It made your eyes perk up and it brought you here to read a story. No, it isn't some get-rich-quick thing. It is a story of my husband asking my father for my hand in marriage.
Hubs went to ask my father for permission to marry me. They talked about a great many things, including the fact that I believe that my father thought I was high maintenance. (I'm not no maintenance, but definitely not high maintenance.) In the end, my father told my husband that before he could marry me, he had to have $10,000 in the bank. That's a lot to ask of a young man who just graduated from college and who was doing an internship. Hubs was doing his internship through the Student Conservation Association at the local National Park. He was making 50 cents an hour and working full time at the internship, if memory serves. He was also working a job at a plastics company through a temp service so that he would have money to pay bills. Despite all of this, he accepted the challenge. He had one year. We had already decided that we would marry the following Valentine's Day.
This started Hubs and I on the way to talking about finances and how to manage to save $10,000.00, have money to live on while paying for a wedding and I was still in school.
Hubs worked for The Davey Tree Company during the summer as a tech. We agreed that whatever money he made, he would put away as much of it as possible. I would pay for the wedding.
Then my wisdom teeth went south. They needed to come out and while my parents had insurance for me, the balance left was $350. I made payment arrangements with the oral surgeon's office.
We found a hall and loved it. I made payment arrangements with them for the hall and food.
I paid an installment plan for my tuition. All through college, I would pay as much as I could and take out as little as I needed in loans.
We agreed that we would get rid of all credit card debt before we got married. Hubs had his credit card maxed out at all of $500 limit. I had a card from Kaufmann's and a Visa card. Neither one carried an overlyesque balance, but an agreement was an agreement.
October came and despite all of the different financial stuff we had going on, Hubs was able to present my dad with the savings passbook from the bank to prove to him that he was able to save $10,000. My dad couldn't deny Hubs marrying me that coming February.
It was a crazy thought in the beginning, but 2 months after we were married, the wheel (yes, wheel) came off of my car, whirled through the air and landed on the front lawn of a local country club. Damage to my car was $1400. 4 months later, Ohio eCheck blew my motor. I still owed $3700 on my car. We had to pay it off and get a new car. We could only afford to lease a compact car, but we eventually bought that car after lease and kept it for 16 years.
This is where I tell you that the money that my dad made Hubs save came in handy. We had a savings from wedding gifts, too. Still, it was nice to have it.
2 1/2 years after we were married, we bought a house. We put a down payment on that house and though it wasn't a huge down payment, it came from that initial savings of money we had.
Many things have come up through the years, but we've continued to have savings. We've had money stowed away in an account that we ignore. My dad insisted that it all start that way and while it seemed like it was a tall order to ask of a new college graduate and a college student, but we managed it and we were glad to have it.
So my engagement was tagged with a $10,000 challenge. We won! :)
