A Lesson Learned

Like most American families, my husband and I are struggling to pay off a lot of debt. Since selling my soul to the University of Miami School of Law to the tune of $100,000, half of which funded my year of living it up in South Florida, I have been forced to live "the life less luxurious." But my brief fling in legal education was not in vain. I learned three things in one semester of law school: 1.) the art of argumentative writing; 2.) the definition of the word "chattel" (a moveable article of personal property); and 3.) that you should NEVER "dabble" in a private law school education unless your last name is either Gates or Buffett.

Since there is no such thing as a time machine, and I try to live my life by the optimist's mantra, "all things happen for a reason," I have made peace with my expensive decision and have vowed to instill in my daughter (and any of her future siblings, for that matter) the monetary lessons I was unfortunately not privy to when I was young and naive.

For instance, the importance of paying off a credit card each month. (As a side note, I think it is shameful how banks promote their credits cards to unknowing college students, but that is beside the point.) The credit companies will collect their money from you sooner or later, unless you file for bankruptcy or die - two options that I, as a former CPA, must discourage against since they tend to wreak havoc on your financial and actual life.

Also, the advantage of applying for scholarships over student loans. And, no...No, no, no....you will not be able to "live like a college student" for a few years once you find a decent-paying job after graduating, thus enabling you to pay off your loans early. I can promise you that! And, yeah, at the time, you may have enough money to buy yourself the entire fall collection at Hollister, but you'll be paying off that fashion faux pas (plus interest) over the next thirty years of your life, when you'll ultimately realize the life-span of your college style choices does not last much past the age of 22. I still try to explain this point to my husband, who to this day, continues to wear all of his long-sleeve, one-in-every-color, Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirts, you know the ones depicting their wearer as some newfangled jack-of-all-trades. They deceptively insinuate that he is somehow simultaneously affiliated with the Breckenridge Ski Club (he has never even seen snow) and the North Shore Surf Academy. And then there is my personal favorite, marketing director by day, cashier at "Uncle Freddie's Finger-lickin' Fried Chicken Shack" by night.

So I am hoping my daughter will be much more financially secure once she graduates from Harvard, than I was graduating from UF. Or she'll come to the same demoralizing realization as I did....that her "investment" in "fine" furniture items for her college apartment, such as papasan chairs from Pier One, an entertainment center made from particle-board purchased from Best Buy, a Walmart oriental rug, and the "Monet's" bought from the back of some guy's delivery van at the corner of a busy intersection, are not the makings for a cover of Better Homes & Gardens, much less the stylish livingroom of your average middle-class suburban family.