Wednesday, 8 July 2020

Luck with money

Wednesday, 8 July 2020 14:29
elusivek: (Default)
I had always been lucky with money. No, I don't mean by winning lotteries or winning bets in casinos or sports games. I mean, I've always had enough to keep myself comfortable.

I grew up relatively well off. Never had to miss dinner. Had hand-me-downs but also got to go shopping for my own stuff. Mom worked hard and managed to get us all comfortable. Dad worked as well, though Mom always says Dad's the type to earn 1000 and spend 2000. I don't know and won't comment, since I don't do their accounting and while I have access to their online banking, I don't go snooping. I'm just the technician to help them navigate and execute whatever they needed with the online banking system.

Never had to "pay rent" to Mom (it's a different culture here) and despite all along I have been offering to pay into the "grocery funds" for groceries and other expenses, Mom had always declined that. (Though at times she would nag that we're living for free. Then I'll bring it up again saying I offered to pay but she declined). However, with the COVID-19 thing going on, both parents lost their part time gigs and finally Mom is accepting the "grocery funds".

A couple places in town have started their lay-offs. One place where they had some big show (something like the Cirque du Soleil) has had to shut down and so a lot of expats have been fired. Well. It's basically a repeat of Cirque du Soleil Zaia from a couple years back. I don't know why people are surprised. It sounds discriminatory, but the facts just support this... these American companies only want to make money. Once they start losing they'll start firing people.

I just got my Summer Bonus last weekend. 1.5x of my monthly salary, split to 2 payments in a year.

Yes, this is one of the reasons why I'm not budging from the current company I'm working in. It's a local company, and the philosophy of the big boss (who passed away recently) was not to fire people. Negotiate pay cuts or unpaid leave time if times are hard, but never outright fire people.

So, what I was trying to say about being lucky with money, is that I've always been lucky with money. I may sometimes say "I'm out of money" but it usually just means I'm out of hard cash. I do have a very comfortable cushion at the bank. I don't have enough to actually buy my own apartment to live in, but I have enough to live comfortably, supporting 4 dogs, contributing home expenses, buying random family lunches, and myself (with my travel habits and occasional splurges).

So, I don't understand how things can get like that when I see people like this....



I don't mean down-to-your-luck, can't make ends meet kind of money problems. I get very annoyed when I see people who do have a decent job, yet seem to have no concept of money. Max out their credit cards, take out loans to cover the minimum payment of credit cards, that kind of stuff. I know sometimes it's a kind of sickness, and some people just can't help it. But I can't help but feel annoyed.

I suck at Maths, but is it so hard to understand that, if you earn 1000, then don't spend over 1000? (And of course the rule of earn 1000, put 330 into savings and use the rest for living expense is of course best). Is the concept of a CREDIT card so hard to understand? It's a CREDIT card, you are buying something on credit, you have to pay it back. Minimum payments turn your credit line into something like a loan and you pay INTEREST. Maybe I'm somewhat spoiled in a way, but in my mind, the most useless, no-point thing to pay is INTEREST. It does nothing. It simply lets you have more money earlier, but in the end you are spending more money because you are paying back interest. That's why I always prefer to just pay if I know i have the money, instead of getting a loan. And while my Mom likes to wait until the very last date of the credit card statement due to pay her credit card, I like to pay it immediately when I receive the statement.

But I have to repeat, I understand that there are people who genuinely need to get a loan or/and are struggling. I just can't understand how some people can't seem to grasp the basic concept of money.

Aaaaanyway... I only watched around half of that youtube video I linked. When she blew her 40GBP budget on a skirt I lost it, and had to switch off.

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Agueda Umbrella
kat (DW: elusivek | LJ: notte0)
❤︎ loves dogs, dark chocolate, and books.
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