After some discussion, I bit the bullet and said worse case scenario, we would have one by next spring.

That would give me some time to pay down enough debt that taking on another bill wouldn’t make us any worse off than we are now, and would also provide the opportunity to bargain hunt during the winter months when the boat prices are down.

Then I saw something that reminded me of the one red paperclip story.  If you aren’t familiar with the story, it’s about Kyle MacDonald who traded his way from one red paper clip to a house in one year.

Hey, if he traded his way from a paper clip to a house in a year, I certainly should be able to trade my way to a boat in eight months (March 2010).

So, the one red paper clip served as my inspiration.  Next question: what do I trade?

After wandering the house a bit I found my answer.

The Stainless Steel Coffee Mug.

It’s as simple as that really. 

I’m not saying I wouldn’t like a boat myself, but my wife is really on me about getting a boat before she’s too old to enjoy it.

On July 11th she spotted a 21 foot open bow Bayliner on the side of the road with a for sale sign on it, and made me go look at it.

So, I guess she’s serious.

Her thing is she’s 50 years old and not in good health.  Both of her parents died relatively young and she’s afraid she doesn’t have a whole lot of years left.  She wants a multi-purpose boat to take our adult children and grandchildren out in for cruising, ski tube riding, and fishing.  Basically she wants to have good family fun, and wants the kids to have some good memories of times with her after she’s gone.

I don’t disagree.  Actually, I can’t think of a better motivation.

My thing is I just retired from the military, am still trying to find my financial sea legs, and want to pay off some debt before I start sinking money into a boat.

And that, dear readers, is how this began.