to," she fibbed) and saw my credit card statement. It was nothing ridiculous, but yes, I had some debt hanging over my head that I was slowly grinding out payments on. She offered to pay most of it off with money in my wedding fund.
Mom: That way you're not battling the high interest rate.
First I was angry, then defensive, then a bit demoralized. I'm an adult, right? Finally, I agreed that it made sense.
Mom: After you finish paying off your credit cards you can pay it back. Or not. Really, it's your money. But if you don't, you just won't have that money whenever you do get married.
I'm not exactly debt-free, now. I have a car and student loans, but last month I paid my last credit card bill. And I recently made my first payment back into my "wedding account." It feels good to do something so optimistic.
Honestly, I can't see myself entertaining the idea of marriage or another engagement for a long time still, but it seems important to put that money back where it belongs and towards what it was intended. It's one small adult gesture.
