It is very easy to be satisfied on very little, all you need is food, shelter, and entertainment and you will be happy. I'm sorry to report that the more deeply I examine it, the less impressive I find a life of domestic idleness, particularly from a financial perspective.
I look at hobbies such as -
- Archaeological Digs
- Space Tourism
- Motorcycle Adventure Racing
- Piloting a plane across the mountains
- Safaris through Africa
- Expeditions to Antarctica
We view folks who need expensive things as gluttonous, self-indulgent, and weak in self-control; we have figured out how to be happy on just a little bit.
But either people who spend money on these things are wrong and are wasting their money, or we are wrong saying they are a waste of money. Few of use have ever experienced these so who are we to judge? Our budgets do not even stretch far enough to purchase the boots needed to get on the bike.
By creating a budget we are effectively drawing a line on how much we can do with our lives. I'm becoming less convinced this is how humans were designed to live. But on the other hand I do not want to do all of the work which would be required to support a more demanding lifestyle.
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There are numerous reasons why people overeat, and why they overspend. To each his own. Unless we walk in someone else's shoes, we really shouldn't judge. Easier said than done though. Diversity is good to make the world go round. I wouldn't want everyone to be like me. would you like everyone to be like you? People can let one another just 'be.' We can agree to disagree, with regard to lifestyles, etc. and be tolerant of each other. People evolve, they grow, they change. There's been a few times in my life when I went through a "stage" and looked back later and thought, "what the hell was I thinking?" At the time I was so self-righteous about it too. Amazing.
Not sure what you're saying here, but I suspect it's got something to do with the unrealistic 1-liter ziplock bag restriction you imposed upon yourself a couple of posts ago. Don't buy any more possessions and get a cheap flight to Caracus for a walkabout like I told you. If you come back and find you have sired another baby, you could call it Hugo Chavez Bachelor and raise the first little socialist Texan who leads the secession and grand alliance with Big Govt Oil of Venezuela.
Just ignore me; I've been writing a lot of fiction recently.
I read a story on the Fox New website today about the homeless man in New Zealand (I think, NZ maybe AUS) who made $50K in a year panhandling as a homeless person. I have often thought that I would like to do that as an experiment up here in the Seattle area, where I live, altho not in my particular town ... what do you think of doing that a part of vacation? I get a week off at Xmas from my company and want to go to a warm climate but do not want to spend a lot of money ... is it feasible to panhandle in say, Hong Kong? while sleeping on a park bench? Thx.
I understand where you are coming from, FB. And perhaps I can offer some advice.
I too, have a problem with budgeting, in that I go too far and unhappily sit home, alone, eating beans because I don't want to spend money going out. With no budget, however, I don't save any money.
My solution to this problem is this. I set up a series of online accounts...Checking, Saving, Holding Pool, and Investments. Each of these accounts are with different banks and are linked in a line. Basically, to get money out, It has to go through several accounts. And each one has a waiting period of several days. That way if I get all amped on some idea, I can't blow all my money on a whim. I HAVE to wait. That way I only withdraw money for something I REALLY want.
Second, I use a rewards card for all my purchases. This card has a limit that is smaller than my paycheck, and I pay it off twice a month. Something about my extreme aversion to going into debt tends to limit my spending, without feeling like I'm neglecting myself.
The rest of my check goes into the holding pool, until the next paycheck, then into investments.
And Third, When I want to do some expensive experience, I first try to figure out how I could make money off of it, or give back in some personally meaningful way. That way I get more mileage out of my experiences.
Of course, my "system" is set up to work with my own personality, so YMMV.
There are numerous ways to enjoy the life you want without spending yourself into any kind of debt slavery. For one example let's take what most people call beer. I am not talking about the alcoholic who has to have a case a day or such. I am talking about the enjoyment of beer. Beer is only enjoyed with food. I am not talking about any American beer, as the only use it has in my opinion would be to kill ants. I am talking about imported lager, ie: Fosters, New Castle Pale Ale, Killian's Irish Red. and a whole host of others. These are the "beers for food". In having a good imported beer with food, one would insist on a frosted mug. Draft Beers (imported) are good for beer with food. You would order your meal (or better, make it at home)(cheaper and better), and have your first ice cold Killian's in frosted mug. That sets your appitite. Once your set up and ready, the meal is served with the second Killian's, ice cold and in a NEW frosted mug. Depending on how fast you eat, you may need a third, repeated in mug, cold. That is usually the best stopping place for the full enjoyment of your beer, with food.
Now to price. You can enjoy almost any imported beer for $1.00 each at home. Compare this with $4.00 or $4.50 in a bistro or cafe.
This is just one example of how to enjoy the good life for bottom prices. Try Sam's club for almost any imported beer. If you have some American Bud or Coors around, look for some ant hills.
"By creating a budget we are effectively drawing a line on how much we can do with our lives. But on the other hand I do not want to do all of the work which would be required to support a more demanding lifestyle."
You've got a point. A budget is just a tool to master your money, but it should be negociable at any time. I have a pretty tight budget atm but I've also realized that if I were to get a job in a different country, I'd double or triple my budget with no regrets, to fully enjoy the experience. I think this is how budgets should be used.
Also, while experiences do cost money, there's a limit on the number of experiences a human being can really enjoy (the law of diminishing returns). Like, I love travel, but regardless how awesome my trip is, those awesome feelings go away after a few weeks on the trip. Drinking champaign every day quickly bores too (no I didn't try that one yet). My point here is that there's a (rough) upper bound to the amount of money you need to "fully live life". 5000 Extraordinary experience will probably not make us much happier than 50, I think. In a way, it's reassuring, because we won't have to slave to amass enough money for all of those goodies :-)
What is money for?
Whatever money you save is going to be used for something. Hoarding money for its own sake is pointless.
Figuring out how to spend your money is just determination of value.
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I think a budget is only useful if you are doing something you love and/or are trying to do something you love. Why budget if you hate life? Now, I don't mean not to save money if you are just happy spending. It also needs to take into consideration what is really important. It is sometimes tough to honestly answer the question about our stuff and our stuff consumption. But if we answer honestly, we realize there are not many things we need but experiences instead. Sometimes, those experiences cost money, but they are what we love. Thus bringing us back full circle to my idea of budgeting.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on conquering the world.
Dave
LifeExcursion
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I increased all my contributions to retirement funds on 1 March. Just luck pure and simple that it happened to be about the time of the market low.
Haven't made a significant amount of money from doing this as I'm only drip feeding contributions every fortnight and overall I'm still down from 2 years ago.
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