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I picked 25 because women mature so much between 18 and 25. Guys never grow up.
This is so...untrue...Girls at this age and the girls in high school are identical in pretty much every sense except for physical. There are exceptions to this rule, but they're just that, exceptions.
I'm interested to hear what others think of DINKS--double income, no kids. They take vacations whenever/wherever they want, have plenty of extra money to spent on eating out, entertainment, and can live in the geographical locations they want (for instance in the big cities) because they don't have to worry about schools.
DINKS here. I think we're just fine. In our 35 years of marriage we've paid a lot of property taxes, yet have not burdened any school system with youngsters requiring $ervice$. Of the money we've paid for property taxes, about $75k of that money went into various public $chool $ystems, and still does. I'm not complaining; paying for schools is the price we pay for a decent civilization. We've always lived in excellent school districts, paying higher property taxes, but benefitting by higher resale value when we've sold a home and moved. You get what you pay for.
All that other stuff (vacations, restaurants, shows, etc) comes under the title of discretionary spending, which is what MOST people do, not just DINKS, so not sure why you mention it. Enjoying those things is not solely the domain of DINKS; most people we meet on trips, in restaurants, at shows, etc, are NOT child free.
There is no right or wrong on this topic. It's a matter of personal choice and how people choose to live their lives. In our case, we put our money where our mouth was about not being parents, unlike millions of people who bring unwanted and unplanned and unaffordable lives into being. With over six billion people on this planet, we felt no need to add to the squirming mass of humanity.
During the past 35 years we've saved and invested, done our budgets, been smart with money, and were able to retire in our mid fifties. For us, being smart with money means we don't run out and buy RV's, boats, fancy cars and other such baubles. When I want to go fishing, I go out on a charter boat, then walk away from it at the end of the day. If I want an RV trip, I'll rent one, not buy one; the storage lots are FULL of RV's that rarely see the open road. If we want to go ride a horse, we rent one from a stable, from people who know horses, love them, and thus we aren't paying to stable a horse we "own" but only see once a month. The same goes for most big ticket items, and horses, boats, RV's, etc, are money pits that will eat you alive. Rent. Rent. Rent. Keep YOUR money in YOUR pocket. Debt destroys; it destroys your options, your freedom and your future. Here's a link to my prior postings on owning lots of "stuff."
Someday soon humanity may lose the ability to sustain global population, and it's a relief to know that I'll have no offspring among the suffering. WE will take care of ourselves in our old age, as we always have, and if not, our long term care insurance will pay the nursing home bills, as only a tiny percentage of people and/or their children can afford to pay the $5-8k per month it takes to put someone in a nursing home.
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This is so...untrue...Girls at this age and the girls in high school are identical in pretty much every sense except for physical. There are exceptions to this rule, but they're just that, exceptions.
Really? LOL, every woman I know grew up a lot from 18 to 25. Of course, I know the ones who grew up since we all went to college together.
Unfortunately, while age is necessary for maturity, it's not sufficient for maturity.
I don't see the point. With no kids, there's even LESS incentive for both partners to work.
Actually, that would be under the title of Deadbeats.. Not DINKS.
My husband and I are DINKs. We've decided that we will remain DINKs since neither of us want kids. It's not that they're not awesome, we know they are (we have a nephew), but they're just not for us. For one thing, we'd be really anal parents- everything would have to be perfect. Another thing, there are already way too many children on earth that don't have parents.. so why would we have our OWN when there are orphans? Not to mention, there are a ton of people that uh, really shouldn't be having kids in the first place! They don't take care of them! And even if somebody had kids, they may never ever be ready or really know about kids even after they raised some.
How could you miss out on children/granchildren if you never had them?
My husband and I will be independent when we're old- and if we need help, we'll hire home health for little things. Besides.. there are always friends, nephews, and neices!
I only WISH we could just hop in our car/airplane/train and vacate any time we wanted to. That'd be nice. But just like anybody with (or without!) kids, we got responsibilites and bills to pay too. Just because we're not buying diapers, doesn't mean we can spend that money on something else. There's always going to be bills. Extra money? Those two words shouldn't even be in the same sentence!
It's got it's pros and cons.. and for us, the pros most definitely outweigh the cons!
My husband and I are "Dinks" and always will be. Lavish lifestyle? ppfffttt, not even close. We both work, make okay money. We don't live above our means at all. We take one vacation a year on our anniversary. This year will more then likely be the last one for awhile. We weren't even sure this one was going to happen. We have a small 2 bedroom home which we love and it's all we need.
I agree Chowhound. Example. A guy who works for my husband is in the process of his 2nd divorce. He has one child from his previous marriage and one with his 2nd wife. She has one from a previous marriage. He was kicked out, but for one weekend they thought they might get back together. That didn't happen and things got even uglier. However they decided to have unprotected sex and boom, she got pregnant. Now this child who didn't ask to be born, is going to be born into a horrible situation. They have no money. His child support and spouse support is going to be more then he makes. Just stupid. No one was thinking..He's 30.
My husband then tells me that another guy who is divorced as well just had sex with his ex-wife and now she is pregnant. So they are going to live together, but not "be" together. Seriously, people really need to think more.
We knew we wouldn't be able to provide much to a child and felt it best to not have any. For what it's worth, I've been taking care of kids for 23 years now. In those 23 years I have watched dozens of children that people should not have had.
You and your husband were wise to have children if you could not afford the, And I agree, a LOT of people have children who should not have them.
Actually, that would be under the title of Deadbeats.. Not DINKS.
My husband and I are DINKs. We've decided that we will remain DINKs since neither of us want kids. It's not that they're not awesome, we know they are (we have a nephew), but they're just not for us. For one thing, we'd be really anal parents- everything would have to be perfect. Another thing, there are already way too many children on earth that don't have parents.. so why would we have our OWN when there are orphans? Not to mention, there are a ton of people that uh, really shouldn't be having kids in the first place! They don't take care of them! And even if somebody had kids, they may never ever be ready or really know about kids even after they raised some.
How could you miss out on children/granchildren if you never had them?
My husband and I will be independent when we're old- and if we need help, we'll hire home health for little things. Besides.. there are always friends, nephews, and neices!
I only WISH we could just hop in our car/airplane/train and vacate any time we wanted to. That'd be nice. But just like anybody with (or without!) kids, we got responsibilites and bills to pay too. Just because we're not buying diapers, doesn't mean we can spend that money on something else. There's always going to be bills. Extra money? Those two words shouldn't even be in the same sentence!
It's got it's pros and cons.. and for us, the pros most definitely outweigh the cons!
I was saying there's no need for BOTH partners to work. One should still work, and the other should stay home and take care of the house.
The DINKs I know do have the money for vacations and clothes and stuff. I sometimes feel a bit wistful--I wouldn't call it outright envy, just a feeling that it must be nice. I don't think they are any happier than we are, though, and I wouldn't trade my children for a iPhone and some pretty shoes.
If people are happy with their lives, that's what matters.
The DINKs I know do have the money for vacations and clothes and stuff. I sometimes feel a bit wistful--I wouldn't call it outright envy, just a feeling that it must be nice. I don't think they are any happier than we are, though, and I wouldn't trade my children for a iPhone and some pretty shoes.
If people are happy with their lives, that's what matters.
Jimmy Choo's, perhaps some Manolo Blahnik's are you sure LOL
Jimmy Choo's, perhaps some Manolo Blahnik's are you sure LOL
Don't tempt me, Chow!
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