I used to have a good job with plenty of money to burn on skidding round the sky in a 152 on weekends.
Then I decided to go for the ATPL....
I'm deep in the red, but not as bad as some guys I know. Some of them have put absolutely everything on the line. One or two had done no flying whatsoever prior to signing up for an ATPL course! Crazy stuff. I guess they just knew they'd like it.
I've always been amazed by a lot of people's attitude to money. Small things like not using the phone during peak times and saving 5p by buying own-brand soup are a source for much concern, but those same people will happily put money into fruit machines or, at the other end of the scale, I've seen people buy £50,000-worth of a tech stock because their doctor told them it was sure to go up..
I started down this rabbit hole just before September 2001, and at the time it seemed like a fairly safe calculated risk. Sooner or later it would pay off. Now it seems it will be rather later...
-abracadabra