Spending With Your True North in Mind
Originally published at www.reneehuse.com
When I started this blog post I was trying to write a little blog for couples planning their wedding in the next 18 months. Why? Well – I talk to first time home buyers on the phone EVERY DAY and so many of them are in debt or planning o be in debt because they #yolo’d their wedding. This whole train of thought stemmed from reading a hilarious article called “The Cost of Love in Canada in 2017” originally published on Feb 4th, 2017 on ratesupermarket.ca.
The article claims that from the time couples start dating to the time they tie the knot, it is going to cost them $66,700! What the heck! They are also stating that on average Canadians spend about $20,000 on their weddings. I got curious about this and checked out a number of other articles that indicate Canadians are spending about $30,000 on their weddings (including the ring and the honeymoon). $30,000. Wow.
So that lead me down a rabbit hole – of thinking, commenting, judging, calculating. But, who am I to comment on how much anyone spent on their wedding? I mean really – it’s THEIR day – not mine. So, what is the question I REALLY wanted to ask? Why has this whole “$66,700 for Love in Canada” got me so worked up?
After some reflection, I’ve landed on it. Here is my question:
Are you spending money on the things that are truly aligned with your values?
Are you spending your money to get MORE time doing the things you love? Are you spending your money to allow you MORE opportunities to squeeze the people you care most about? But…the question that really hits a nerve – am I? Are you, Renee Huse, spending your money in a way that allows you to spend more time with the people you love, doing the things that set your heart on fire? Big questions…
Some of us feel SOOO good driving a fancy vehicle. Some of us feel AMAZING spending money on endless education. Some of us can’t get enough of group exercise classes, recipe books, ski hills, jewelry, photography. It’s all individual choice.
Here is the point I think you need to remember when you’re looking at any major investment, your home, your wedding, your vehicle, any of it.
Major investments should be aligned with your “True North,” your purpose, that value/mission/goal that just sets you on fire when you think about it.
My husband and I don’t agree on everything, (read anything), but we have one True North. We want to spend more time outside, moving our bodies, with the people we love. Period. Full stop.
Our wedding cost us a lot of money. It did. I’m not going to BS you. But we were married, outside, in the mountains, surround by a small group of friends and family. The day of the wedding many people canoed in the lake and enjoyed mountain air and sunshine. We had no decorations, because to us, seeing the mountains was decoration enough, it’s what we paid for. The money spent that day was completely in alignment with what we love most.
When I think about the vehicle we drive, it’s a truck, usually filled with skis or bikes and it comfortably fits our family of 5.
The home we own has less “high-end finishing” than the homes of our neighbours, but it has the biggest yard, because, (true north), we want to be outside with our kids.
