things i'll miss about champaign: part 1
the past few months, i've been thinking about how much i'll miss living in champaign-urbana when we move (which might be as early at next year). so, i'm deciding to make a series of posts of what i'll miss about champaign. :)
i will miss the lifestyle of champaign-urbana.
champaign is the first place i've lived in where i don't feel affected by the "consumerist" attitude. nat and i grew up suburbia (different cities), and i know i got used to spending on lots of stuff--food, clothes, gadgets, etc. when i moved to college, it wasn't much different, just a different city.
after getting married, trimming down our budget multiple times, i think nat and i have cut off our suburbia attitudes on spending. one major factor that has helped tremendously is town atmosphere. champaign-urbana doesn't have many expensive shopping areas, which i think really cuts down on our "wants"*. the people of the town also live modestly; our friends are no exception. i'd say 99% of them live very modestly, many of which are families that live on one income. i'm sure that they can afford to live in a nicer/larger house, drive nicer cars, buy nicer things, but they don't nor do they have a desire to do so. this atmosphere has really helped trimmed down our budget b/c we've been able to see the difference between what we need vs what we want. if you would have told me that we could live on $1900 a month with a baby, i probably would have laughed at you a few years ago. now, i realize it can be done, and it doesn't mean we have to skimp on quality of things, it just means that we have to be more careful of what and where we spend our money on. sure, it takes up more time for me to "shop around", but those savings add up really quickly.
so why is this such a big issue for me? well, i find myself really loathing the consumer lifestyle more and more**. and i know, when we move, it will be a daily battle for us to fight this type of spending. when i go visit friends and family that live in the bigger cities, i find myself going back to my "old" self and wanting a lot more things and wanting the expensive things. i think the city atmosphere and people atmosphere really foster the attitude of spending b/c that's what's "normal" there, and if we don't watch ourselves, we're going to get sucked back in.
i thought, before, that the Christian community can help us hold our ground in modest spending, but i've found that not to be the case. we have friends that have just moved down to texas that are facing the pressures of going against the norm for their modest spending within their church. many of their friends live in $500K houses (which is a nice house in dallas), drive luxury cars, send their kids to private school, etc. they have found that they have to constantly fight this idea of "normal" spending even in their church. don't get me wrong, the church is Biblically sound and has great doctrine and filled with strong believers, but our friends have to fight constantly. and i've seen other churches that are the same way as well. i'm not criticizing these people or churches, b/c i know that we all have our freedom in Christ, even with regards to what we spend. but for us, we are just not comfortable living that kind of lifestyle.
as we move, i know that i'll have to constantly remind myself that we lived comfortably on $1900/month. so when we move, i'm hoping to see the numbers of our budget to be roughly the same (with some exceptions like the mortgage) and continue to live a more modest lifestyle, even if it isn't the norm. but i'm truly very grateful that i can live in champaign-urbana for a few years, where modest lifestyle is the norm rather than the exception. :)
* granted, there are parts of the town that are cropping up to be like suburbia, but most of these upscale places seem to be in pockets further away from the main part of town
** just today, i read a post on a couple that don't think they can afford kids with a combined salary of $200K/year. granted, they live in silicon valley, but i couldn't believe it when i read it.
posted by Ramona @ 2:16 PM
7 Comments:
Those are definitely some nice things about C-U. The low cost of living is awesome. I don't think there is another place I could have gone to grad school where I could buy a house on my TA salary.
I was a little surprised to hear that your friends are unable to find people that live on a modest budget within a city. Then I realized that they had probably just returned to the church that they had attended when they were younger. So now it's story time!
One of my good friends from high school went to a church with an interesting strategy. They started a "sister" church in the poorer part of town and encouraged their congregation to attend the other church on a regular basis. Of course, not too many people did this, but my friend did. She found the type of community that you're talking about - inside a big city. Most people don't have the same encouragement to take such a step, but I can tell you from my own personal observations that it is possible (though the next question is about what you'd have to give up to do it).
"i'm not criticizing these people or churches"
Why not? Jesus certainly did, as I was brutally reminded of in a backside-kicking sermon this past Sunday based on the story of the rich young man in Matthew 19. Our addictions to affluence are beginning to have worldwide effects which could easily eventually result in catastrophic problems, with the potential for millions to starve to death, etc.; if this kind of result isn't something that we can criticize people for, then exactly what can be criticized? Should we merely refuse to voice anything that might be controversial?
dc - my friends didn't move back home, they moved to a new city. it just so happens to be the church they go to is located in a very affluent suburb of the city. i will remember that we need to actively choose to live modestly like your friend.
kyle - you make an interesting point. but Jesus didn't always criticize the rich that He was ministering to for their use of money (like nicodemus). in the case of the young rich man, it seems that it has become an idol. now, on the outside it may seem that this rich spending seems idolatrous, but i don't feel like i have the right to judge that b/c i don't know people's hearts. but, i do agree that maybe talking about how one spends money wisely should be something spoken about more widely in churches, especially those in affluent areas.
Jesus does, however, talk much more about money than any other single topic, because its power comes with great responsibility, but it also allows us to live without the consequences of being irresponsible (it is almost always the poor who bear the consequences of rich people's irresponsibility, an effect that is probably magnified more today compared to in Jesus' time).
Why should we only be concerned with what is happening "in people's hearts"? People can very sincerely do things that have an absolutely horrible outcome for others. People can be completely unaware of how their actions in one place can have drastic consequences elsewhere. And most importantly, most of us in America, myself included, have become quite good at being willfully ignorant of how our consumption choices are really not in keeping with the biblical call to be good stewards of not only the individual possessions but also the world that God has given us.
While I don't think the strategy is necessarily to stand over people and scold them (I've never had much of an activist mentality), I do think that it is imperative that we educate people on the problems that can occur because of bad stewardship and push them to become better stewards of those precious gifts God has given us.
200k/year is for a family of 4 in silicon valley might be tough if you want to buy property. In the valley, a 2 bedroom condo is probably about $500k, which with a 30 year mortgage is already ~2600/mo. And if both parents are working, there's the extra cost of finding a daycare or sitter and less time to shop around for deals.
That said, even with those costs, you'd be living a pretty middle-class lifestyle. I wouldn't say it's unattainable.
Silicon valley is expensive, but we live comfortably and could live just fine on Kindel's and my salaries if we had a family. I think it boils down to your financial priorities and lifestyle.
I also find what Damon said to be helpful. Choose the folks to hang with and try to get a different perspective on how people live in that town. K and I have simply chosen not to give into the consumerism that is common among white folks in the valley. We both agree on it, so it makes life very enjoyable.
Post a Comment
<< Home