If I were rich I would . . .
- Pay off our mortgage
- Pay off our daughter's mortgage
- Hire someone to finish the remodeling of our house
- Build a barn
- Get back into dairy goats again
- Give financial help to certain people who are having a tough time right now
- Find a Toyota Tercel in good condition to have as a spare so we'd still have one when our current 1985 model bites the dust
- Buy a tractor with a bucket and blade
- Buy a stitch regulated sewing machine
- Buy new furniture
What would you do if you were rich?
I AM rich! I have a solid, loving family, an intricate web of friends and connections, an education, land, stocked pantry, the freedom to pursue my interests, the luxury of a good night's sleep, etc, so the way I see it, I'm FILTHY rich.
ReplyDeleteBut I do know what you mean---a little extra cash would be nice...
Or would it? Having things handed to a person on a silver platter, or in a leather billfold, kind of messes with a person, don't you think?
By any chance, have you been watching Fiddler on the Roof lately???
I'd like to think I wouldn't live much differently and would pass on the excess to others. Oh, and insulate out house properly:-).
ReplyDeleteI would pay off my grandaughters home. and spend some, and buy more to prepare. And just help where I could. Blessings jane
ReplyDeleteIf I had extra cash, I would pay off my daughter's mortgage and get my other one in a home. Probably continue living as I do and continue helping as I can. But one thing I would get for me would be a very nice new sewing machine.
ReplyDeleteWell I'd buy a bigger house with a nice piece of property. Plant fruit trees and gardens. I'd help out family members and put money in neices and nephews education accounts.
ReplyDeleteI'd buy a fuel efficent vehicle that we'd all fit in. My poor 6'2" son has to fold his legs in to get in our back seat. Not a nice way to travel any distance so we stay home mostly.
If I were really really rich I'd buy land and build an wonderful new house that was totally off the grid, along with the fruit trees and gardens.
There's so much more I'd do like certain charities etc but really my life would be pretty much the same just not having to live in a shoe box size house.
wow, so many things! One can dream!
ReplyDeleteevery single thing on your list and that very same EXACT order..all but the dairy goats..gottem check. But oh the new barn and the tractor with bucket and blade!! Necessities every one of them! Including helping a few others!
ReplyDeleteJJ - You're so right. Compared with most of the world's population, we are all very rich.
ReplyDeleteI think if you were a morally responsible, well-adjusted, and hard working person (as we all are, right?), having some $$ handed to you wouldn't mess with your basic beliefs and habits.
ThyHand - I wouldn't change my lifestyle hardly at all, but people would definitely say, "Wow, did you see that nifty barn Mama and Papa Pea built?!"
Jane - What? No cruises or fancy cars? Me neither, Jane.
Alla - We could go sewing machine shopping together! :o)
Sparkless - Seems like all your asking for is comfort. Good plan!
meemsnyc - I don't think it hurts anyone to dream a little. As Bloody Mary said, "If you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?"
DebH - Welcome and thanks for commenting! Looks as if you've got a real farm going at your place. And the other thing we have in common (besides our "If I Were Rich Lists") is working on the ol' weight loss job. Wishing you the best of luck with that . . . our body doesn't really need all that food we've been giving it. They can get along much better on less. Are we gonna be gorgeous, or what?
ReplyDeletePay off our mortgage, get newer vehicles (3 old rigs equals nervous waiting for breakdown), purchase new place with more acreage and needed impletments for said acreage, get newer rigs for kids, pay off their student loans and help finance houses for them, set money aside for future needs. To dream the impossible dream!
ReplyDeleteHmm... if I were rich, I'd pay off my mom's mortgage and hire someone to take care of her yard and housework. I'd pay for my sister's college education. I'd then buy every variety of fruit tree and grape vine that I want!! I'd get a decent sewing machine, fix up the barn and turn the upper level into a dance studio, invest in a full solar array to get us off the grid. The rest of the cash would go into savings and charitable causes.
ReplyDeleteI'd buy a HUGE greenhouse and put a table/chairs in there and a small koi pond and I would LIVE in it all winter-just smelling that wonderful earthy smell.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, that's all I'd want. And I only really "want" that at the end of winter. Don and I are content....our idea of a really great time is working in the yard.
Gosh, we're dull-LOL!
Oh yea, I'd also LOVE to play "secret Santa" to some VERY deserving people.
ReplyDeleteAll I want is a cleaning person. That's all. I want to never sweep a floor or scrub a tub again. The barn I can clean. But someone needs to save me from this house.
ReplyDeleteI would buy the farm that we thought we'd be at by now.
ReplyDeleteI would pay off my parent's mortgage and build them a house on our new property (the farm mentioned above).
I would get WAY into genealogy and research my family history.
Ruth - I'll bet our three vehicles are older than your three vehicles! I get a little cranky when someone declares that money can't make you happy. If life (no mortgage, no student loans, no worry about stretching the dollars available, doing without when it hurts, etc.) was easier, to my mind that would go a fur piece toward happiness!
ReplyDeleteGelfling - The fact that no one has listed anything luxurious or extravagant says a lot to me. We're all wanting some pretty basic things that would enable us to lead content, self-sufficient lives. Not to say something extravagant wouldn't be a kick to indulge in SOMETIME in one's life, but I'm not there yet. ;o)
Sue - You're not dull at all for heaven's sake. My hubby has fantasized about a table and two chairs in a greenhouse for years. And he does wouldn't know a carrot seed from a sweet pea seed.
Jane - If I were you, I'd seriously work on that. Really. Shoveling horse sh*t makes you a lot happier than scrubbing a tub, so I think that's a perfect trade off. You can make it happen. I know you can. And there's no way in the world a hard, hard worker like you should feel "guilty" about hiring house cleaning help. Now go do it!
