When we bought our first house, we went in at closing to sign papers. We had to sign papers letting us know that we would be paying around $240,000 for our $72,000 home if we took the whole 30 years to pay it off. I determined at that moment I wasn't going to be paying on that house any longer than I had to. We got pregnant earlier than planned (which meant I had to pay back some student loans that I otherwise wouldn't have had to!) or we would have paid off that house in 4 years. I'm not sure how much debt my husband graduated with, but we were still paying some when we got married. Not too much because he paid over half of his take home pay on it each month to avoid the interest payments. A hundred thousand dollars in debt could easily be over $300,000 in repayments if the principle isn't paid down quickly. Initial payments are almost all interest. If the interest for the loan is high, it would probably be worth getting a second mortgage to get a lower rate.

I don't have time to read the other responses right now, but I have concerns. If we forgive college debts, those degree holders still have a marketable degree. When that cost is absorbed by society, it will be partially paid in one way or another by people who did not go to college. We are firmly in the donut hole for college expenses. We are hoping to get the kids through with little or no debt. They can only go to certain schools. They have to work. They have to get what scholarships they can. My second will not likely qualify for any merit aid. He works 20+ hours most weeks and saves most of that money (minus tithe, one tank of gas per month, and about $10 weekly for his hobby). He will also likely do 2 years of cc before going to a state university. We will still have to help him, but he is doing what he can to get through without debt. And that is where I get stuck. At some point, people have to take responsibility for choices they have made. I am trying to front load the responsibility for my kids as much as possible, because it feels different to save up for something that to pay for something you've already gotten.

We visited my parents 10-12 times a year for most of my kids' lives. Now that we have kids working, it is harder. We only go 5-10 times, but we do stay weeks at a time sometimes. I'm really glad they still have their 4 bedroom house. We'll have to see what the situation is when the kids are grown, but they did grow up in a family culture where family visits were prioritized. We could have multiple families visiting each month.

When I consider it, I think about a largish house (maybe 3500) but with most bedrooms on the 2nd floor on a separate thermostat. We'd live on the main floor and have bedrooms for visits from the kids. We have 5 kids who want to have more than the average number of kids. I want them all to be able to visit. Now, if several kids end up living close to is, we'd likely go smaller.

I really don't understand what the problem is. I mean, I could type any number of responses, but I truly don't know how to address the original post because I don't understand the problem. Most of my kids are fairly successful in a competive sport. My second son has had a crazy year with highs and lows. His most recent low was a sprained ankle that caused him to miss a chance to compete. Missing that made the next (and last) competitions of this season more important. I've made several sm posts over the past couple weeks about the injury, including one on his performance at the tournament yesterday. The injury is a Big Deal in the sense that it may keep him from competing for a world championship. We had to make costly decisions (big tournament in a few weeks) before he could put weight on his ankle. If he does well at the tournament coming up it will be in large part due to luck. That would have been true even before he got hurt. He can do well. He won an equivalent tournament last fall. But any given day, one of the other talented guys competing might carry the day. Things I have said that are similar to what you mentioned, "...if he is lucky" and "this is a learning year" (not even a warm up competition, a learning year). I don't understand what you think that means, but I guarantee you my main concern yesterday wasn't my gimpy 15 year old who may have put himself out of competing for a world title by trying to spin dunk on a friend's basketball hoop. It was my seven year old who has a hard time moving on when she messes up. We had a good talk today that may have finally made an impression on her - we compete to have fun, mistakes help us learn, losing (or winning!) a competition doesn't affect your worth as a person.

My dad has let the kids drive on the farm. I don't think anything about it. It would not be okay for him to let them drive illegally on a street, city or rural.

It is painful for us. I'm cutting back where I can. We have four road trips planned in the next 6 weeks - Chicago this weekend, Minneapolis in a couple weeks, Las Vegas in a few more, and Kansas some where in there. I do what I can to keep the cost of competing down, which is why we drive. Flying with multiple kids is cost prohibitive. We are committed to these tournaments and I have to pick up the beef from my parents when it is ready. I'm doing what I can to cover the difference from household expenses.

My thoughts, too.

Des Moines is a big gymnastics city.

My husband and I met in Manhattan. It is a great town. Your answer did surprise me a little, only due to your username.

I am sorry for your loss.

Is it new? Are there other issues? My older son is 6'3" and weighs about 130. He has always been thin, and the doctor hasn't been concerned. I have been concerned off and on.

That resource is on our list to consider for this year, but I wasn't sure we would have time. She is almost done with HOE and the Key to Fractions, Decimals, and Percents books. Right now we are doing MHE 3 times per week and the other things 2 days per week. It is nice to know you can work through an investigation in one day. That would definitely be doable this spring.

Dd12 is doing it as part of her math for this year. She is using a lot of resources that I am loosely calling Prealgebra. Jacobs Algebra is my favorite math book ever, so I am not surprised I like MHE. I don't know if we will do the whole book or not. Possibly we will finish it in the fall next year and wait until she is 13 to start Algebra. 13. That is taking me aback. She just turned 12, and there is a big difference in my mind from 11 to almost 13. lol The boys started Algebra at 12 with Jacobs and then did a second year with Foerster's. I like that arrangement, but I am not in a hurry to start her on upper level math.

