The Money Connundrum

I can’t be the only one who is optimistic about the new year.

Actually, scratch that, I know that I’m not. If I was the only one who was optimistic about it, there wouldn’t be millions upon billions of dollars spent every year in January. Already I’m being followed around by fitness ads, food service ads, everything promising me that 2019 would be my year!

Just like 2018 was going to be my year! And like 2017!

All the way back for as long as I can remember.

Honestly, I’m a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions, but there were some things I realized I just needed to take into my own hands. Call it ‘adulting’, or call it “being a fiscally responsible young adult in a rough economy where we’ll all struggle to own property”, but I got sick of waiting for things to happen for me.

If I want to live my dreams, it’s going to take money. That’s the bottom line.

If I want to make money, I need to hustle. The more I look at it, the more I realize that unless I get a helping hand from my parents (not happening), or win the lottery (also not happening), or get married (definitely not something I would ever wish on myself), I need to save and save hard.

Mostly, that just means cutting something out. I wanted to go to the movie theatre and I go see movies on points or save my money until the next Marvel movie comes out.

I love eating food at restaurants, but now I’m lucky if I eat out once a month.

It means no more smoking cigarettes, no more drinking, no more buying books or video games indiscriminately.

And maybe this all seems really obvious to you. Maybe you’re looking at me like I’ve got a neon sign over my head that says “of course, you idiot”. But it’s hard to cut out those little extra things. Especially if you’ve become used to having them.

It means that if I can borrow something instead of buy, I do that. If I can buy used, instead of buying new, I do that. And that my meat for the week generally goes by what’s on sale. Recently, there was a ridiculous sale on pork chops that had me learning how to cook one properly for the first time.

It means that I don’t buy lunches, or dinners, or snacks. It means that while my friends are going out, I’m looking the other way. Or when we go out for dinner, that I’m the one ordering a water.

But… It’s worth it, right?

I’ve been to Japan and Thailand now with me spending nearly a month in Thailand. I’ve got travel goals now and ways to meet them. And that’s still while putting a huge amount of money away. Nearly a quarter of my salary when things go well. And… how?

I don’t get to do everything I want, because I’m saving for the things I desperately want.

Oh, and I live in a tiny apartment that drives me up the wall and if I win the lottery, it’s the first thing I’m changing.

So that’s it for 2019. There are other resolutions, but the big ones always boil down to this. Save money so I can spend money.

Because there’s a heck of a lot of places that I still want to see.