Our Five Ring Circus: How To Live In The Now With Your Spouse AND Save For Your Future

Monday, December 4, 2017

How To Live In The Now With Your Spouse AND Save For Your Future


Date Night

My husband and I don't get out much for date night! With four children to raise, including one who has special needs, there's never enough time, and we can always think of so many ways that the money could be better spent. Date nights only occur 4-5 times a year for us, and truthfully, that's not ideal. We NEED to be able to briefly escape from our children to reconnect as a married couple more often. Being able to live in the now is every bit as important as saving for our future!


Over the weekend, Grant and I had a much needed night out! We are very thankful that my parents and Grant's mom live nearby, and are able to relieve us of our duties occasionally, so we can go out alone. That's such a rarity these days that it's always incredibly exciting when it actually happens. So exciting and so rare that I'm even willing to take cold medicine so I can escape for a night! (Leave it to me to get sick just before date night!)


With my parents taking over responsibility of our precious cargo, we eagerly escaped for the evening. (Okay, so maybe what I really meant was running out the door as fast as we could with no feelings of guilt whatsoever.) So what do parents of four do on date night? WELL...they pretend they are young and childless, for just a few hours!  Dinner, a game of laser tag, and bowling with friends, of course!


First up was dinner, then drinks! Well, drinks for them, not me. I never drink. It's a personal choice. Instant headaches and exhaustion after just a few sips, and the lack of feeling in control are just not my thing! I opted for another choice...lots of caffeine!

How To Live In The Now With Your Spouse AND Save For Your Future

There's a first time for everything. And for Grant and I, it was our first time playing laser tag. I'm just going to admit it right now. I. WAS. TERRIBLE. So bad, that my score didn't even hit four digits like everybody else. I think I spent more time bent over in laughter and crashing into our friends, than firing the weapon. My white sweater that glowed like a blinking beacon wasn't much help either. But it was fun...so much fun that I would do it again! And I totally felt like a kid again!

How To Live In The Now With Your Spouse AND Save For Your Future

After we cooled down from laser tag, we spent some time just talking without constant interuption from kids. It was AMAZING! I adore being a mom, but sometimes adult conversation, and adult conversation only, is exactly what I need to feel like more than just a mom!

Marriage

We wrapped up our evening out with a game of bowling! Maybe it was the fact that I was relaxed and happy, but I actually scored over 100. (Did I mention that bowling isn't one of the things I excel at?) And I came thisclose to winning! Grant, however, wins every single time. I will never beat him!

How To Live In The Now With Your Spouse AND Save For Your Future

Okay, so maybe our night out didn't quite end there. It just might have included an 11 PM shopping trip, because shopping without kids is like a vacation, and after our fun night out, my husband was easy to convince. Plus, I heard a rumor that a certain elf was returning the following morning, and we weren't ready.

Somehow, two friends followed us there. I happily divvied up my shopping list between them and did some browsing while they shopped for me. Now that's a win! You know, I might be surrounded by my husband and his best friends on the weekends, but they are a pretty awesome bunch!

How To Live In The Now With Your Spouse AND Save For Your Future

We had an amazing night out together and with close friends! We returned home feeling happy and refreshed, and ready to wrangle the chaos once more. And it served as an important reminder that we need to go out without kids more often!


Bowling

It is possible to live in the now with my husband, make memories together as a family, and save for our future all at the same time! I was recently introduced to Vanguard, which inspired me to go out with my husband, and live like a Vanguard client for a few hours!


Vanguard clients don't live to invest. Instead, they invest to live! Vanguard's community of investors focus on long-term planning instead of obsessing over fluctuations in the market. They are just like you and me...parents, spouses, friends, family and co-workers...and they focus on saving for their future while living in the now!

A recent survey from the market research firm Kelton Global, showed that Vanguard clients are 11% more likely to laugh with their partner and 14% more likely to make time for date night compared with clients of other investment firms. I don't know about you, but I love to laugh with my husband and spend quality time with him!

How To Live In The Now With Your Spouse AND Save For Your Future - Featuring Vanguard #sponsored #whereinvestorsbelong

Learn more about Vanguard and start investing now! 

How do plan for your future while living in the now?


DISCLOSURE: The Where Investors Belong survey was conducted by market research firm Kelton Global in 2016. It polled 1,000 Vanguard clients and compared them with 1,000 clients of other investment firms. All differences between Vanguard clients and clients of other investment firms are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. The parental stat refers to clients with children of any age who provided the number of hours per week they typically spend with their children or who, compared to other people they may know, believe to be more involved in their child’s life. The experiences of these Vanguard clients may not be representative of the experience of other Vanguard clients and aren’t a guarantee of future investment performance or success.

5 comments:

  1. I LOVE your date night! What a great idea to go out and play Laser Tag! I've played at birthday parties with seven year-olds, but I imagine it would be so much fun to play with adults. Plus, I stink too. It's not fun to have a bunch of seven year-olds beat you with scores two hundred times higher! I'm so glad you had this special night to enjoy with hubby. You two look like teenagers--not parents of four children!

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    1. Haha! Thank you! Everyone always tells us we look really young, but I'm not feeling it with all of these gray hairs growing in. I'm glad I'm not the only one who stinks at laser tag. I was seriously awful! Either way, it was a great night!

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  2. Sounds like a fun time! I'm awful at laser tag too, I always blame it on the equipment.

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    1. Haha! I blamed the equipment, too, but I have a feeling it was just me!

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  3. Dylan has to be almost old enough to babysit right?? that should lead to more date nights :) Looks like you had so much fun on yours! My hubby has Vanguard accounts from before we were married, and his whole family is invested with them too!

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