Prosperity
I have spent my entire life just scraping by in regards to money. One of the lessons I have learned along the way is that this is a relative term, as time has led to me making significantly less money now than when I was "just scraping by" in the past. If I lived as close to the vest as I do now back then, I would be in a whole different financial picture now.
I know a number of people who make more money than I do who are "just scraping by." Everyone I know says money is tight. When we get more money, we acquire larger debts, get bigger things that we want. The larger mortgage gives the same hit to the larger paycheck as the smaller one does to the smaller paycheck, and everyone has some toy, vacation, something that they just want to scrape the money together to afford some day.
This being the case, when is there enough money? Do we have to look at the top end of it? Do we not have enough money until we are the Trumps of the world and really can afford whatever we want? Or is there something in the middle? Some element along the way that says we are doing alright for ourselves?
Most of the people I know that are fairly well off have a couch in the middle of their living room. (Yes, MC, I know corrolation does not equal causality, but I am going to run with it anyway.) This circumstance is also common on various television shows as well. I have never had a couch in the middle of my living room. I have never had a living room large enough that the couch wouldn't be in the way if it was.
So that it going to be one of my goals. One of my benchmarks. To have a couch in the middle of my living room one day. So I can walk around behind it when my wife is watching television and put my hands on her shoulders. So my daughter can sneak around behind it and jump up and surprise me.
Paying off my debts and having a couch in the middle of the living room will be enough for me for now. Maybe I will look further when I get there.
There is another significant aspect to using this couch as a benchmark, though. As Jamesomeone would have put it, it is all a matter of perspective. How well off I am is largely going to be based on how well off I think I am. As such, I can earn the money to fit the world I try to create, or I can bend my world somewhat around the money I make. After all, I don't need to afford the larger living room to achieve my goal. I could instead opt for a smaller couch. Or I could do as I did today. The debts are still there, but for ten minutes, I was half way to well off.
Then I put my couch back and went on with my life, or something close to it.
I know a number of people who make more money than I do who are "just scraping by." Everyone I know says money is tight. When we get more money, we acquire larger debts, get bigger things that we want. The larger mortgage gives the same hit to the larger paycheck as the smaller one does to the smaller paycheck, and everyone has some toy, vacation, something that they just want to scrape the money together to afford some day.
This being the case, when is there enough money? Do we have to look at the top end of it? Do we not have enough money until we are the Trumps of the world and really can afford whatever we want? Or is there something in the middle? Some element along the way that says we are doing alright for ourselves?
Most of the people I know that are fairly well off have a couch in the middle of their living room. (Yes, MC, I know corrolation does not equal causality, but I am going to run with it anyway.) This circumstance is also common on various television shows as well. I have never had a couch in the middle of my living room. I have never had a living room large enough that the couch wouldn't be in the way if it was.
So that it going to be one of my goals. One of my benchmarks. To have a couch in the middle of my living room one day. So I can walk around behind it when my wife is watching television and put my hands on her shoulders. So my daughter can sneak around behind it and jump up and surprise me.
Paying off my debts and having a couch in the middle of the living room will be enough for me for now. Maybe I will look further when I get there.
There is another significant aspect to using this couch as a benchmark, though. As Jamesomeone would have put it, it is all a matter of perspective. How well off I am is largely going to be based on how well off I think I am. As such, I can earn the money to fit the world I try to create, or I can bend my world somewhat around the money I make. After all, I don't need to afford the larger living room to achieve my goal. I could instead opt for a smaller couch. Or I could do as I did today. The debts are still there, but for ten minutes, I was half way to well off.
Then I put my couch back and went on with my life, or something close to it.
Labels: couch, money, perspective
posted by Wanderer at 2:44 PM
5 Comments:
steve, i like this post. i guess it gives me a little insight i didn't have before.
we have a couch in the middle. (i'm also a decade and a half older than you so don't sweat it) The couch is becoming quite worn these days. a few months ago my daughter had built a fort in the living room, as usual. when i got close i saw that she had tied down the corner of the sheet by weaving it in and out of the holes in the upholstery. so i calmy walked over and said, "dear, let's not..."
no I didn't
I fell all over myself trying to get there in a hurry (like it mattered) and said "AAUUUGGHHHH DON'T DO THAT!!!"
So remember, the couch in the middle will wear out and then you'll need a new benchmark. :-)
Your comment here invokes my recollection of the pictures you sent me including the millions of stuffed animals watching television.
A minor thing you may have forgotten, yet I share only because despite my comment about rising above the fog, I have been drunk and thinking of the one you folks only know as Jamesomeone and this recollection of what you shared in the past will, I think, allow me to break free enough to get the rest I need. So, thank you for past sharing, and well timed comments.
Good job picking me off before I said it.
hey- i hope you slept/are sleeping well!
hey, you're right. I was just looking at my living room and thinking, "hmm...I wish I could move the couch into the middle, but my house just isn't big enough for that." Of course, like you say, if my couch was smaller I wouldn't have to have a bigger house. But that leads me to my own personal indicator of material well-being: having enough money to pick out your own furniture as opposed to using someone else's leftovers. I dream of a future when my children's children will be able to shop at Ikea.
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