So, yes since the day I got married my mom sat me down and gave me some big-time advice that confused me somewhat at the ripe age of 26. She said, “I am so happy for you and wish you a lifetime of happiness with your new spouse but stash some cash and don’t tell him about it.”
Wow – okay, that is a heck of a way to send me down the aisle with the reassurance that saying YES to my future spouse, minutes later was A-Okay. But she was right, now that I look back 14 of marriage years later.
I am a CPA and have become the designated CFO of my household, the house manager, camp/activities director for my two young children, and anything else under the sun. But I have also stashed the cash. I have taken so many money-saving tips along the way and ensured that we lived well below our means.
But here is the issue – I do so much and wear so many hats that I took the advice of stashing the cash but I hid it so well that when I went to add to it on one occasion I could NOT FIND IT! I just about freaked as I worked so hard to not only save it up for the “just in case” and hide it from my husband just as mom told me to do because “you never know.” I wanted to blame anyone and everyone for taking the money but after turning the house upside down (when no one was home to witness) I finally found it just where I hid it. I got a quick wake-up call that this was a consequence of doing way too much and keeping information on things that my family may need locked in my head alone or on random sheets of paper was NOT good for anyone that I really do love and care for. I needed to tell someone and get it together.
I searched and searched for the perfect solution and found many but they all seemed so daunting to take on. Where do I begin? I know so much and I do so much. FINALLY, three years (I am not proud that I procrastinated this long) later I landed on what I thought was a perfect way to tell someone and allow them to receive the information when the time was right and I found myself a personal memory assistant all at my fingertips. I am killing two birds with one stone and love that. It gives me the same thrill as saving money with a coupon does or checking off a box on a “to-do” list does. I invested the time and followed the plan that allowed this process to not be daunting, but palatable, efficient, and effective. I answered a bunch of yes/no questions over the course of a few months (let’s face it Rome wasn’t built in a day nor was this) and finally have peace-of-mind that I will never secretly tear my house apart looking for something that I hid so well that not even I could find it.
