Losing my DINK status

DINK = dual income, no kids.

That's been Steve's and my status for almost 6 years now. Granted, we've gone through some patchy times, where he's been in grad school and I've been unemployed, but we've still made it work.

Since about 2004, when Steve was officially out of grad school and we bought our house, things have looked pretty good for us. We both have had good jobs with good pay. We are able to pay all of our bills with no problems, and enjoy eating out a few times a week. We also have been able to purchase new cars recently, as well as enjoy a couple of cruises.

Now, by no means are we rich (I don't want anyone to think I'm using this blog just to talk about how well off we are) ... we are just "comfortable".

And, we have certain freedoms. Like, if we decide we want to go somewhere last minute, it's not a problem. Aside from making sure the kennel can take our dogs, we can usually finagle it. Or, if someone calls and wants to know if we can do something that same night, it's normally okay.

Any moment now, this is all going to change.

And, I don't know how it's going to be. I'm actually a bit frightened to tell the truth.

Not that Steve and I go out a lot per se, but I am losing this option almost entirely. Honestly, I don't see how we are going to be able to go out, even if we can find a babysitter. I imagine we'll be too exhausted. Plus, Brett is going to be so small at first that I don't know how I'll feel about leaving him, even for a short time.

And, finances are totally changing. We've actually been a lot more frugal over the past 6 months or so, saving up for me to take maternity leave. I've requested 12 weeks off, and I plan on taking them! However, these are UNPAID weeks, so we've had to save every spare penny.

But, here's the thing... even though we've been frugal, we've still enjoyed eating out and running to Starbucks and not questioning random purchases on our weekly Meijer runs. I know, it's sort of sick in some ways. We need to reign EVERYTHING in, and I have a feeling that it will kind of happen automatically whether we like it or now.

So, here's "goodbye" to our DINK status. I hope that it's worth it. I know it has to be, because I know parents who have sacrificed a lot when they had kids and they wouldn't change a thing. I just haven't quite been on "the other side" yet. Soon, I'm hoping this will all make sense!