SAH/WOH - Why?
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SAH/WOH - Why?
| Mon, 02-20-2006 - 7:41am |
I am sure this has been done before but I was wondering this in light of recent posts lately.
Why did you decide to sah/woh?
Was it a choice or something expected of you?
Was your plan to sah/woh though out or impulsive? Long-term or short-term?

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***that was not intended to express disbelief.***
No it doesn't express disbelief. If I didn't believe you I would have called you a liar. No need to skirt the issue. I like to be direct.
***I respond by pointing out that you don't understand that carpooling *reduces* the amount of driving one does***
Hmmm..please show me where I have indicated that carpooling doesn't reduce the amount one does driving. You didn't point that out. You made personal attacks. If you don't see that you did then I am guessing that you really aren't aware of how rude the comments you make are.
***And pointing out that your reading comprehension is poor when you ask me what kind of car my dh drives when I've already told you is a personal attack?***
I asked you a direct question. Do you think that I can keep up with your personal life? I asked you a question this to be exact ***Everything you do must be very close to your home. Where you camp must be too. What does your DH drive?***
I don't remember ONCE you telling me what your DH drove. If you did please post that link and I will read it. It has nothing to do with reading comprehension. This is a very large thread and no one here can keep up with everything one person says. If you don't think what you said was a personal attack then I really have no words for you. Except you might want to rethink things to say to others.
***You poor, poor thing.***
What?
We've been through all this. My situation is different from yours. I need a minivan because I often have more than three kids with me and because my mother and my sister live in the neighborhood and often join us on family outings. My kids have been in activities for several years, and we carpool to save gas for everyone. That's part of the reason I am able to put only 7K miles/year on my car vs. the 10K you put on yours. I bought the van 3 years ago, when we began to need it, used. It replaced a honda civic hatchback, which was our second car for the first six years we had kids.
The subaru is not mine, it's my dh's. He normally uses public transportation to get to work. It has AWD, and we live in an area that gets a lot of snow and that is close to the mountains. We use the subaru for car trips, to go to the mountains in the winter and on weekends or evenings when it's just the four of us. It is not a big car or a big gas guzzler and again, we drive it considerably less than average. At the time we bought it, our other car was a honda civic hatchback.
Again, we have considered the environment in purchasing cars and deciding what cars we need as our circumstances have changed. Neither of our cars is an suv, and we purposely did not buy a new van. Both of our cars get better mileage and emit less pollution than an suv. You've said, numerous times, that you did not even consdier the environemnt. You've been driving an suv for 6 years, even though you have only two kids. You don't carpool, and you don't have family members that frequently drive with you. I've said that I don't think buying an suv is necessarily a sign of not caring about the environment, but I think that saying you didn't even consider the environment when you bought your suv is.
***So you don't pass on these costs to the homeowner? They come out of *your* pocket?***
Sure the homeowner pays for the home and the land. They pay for the lot clearing...the time I put into it isn't covered. It is something I do with all my lots.
***So you built custom homes. When you say they're not small, what do you mean? How big are they? You mentioned people building 5,000 sf homes for 3 people to live in. Is that what you're talking about?***
The biggest home I have built to date was 6200 sq ft. I used to work for a large company years ago and some of the homes were as small as 1200 sq ft. I would say when I build for myself the average is about 3000 sq ft.
Well, my house was built in 1908, and we've done lots of work on it, despite not having an suv. I do yardwork, too. I have a nice vegetable garden and I do mulch at the beginning of the summer. You don't need an suv for that.
Yes, I understand that you need an suv for work. I also understand that you're not working and haven't worked for 6 years. Why did you buy the last one, the year before you had kids and knew you were going to be a sahm?
"NO I wouldn't have. I would have had to sell it and buy another truck before I returned to work."
Or maybe if you hadn't bought your previous suv in the first place, the year before you had kids, you could have just bought a new suv when you go back to work in a couple of years. That way, all this time you wouldn't have been driving a bigger car than you need.
"Again why would I buy a used vehicle and then turn around and sell it in a couple of years just to buy what I have now?"
Because maybe it would have been better for the environment?
"Walk where? Down this long country road we live off of? Not all of us want our children growing up in the city. I live on a large lot where my children can run and play and have their swingset and jungle gym right outside. (Oh yeah...there is another thing that would not fit into your minivan)
You made the choice to live in the country, so you have to realize you're going to be doing more driving than those who make the choice to live closer to their everyday activities. All the more reason to think about your choice of car.
"Again you only realte saving the Earth to car usage. Why is that?"
No, I don't. That's why I said "or just do something else to help the environment."
I bought it before I even got pregnant. I didn't know I was going to get pregnant when I did. We had planned to wait a little longer. I didn't know I was going to be a SAHM either. That decision was made later.
You mulch a vegetable garden? How do you get mulch? HOw do you do work on your house? Do you have things delivered or do you pay someone to do the work for you?
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