Mama Tea - Oh, you're such a selfish girl. ;o) You're very fortunate to have a mom and pop that you'd want to live on your piece of property. That in itself says a lot. Again, I think we all want basic, secure lives in which to be able to live out our old-fashioned, down to earth dreams.
I second the dairy goats!
ReplyDeleteI would pay off all bills, sell the house and stop being a landlord to the other! I would then buy the property and house we want and the kids & I would go ahead and MOVE there, and let hubby start "air commuting" home on the weekends from wherever base he is stationed at LOL. I only say that because he is the one who brought up how nice that would be, not that I'm trying for distance. I would also pay off my parents' mortgage and buy a "family cabin" for my whole extended family to have keys to - nothing special, no utilities, just a safe place for all the kids in our family present and future to go fish, canoe, ski, relax, and hang out :) No fancy cars, but maybe another Subaru :)
I would buy the farm I long for, pay off my sister's student loan, go off grid, visit Mama Pea and help her spend her money...quit my job and work for organizations that I love.
ReplyDeleteWow, Mama Pea, it's amazing how much my list would be just like yours - 'cept I have sons - and I don't want new furniture, I want a big covered back porch! Not expecting to get financially rich anytime soon though, so guess I'll just keep making those wish lists.
ReplyDeleteOh to dream....well, a small house on a LARGE property, maybe with a moat and a dragon to keep the annoying neighbours away....but really, I'd love to go back to school to study geology and earth sciences. I still may down the line, but having the tuition taken care of would be wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI think I'd join the list of people wanting a newer house. My old trailer house is 38 yrs old, and that's a lot for a trailer ... LOL. I would fly my Mom over from Denmark for a nice long visit.
ReplyDeleteOr I could do the Chicken Mama routine!
Or ... or ... or ... I could go on. People without dreams have nothing ...
Hugs
Yvette
Erin - Oh gosh, I completely forgot the cabin on a lake I've always wanted. Well, I would have time to think about that after our house got done. If you win the lottery and can actually move on your plans, your hubby may have to get his own pilot's license for getting home weekends!
ReplyDeleteSusan - So where would your farm be? Still on the East Coast? We could be dangerous spending money together!
thimblevee - We gotta keep dreaming!
Rain - Naw, no moat and dragon. Just make sure you get great neighbors!
Yvette - Being able to move out of your trailer sounds like a good idea. Been there, done that. Almost froze.
I would probably want to hire someone to come in and clean once a week or every other week even. Then I could use my bought-with-the-new-money stitch regulated machine more often. Yea, I do drool over them too. But mostly I would help my one son's family out so they could get back on their feet and not have to worry so much about money plus set up college education funds for the grandkids. Then sit back and figure out what else I should do with the $$$$$. Thanks for asking! My husband on the other hand would do the grandkids thing but then he would buy a plane. Oh how he misses flying. Ah, it's nice to dream, huh?
ReplyDeleteYeah, you're right. I could handle a couple hundred (thousand) dollars being handed to me without losing my soul.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to pay off the debt for the barn/shop and have enough money for my husband to finish building it. There's the mortgage, of course. And we'd love to take the kids back to Central America to visit friends....
Um, did you peek over my shoulder and copy part of my "if I were rich I would..." list?
ReplyDeleteOur number one would be pay off our mortgage. After that DH would want to build a barn. I think really and truly though, he'd love to be able to stay home and do homestead stuff all the time. But, we feel fortunate to have the life we do have, mortgage and all.
Karen L. - Yup, it's the simple(?), everyday stuff that it seems we'd all like to take care of first. Then we could think about adding those little niceties that give us happiness and joy. How hard that must be to love something like flying and not be able to do it.
ReplyDeleteJJ - To see your hubby with the barn/shop he would enjoy so much . . . and then to have it free and clear! I can just imagine the wide eyes of your kids seeing where you and their dad spent happy times and I'm sure have heard so many stories of. Just think what you could do with the mortgage money each month if you didn't have to use it for . . . well, the mortgage?! :o)
Leigh - Yes, we, like you, are on our own little homestead and that counts for a lot these days. Hubby is in his third year of retirement and simply LOVES it. He still doesn't have enough hours in the day but at least he's finally getting at some things that have been on his list for far too many years. Unfortuantely, the finances are still a stumbling block! But we're thankful every single day that we are where we are.
Pay off some bills, then put a full foundation under our house, complete with root cellar, screened porch and a daylight basement apartment for our farmhands. Then adopt a baby--'cause then this place would be too warm and safe and cosy and wonderful NOT to share with a wee bairn!
ReplyDeleteAnd how ironic is it that the word verification is... "repop?"
MaineCelt - There should be no good reason that good people shouldn't be able to have the unselfish things you listed. And a wee bairn!! You made my heart go piddy-pat thinking of that for you!
ReplyDeleteyeah, I guess Jennifer Jo has it right that pretty much anyone reading this blog is already rich, but if I were truly rolling in the dough... Selfish response: take a trip around the world. Selfless response: I'd give BIG money to public schools located in the poor sections of town. Early childhood education is so key yet it seems like it is getting funded less and less.
ReplyDeleteDmarie - Boy, you are so right about both public and charter schools being in trouble because of cuts in funding. I just read how hard charter schools are being hit. If some of those should close that means more kids will pour into the public schools that have had their funding cut also. Things could get really tough.
ReplyDeleteI think I would do everything on your list as well. Except no kids, so I would for certain take care of my folks! They deserve everything I could possibly give them.
ReplyDeleteAPG - You are a wonderful daughter . . . and I know your folks would do the same for you!
ReplyDelete