BankerGirl

Posted by Heidi on April 20th, 2008 in debt, fitness

My partner and I are members of an informal cycling club.  We were introduced to the gang last spring through a woman at my work, and we’ve been hooked ever since.  We only manage to make it to about a third of their planned rides (they typically meet twice a week), but we always have an extremely good time when we do show up.

A couple of the guys in the club ride single speed fat tires on the shorter rides, but pretty much everyone has a nice road bike.  Matt and I don’t feel at all inferior, we love our Electras - and even though we don’t wear brightly-colored matching jerseys, we manage to fit in with everyone else (in spite of the fact that we are almost ten years younger than the next youngest members of the group). 

The only time that it’s clear that we just can’t hang is when the subject of touring trips arises.  Last summer everyone (except us) spent a week biking through Austria, and in just two weeks, the whole crew is leaving for a tour of Italy (in celebration of a couple of 50^th birthdays).  We’ve also been invited to join the club for a 10-day trek through Vietnam in November, but we’re going to have to take a pass on that as well. 

I know that we’d have a great time on any one of these trips, but a single one of these vacations would set us back $2-$4k (each!).  I’ve been tempted to consider signing up in spite of the out-of-reach price tag - Matt and I have been so  busy digging ourselves out of debt that we’ve never taken a real trip together.  But realistically, we know we need to keep our financial priorities in check - we have the upcoming wedding and need to make several repairs and updates to our home before we even consider a major trip. 

This is one of the perils of hanging out with a bunch of people that reside a step or two above our station.  Many of the members of our club have chosen to remain child-free and are extremely well-established professionals in senior management positions.  They own their homes and have a lot of discretionary income - they totally deserve to travel to exotic locals - they’ve earned it.  These poeple never flaunt thier wealth - it just comes across subtly.  Some examples: a few of the couples have house boats, some of the women wear diamond rings the size of doorknobs, and the singles of the group seem to be quite the jet-setters.  In some ways they are great role models.  On the other hand, there are times when they can be a bad influence in that they give me a terrible case of the “I wants.” 

I think that this may be a common calamity for people on the tail-end of gen X.  We want all of the things that our parents worked half their lives for - we feel that we’re entitled to the luxury vehicle or the 4000 square-foot house because it’s what our parents have.  We forget that our parents had to work their tails off for 25 years to get there.  We feel we deserve the same quality life our parents enjoyed when we left the nest, and forget that they started out in a tiny two bedroom apartment in the slightly dodgy part of town. 

I decided early on to acknowledge the difference and get over it.  The nice thing about this particular group of friends is that they’re so far out of our league that we can’t even pretend to keep up.  I know that if Matt and I stay the course, pay off our debt, and continue to save, we’ll be able to take great trips, buy that dream acreage, or maybe even start our own business - we will have the financial freedom to be able to choose our path.

And that will be priceless.

Stumble it!