I'm Getting A Raise!!!!

I'm normally not one to talk about my personal finances much. It's partly because it's really no one else's business how much money I make. I just tell anyone who asks that my boss pays me generously for my work. I work very hard in return. It's a nice trade off.

Another reason I don't talk about my salary much is that I honestly can not tell you the amount of my bi-weekly paycheck. Diane handles all of our family finances. She makes sure the direct deposit hits the bank and all the bills get paid.

About the only financial thing I typically know before Diane is when I get a raise. I sit down with Bill and Rick each January to talk about the past year and the year ahead. Bill uses that meeting as an opportunity to inform me of any raise that I may be receiving that year. I promptly forget the bi-weekly amount he tells me; figuring that Diane will take care of it.

Next month, though, I will be getting a raise that Diane and I found out about together. This raise has nothing to do with how much money Speed Systems will deposit into my bank account. In fact, I fully expect that my paychecks will not change at all for the remainder of the year. This raise is far more important.

This month, Diane sent the final payment to Bob Jones University for Matthew's tuition and room and board.

For ten of the twelve months in each of the last six years, we have sent a check to Bob Jones to cover Joseph's, and then Matthew's education. I don't resent that payment at all. Both of my boys have received a phenomenal education at a university that puts as much emphasis on their personal and spiritual growth as it does their academic achievements.

Bob Jones University works hard to keep costs down for their students. It's still a lot of money, but my boys were able to attend a small, private university for pretty much the same cost as friends who have gone to the nearby state university and significantly less than if they had gone to the "big" UW in Madison.

Those payments have come to an end. Matthew will graduate in less than two weeks and our financial contributions to their education will be over. I always told the boys that I would help them get a Bachelor's Degree, but any graduate degrees are on their dime.

I have no idea how large my raise will be. Just like I don't know how much my paycheck is; I have no idea what the school payments were, either.

It doesn't matter.

Matthew is graduating and I'm getting a raise.