I buy lottery tickets every now and then. I don’t spend much, but it’s fun to do. Earlier today I won $50. I was happy that I won. I was happy all the way home, but the happiness ended there. It’s not life changing money and my life isn’t going to change with an extra $50.
I thought about the time about 20 years ago when I was 12 and my Grandparents gave me $50 for my birthday. This was the first time I have ever received that much money and I felt like the richest person in the world. It would have taken me many months to obtain $50 from my allowance, if I saved every penny.
It’s funny how when you have expenses that your outlook on money changes. Do you all have similar outlooks about money?
Well, as they say, if your assets and income exceed your expenses and needs, you’re “rich.” When they don’t, you can feel “poor,” regardless of how much you may have compared to others.
When I was in college and grad school, I was always delighted when I have money left at the end of the week, month, term. It made me feel more “secure” and glad I wouldn’t have to ask my folks for anything.
I’ve been out of school for decades and am still grateful not to be living paycheck to paycheck.
I marveled the other day as I bought the rest of our registry how Mr R and I lived off of $5 pizza for days in undergrad. I had to borrow money from my boss just to fill up my tank to get to work.
I grew up quite poor and my parents still are but we help them. If you had told 20 year old me that I would be solidly middle class with a house and kid before 30, I would’ve laughed.
@baseball687 I get what you are saying. I used to receive a small amount of performance bonus each month. It was only $20-30 and I didn’t even notice it in my paycheck. I finally got the bright idea of asking my boss to hold it all until December. It made a bigger impact (well not very big-ha) that way and I used it to buy a season ticket at the local theater instead of it being absorbed by bills each month.
As a youngster, $20-30 a month would have felt like a ton of money!
I never forget the time where I found 100 pesos when I was in the refugee camp. I looked left, right and behind me to make sure no one was seeing me picking up the money. I was so nervous and I didn’t use it until a week later just in case someone tried to look for it. Just to give you an idea, 100 pesos were equivalent to 5 USD at the time. Enough for me to buy basic raw materials for cook for a couple of weeks. I think that cloud 9 feeling I had when I found 100 pesos back then is equivalent to a hypothetical feeling I would have had now if I suddenly found a million dollars, but the 100 pesos made a real difference in my life back then, the 1 M wouldn’t.
I can be pretty frugal with my spending. I certainly splurge from time to time but I AM that person who still relishes in a the “treat” that $20 or $50 might afford.
Will $50 buy financial stability and a home free pass for the month? No. Can it still provide me with a splurge or an opportunity to spoil someone else or do something that can give me a happiness moment? YES.
As a child I used to save up my allowance to buy the latest book in a series I was reading.
I worked part time in high school and had enough spending money to go to the movies, makeup, etc.
I saved up for a graduation trip and used car.
My parents weren’t rich but we always had what we needed, they helped me pay for insurance with my first car. I was welcome to live at home while I did my apprenticeship and until I got married.
Things were tight when we were a young couple and just made enough to pay the bills.
Now H is making a good salary and has an employer sponsored retirement plan.
But we are putting off home maintenance until the kids are done with college.
$50 is still a big deal to me. I don’t ever remember spending that much on shoes for example, I usually buy them on sale.
A lot of our reactions are due to what $50 buys now versus then.
When I was a child, my sister found a $20 bill on the floor of a gift shop on one of our vacations. She turned it in to the cashier to see if anyone would claim it. No one did by the time we left and so the cashier gave it to us. What luck! In those days, $20 would buy another night’s motel room, which then went for around $18. Now you’d have to find $150 to equal that.
When I was young, I was so excited to spend my meager allowance … but every so often I would save up so I could buy a Hostess Cherry Pie. Ahhhhh!! Flash forward to adulthood, and I now tend to save rather than spend. Glad I changed, because I really need my cash reserve right now. But I am glad to have had my days of wild spending to reflect on!