NOTE: This was what I was thinking of writing before my previous post turned into another musings post.
Just got a raise, Its not big but in the high inflationary environment we are in coupled with the growing pains of adulthood I’ll take what I can.
I’ve been very vocal with my urging of friends to not change lifestyles after a pay raise and the like. I still remember last saturday when Rain and I somewhat ganged up on Jizelle for her “lifestyle changes”.
Well dishing out advice is one thing following it is totally different.
I got a pay raise and the first thing I did was splurge on food, 2 DVDs, a book , and a few trinkets. I think I have this feeling that I deserve to spend because I’ve felt I’ve deprived myself lately.
There is nothing wrong with this, almost everything in moderations is not wrong, somethings in excess is not wrong, it is the everything or somethings in excess all of the time that is the problem.
My way of handling this is incorporating things with my life in such a way as I barely think of these things.
Hmm another way of saying this is that we create rules of thumb and this helps us making quick decisions that are rational. The operative terms here are QUICK and RATIONAL.
Remember that most salesmen, people who want to take/borrow money from you, this ranges from events , experiences to things like cameras, computers, and others want to tap a less ratioanal more primal part of you. Just read the marketing guides of consumer goods companies and they essentially try to make you think that need and want are the same thing. If we do not have good defenses against these things we end up getting suckered into trading our time for these things.
The thing is that we should always try to live by our own rules, not the expectations of society, not the lives other people want to live through us (I’m a little guilty of this counseling a friend to try for an Ivy League institution because this was a secret desire that may or may not come to fruition for me and at least ….. ). Our lifestyle must reflect this, this is why salary increases or decreases should not be the main determinant of our lifestyle. Personally I value simplicity and the life of the mind but that’s just my cup of coffee, If yours is the fast life of glitz and glamor then good for you. Always try to simplify and integrate the life you want to live with the person you are. This reduces friction and increases happiness.
I still have a few thoughts on related subjects for another post:
- Creating Rules Of Thumb
- Basic Decision Making
- Time For Money Trade
- Dirty Secret of Working People