I remember reading about this woman who got divorced and was screwed financially when her millionare husband hid his assets and she didn't get a dime. She basically had the clothes in her closet and her car and that was it. Because she had lived the 'life' in the fast lane, and had the cloths and style to carry it off, she lived homeless in her car for over a year and would go to Saks and Neiman Marcus to "shop" and would slip into the ladies room to wash and change clothes.Since she had been a regular customer at both stores, no one thought anything of her being there and never guessed what she was doing. If I get poor, I hope I have the balls to do it as well as this woman. She finally wrote a book about her homeless life and made a small fortune and could finally get in off the street. Kudos to her.
One of my favorite blogs is the Midlife Gals ~ SalGal and KK (http://midlifegals.blogspot.com/). They are a riot and can turn a blah day into a sunny one by being so funny. Their weekend post was about what they would do if they were suddenly rich. I used to dream about winning $85 million in the lottery, but kept forgetting to buy lottery tickets. Dah ~ When I started the frugal green mode I'm in now, I quit dreaming about being rich until I read KK's wishes if she was rich. It got me to thinking once again what I would do with the money.
- Take a deep breath and tell myself "money will not change me" one hundred times.
- Call my financial adviser and find out how to spend but still save at the same time. Rich people seem to have this down and we must learn what they know.
- Pay off the kid's mortgage so they can buy the house of their dreams near water with a view. Help them pay enough down to carry a managable mortage amount. Insist on a state of the art crafts room for my daughter that I get to work in too.
- Keep the house in Arizona, but redo the kitchen, bathrooms, redecorate it all and re-do the landscape. Use this house as one of three in various locales. Offer it out to other family members when they visit the SW.
- Find a house on the coast of Oregon near Cannon Beach. A big beachy house with at least 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms with room for everyone, all at the same time, without feeling cramped. Make it a cottage looking house and fill it with antiques and recycled junk that looks great. Live there all summer.
- Get a spot in on the coast in Costa Rica for Louie to live in when he needs the tropics. Rent it out for income when not is use.
- Buy a condo in Seattle to use when we miss the kids. Scratch that. If we're buying their house for them they can let us have a guest cottage on the property. Since we're paying....and besides, I am a great babysitter.
- Buy a condo or small house for Javan and Terina and a car.
- Start a college fund for all the kids.
- Set up a scholarship fund at the University of Washington in my father's name.
- Contribute $1 million to a group that supplies the means for clean water in Africa.
- Contribute $1 million to a group working on global warming.
Hannah ~ always, dreaming in colors