I'm Worth $82/Month

I joined a new discussion group with friends this month. We are discussing finances. Topics range from life insurance, allowance for kids, making sure your investments are diversified and most importantly how to make a budget work for you. I'm pretty excited about all we can learn together and from each other. The whole idea brought back some funny memories though. When Brian and I were dating and were at that point that we figured we should probably get married. Before Brian would propose to me, he wanted to have a finance date. We ran all the numbers, what we made at our little jobs, scholarship he had, summer job income vs. rent, groceries, my tuition, power, gas, books, etc. I am always concience about money too, so I wanted our finances to work out. I was, however, VERY nervous that we wouldn't be making enough. What would that mean? I was worried it would mean he wouldn't want to get married or something drastic like that. The end result of our finance date was that we were $82 short ever month. I did NOT like seeing a big bold red $82 dollar deficeit at the bottom. It was a bit unnerving. In the end, I guess my good looks won him over and I was worth going into debt. He did eventually propose and the rest is history. Now I'm wondering, has my value increased with inflation and as I have attained new skills or have I depreciated in value because I'm older now. I'll have to ask.