My oldest grew about 8 inches in a little over a year. I don't remember specifics, but she was 12ish and she was at least 5'8" that year - although she may have turned 13 by the end of that growth spurt. She is a little over 5'10" now and hasn't grown significantly since she was 14 or early 15. Dd12 (newly 12) is 5'3" now and it seems like she might be poised for a growth spurt? I am predicting she will end up at 5'8" or 5'9". We'll see, but I would be surprised if she isn't 5'7" by her next birthday. Boy growth is more the topic of conversation in our house these days. I have a 15 year old who would really, really like to make it to 6' tall. He was always around 50%ile growing up, started puberty at a younger age (younger at least than his brother), and is 5'10" now. We know, because he has been just shy of Dd18 for awhile. LOL He may eke out a little more, but I don't know that he has 2 more inches in him.

I meant available to watch an event at my convenience for a few days or a week. I wasn't able to that the last time I looked, but that may have been awhile ago and may have been limited by my own subscription. I'll have to look. My husband only has a couple of hours to watch anything most days. Technically I have more, but not if I want to have a good school day.

And, tv has changed a lot in my lifetime. I don't know why we have to have curated viewing at specific times when we could have all events available from streaming sources.

I've always wondered (since realizing as a young adult that housing was often built for the Olympic village) why it wasn't built for future low income housing.

Also: Wordle Unlimited 3/6 ⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Think you can do better? Try the same puzzle: https://www.wordleunlimited.com/?wardle=bWVyaXQ Their automatic "think you can do better" is maybe unnecessary.

My dad has very green eyes. Mine have more brown than hus but are definitely green. Two of my daughters have green eyes. We called one by the nickname Gracie Blue because she had blue eyes at birth, but they were definitely green by the time she was 6 months old. The nickname still stuck.

We have liked all of the recipes we've tried from Budget Bytes. Eggs are expensive right now but still a cheap protein. I can do scrambled eggs with pepper, spinach, and onion, and a glass of milk or oj for about $1/person. For about $1.50/person, I can add fruit.

Dumb luck today. It was one of my three go to letter finder words. Wordle 222 2/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

My sister and I are very close. We live 6 hours apart but see each other 10-12 visits per year. I love my brother and wish I saw more of him, but due to a variety of reasons (moved 20+ hours away, works a job that makes visits difficult, has a more private wife) we don't even talk that often. The three of us were very close growing up and that bond won't go away regardless of frequency of visits.

Your husband's opinion doesn't matter more than your opinion, but it matters more than all of our opinions. We are a one sport family. The kids would like to play other sports, but I cannot handle a split schedule. We do TKD. We started going to tournaments because Dd18 really enjoyed them at 11. We did mostly local tournaments for the first five years - local meaning from Fargo, ND to Little Rock, Arkansas with some Chicago thrown in occasionally. We didn't ramp up until a couple of years ago. I really wished we had sooner. Dd18 missed some opportunities that the others are getting now. We do TKD. My husband is a World Champion for his age and rank. Dd18 has won (multi-state) District Championships in one or more events 6 or 7 years. She has been in the Top Ten list for her age and rank half a dozen times. Dd11 is in the Top Ten and a District Champion currently. And Dd15. He gets his own paragraph because this is the point I want to make. He has also had a lot of success in TKD. We are currently 12 hours from home because they are going to determine starting positions for the National Team tomorrow morning. It was pretty awesome he made the team as a 15 year old. We thought he had a slim chance at a starting position given his performance at try-outs. Yeah. His hip has been giving him trouble this past week. He is unlikely to get a starter position while injured. Highly unlikely. And that is okay. We can be grateful for the excellent training he is getting here. He doesn't owe us anything just because we decided to spend money on 3 tanks of gas, three hotel nights, tournament fees for this tournament, and 5 days worth of food. That is a lot of money for us, but we were paying for the experience and not the outcome. If your child would enjoy it, you can afford it, and you can take disappointments in stride should they happen, high level sports can be fun and inspiring.

We don't do an allowance, and we don't generally pay for chores. I paid for half of Ds15's phone when he painted the outside of the house last summer. My husband earns minimum wage at his hobby job, anywhere from $14.50-29.00 most weeks. That is deposited into Dd18's account to pay for gas and books while at college. Ds17 carries a credit card that we pay. He pays for one tank of gas per month and uses our card for the rest. Occasionally I give him personal to pick up a treat for himself. We are pretty generous with the kids. We pay the car insurance and college. If they need something we get it. If they want something, we evaluate the situation. I wouldn't just buy them an expensive lego set or go clothes shopping for fun. They might have to justify needing TKD equipment upgrades. But the occasional cash to go to movies with friends or the next book in a series, or supplies for a hobby are all things I say yes to as often as I can. The kids don't ask frequently which makes that easier.