Riding the Money Train of Thought

My head is full of money. (Ha, if only that were true.) Actually, my head is full of thoughts about money. What I want, and what I need. What I will have to spend, and what bills I will have to pay. How to manage it all so that I can pay what I need to and spend only what I have to. The long-term goals I want to achieve for myself financially, and the short-term outlays I need to figure out.

Sometimes I get tired of thinking about money. I think with wistful joy of my childhood, which didn't involve nearly as much fiscal planning. Growing up, I knew we had money problems, but I didn't know the hard numbers, or the actual scope of the situation. There are times when I wish I had a "grown-up" around now that I could hand all these decisions off to. But the price of independence is awareness. Someone has to see that dinner gets on the table, the roof stays over your head, and the lights and heat stay on. And as hard as it is to make all these different tasks and dollar values and priorities work, it is better to know -- to be in control, to be independent.