Spending Like Drunken Sailors

S and I have been cautiously counting down the various financial milestones we are about to check off as parents.

Earlier this month we had a mini celebration when we paid CHS tuition for the final time. This is also the last year we will be paying tuition for three kids. As a family that chose to send our kids to private school from K–12, we expect no sympathy for that part of our annual outlay. We are lucky we could do it.

That does not mean we are done with the large expenditures for three kids.

Monday we became a five-car family. We could have made other decisions in the past that kicked this can down the road at least another year. However, we didn’t think that far ahead when we let M take a car back to Cincinnati for her sophomore year. Which meant C gets to take a car to Bloomington this year. Which meant L needed a car for her senior year.

It seems quaint that once upon a time households with multiple kids had a single car they all shared. Or didn’t even have a car for their kids and they had to work around their parents’ schedules to even have a chance to drive themselves.

Anyway, L now drives a Kia Sportage and we have five cars filling the garage and driveway until M and C go back to school. Not sure who is happier, L or our insurance agent.[1]

Two of our girls got their mom’s teeth, and we have had a rash of out-of-pocket dental expenses this summer.[2] L has senior pics coming up, and we’re beginning to plan her spring break. She also had a minor, elective medical procedure this week to (hopefully) stop the chronic nosebleeds she’s had for years. M’s car needs new tires.

And we went to Europe.

Our only break is that M will again be working a co-op this fall, thus drawing a regular paycheck while taking just one online class. She’s both setting herself up to graduate with some savings and eliminating one full tuition bill this fall.

S keeps saying we are exsanguinating money, which seems a little dramatic. I keep it to myself (and the readers of my blog) that she’s the one who wanted three kids, to send them to private school, and to take a big trip this summer. If you know her, please do not share these comments, as it may mean the end of this site. And my life, obviously.

This is all extreme first world stuff. S and I both began preparing for long term expenses like tuition and retirement before we met. While it is rewarding to see 30-ish years of planning and saving show rewards, it is also a little overwhelming to be in the midst of it. Especially when so many one-time, or once-per-year, expenses land within a few weeks of each other.