![]() ![]() My Mom instructed me to invest in my first company’s 401(k) and I did. I am forever grateful to that friend for helping me in my time of need and am shocked that that bonding experience didn’t scare her away (she’s the friend I still video chat with weekly who lives in Argentina that I was supposed to visit for a month in November □ ).Īnyway, despite the debacle that was me trying to go to China, this idea that money was to be saved and then spent on a great experience continued into my adult years. This was a serious bonding experience because her room was so small that the only floor space was just enough for me to curl up in. I ended up frantically contacting the one person I knew in London, which was my former college roommate, and crashing with her for a week until my flight back to Italy. ![]() I was stranded in London with basically no money and a week before my pre-booked flight back to Italy. I had to fly to London to get on this flight to Beijing and when I did, I discovered that I couldn’t get on my flight to China (the reasons behind that involve a ridiculous story for another time). This culminated in me spending over $700 on a flight to Beijing to visit my friend who was studying abroad there while I was also studying abroad in Italy at the time. I learned that if you save most of the year, you can buy a nice experience down the line. While she continued her frugal ways after money became less tight, she started to choose maybe one thing a year that she would spend money on – and it was always travel □. Instead of being frugal in general though, I followed a new example set by my Mom. This mentality continued, but also evolved after I graduated college. I didn’t see the point of spending it (in my mind) unnecessarily. That small amount of cash was all I had in the world and I did spend it on takeout once every few months, but overall it was there to make me feel secure. She expressed concern that I wasn’t spending the money and assumed I wasn’t living as a result, but that’s not how I felt. One time when my Mom came to visit, she asked if I needed more money and I responded that I still had most of what she had given me. ![]() We had an agreement that I wouldn’t work during the school year so I could focus on my studies (though I did work during one summer, went to classes for a second and planned to work a third, but instead had to take care of a family member). This compounded in college when my Mom gave me a small stipend in case I wanted to go out to eat. However, instead of spending this money on whatever we got up to (such as treats to eat while hanging out at the mall), I saved it.īetween these $20s and the money from my after school receptionist job, I accumulated a few hundred dollars, but instead of spending it on anything… I kept most of it. #The shockingly simple math behind early retirement reddit movieFor example, when I would go to a friend’s house in high school, my Mom would give me $20 in case we wanted to see a movie or whatever (this was back in the day before a single movie ticket cost almost $20…wow I’m old □ ). Despite that, frugality was still how we lived our life. Later my Mom remarried and money became less tight with two household incomes and economies of scale. She didn’t buy make up, much jewelry or any shoes that weren’t practical. I grew up seeing my Mom buying clothes based on necessity – quality clothes that would last, but nothing flashy for flashy sake. We had a great life together and I never felt like anything was missing. I had everything I needed, but nothing extravagant and that was fine with me. I grew up being raised by a single Mom until I was 7. So let’s see how those thoughts have evolved over time and what it means for the future: Frugal My thoughts on spending money have traveled down a similarly wide spectrum. I’m getting really hippie in my retirement □. Sometimes I’m so wild that I gauge the time of day (morning, afternoon etc) by the position of the sun. Now I usually know the month, rarely know the date and might have an idea of the day of the week because of the activities of those around me who still work, but I tend to forget the hour. ![]() I used to know what hour, minute and often second it was (helpful knowledge to ensure I was always on time to work calls □ ). My perception of time is also completely different. I’ve talked in a few posts about time dilation and how at times, hours seemed infinite while I was working and in retirement days, weeks and even months seem to fly by. ![]()
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