Money matters

Sunday, 22 February 2009

Well a few things lately prompted me to think about money in a different way. Now, for those who might not know me well enough, I've always been very thrifty with money, largely due to my upbringing. Every cent is accounted for, and I almost never spend needlessly.


Anyways, I see one of my friend spending money on something he is passionate about and I look at how I'm still so thrifty even though I'm now earning money. It's the deep-seated mindset to save, save, save!

I'm not saying that is wrong and we should all go out and splurge our money and empty our accounts. Needless to say, saving is important, but the question I find myself asking is, if I save all the time, do I actually live?

One of the reason i said this is because, looking at the money I recieved from ang pao's it hasn't changed much but to me it's such a small amount now (uncles, aunties, HINT HINT lol). Back in the days when I was still in primary/secondary school, that was a huge amount. And where did it go? Straight into the bank. I did't use any of it (ok maybe just an itsy bitsy amount) to you know, splurge on myself a bit.

Now, looking at the amount I accumulated, it seems insignificant. How much joy would that amount of money could brought to me when I was a kid? Who knows. Well, I'll never know lol
Now it is but a small amount sitting in my Maybank account.

Thus, I see that just saving all the time is not a good thing. Even now, spending a little extra on myself takes so much consideration and deliberation. That's why I hope to be a bit impulsive on spending, to give myself some instant satisfaction of spending money. Money kept in bank all the time.. it's like not having money at all. Worse, it gets eaten away by inflation. Like my poor ang pao savings lol


Save save save... sometimes need to spend also lar. As long as it makes you happy a bit, make your short time on Earth a better, spend a bit lar.




That said, it's not prudent to spend all. I mean, look at the prices of houses and cars. And then, consider your children's education, especially if you live in Malaysia and want to send your children overseas (whihc I think is worth it, for the exposure). And then, think about your retirement. Wah laoeh... such a huge sum of money. If we spend what we earn every month, how can we ever do that?






Another thought. I'm becoming more and more selfish. I used to think, when I was younger, about giving so much and so much to charity. Now, if you read my post, it's all about spending money on myself. Lol. Gah i want to be a child once again.


Note to self: Go donate some money this year.