Mini rant of the day -- STOP SPENDING $$$
So I have this problem -- I think I'm addicted to spending money. Seriously, I am burning cash faster than a 1999-era dot-com.
It's not that I'm going into debt, fortunately. I have income which is supporting these spending habits. But the level of spending and the level of income are closer than they should be. While I don't need to save the money, it would be smart to save the money. I want to pay off my law school loans as quickly as I can. I would like to buy an apartment here in the city, which is never a cheap proposition. Not to mention that saving for retirement is not a terrible idea.
Of course, I like to have explanations for my level of consumption other than just being a shallow materialistic consumer who constantly has to spend money to forget his miserable existence. One constant drain this summer has been travel. However, I enjoy travel and the travel I've done is important, so I can't exactly dismiss those expenses. Then there's clothes. But many of those clothes are for work, and starting a job in a new environment forced me to get a largely new wardrobe.
There's this other category of spending that could be called "electronics." You know, the iPod, digital camera, turntable, upgrade parts for my computer, and all the rest that have constantly been finding their way into my mailbox. fn1. The justification here is that for the past two years of law school (and really the year before that, when I was earning practically nothing), I put off purchasing many things that I wanted to buy. Especially once I was in law school, I knew that I was going to be working in a firm this summer and would have money. So I would always tell myself to wait to spend the money. But now that the money is coming in, it's getting spent.
Not necessarily a good thing. I really need to get it under control. But in theory, I've bought most of the things that I've been wanting to buy. Of course, there is a flat-screen monitor for my computer. But I really think I can hold off. I'll try, anyway. Otherwise, you have my permission to spank me next time you see me.
1. When I was younger and used to go grocery shopping with my mom, we always had this running joke about how certain things (donuts, for example) would "jump into the shopping cart." So it wasn't that I was putting a box of donuts in the cart, I was just facilitating the movement of the donuts who had the independent desire to jump into the cart and go to a good home like ours. These electronics seem to do the same thing. It's not that I try to buy them, then just end up getting bought. Or at least that's what I'd like to believe.
It's not that I'm going into debt, fortunately. I have income which is supporting these spending habits. But the level of spending and the level of income are closer than they should be. While I don't need to save the money, it would be smart to save the money. I want to pay off my law school loans as quickly as I can. I would like to buy an apartment here in the city, which is never a cheap proposition. Not to mention that saving for retirement is not a terrible idea.
Of course, I like to have explanations for my level of consumption other than just being a shallow materialistic consumer who constantly has to spend money to forget his miserable existence. One constant drain this summer has been travel. However, I enjoy travel and the travel I've done is important, so I can't exactly dismiss those expenses. Then there's clothes. But many of those clothes are for work, and starting a job in a new environment forced me to get a largely new wardrobe.
There's this other category of spending that could be called "electronics." You know, the iPod, digital camera, turntable, upgrade parts for my computer, and all the rest that have constantly been finding their way into my mailbox. fn1. The justification here is that for the past two years of law school (and really the year before that, when I was earning practically nothing), I put off purchasing many things that I wanted to buy. Especially once I was in law school, I knew that I was going to be working in a firm this summer and would have money. So I would always tell myself to wait to spend the money. But now that the money is coming in, it's getting spent.
Not necessarily a good thing. I really need to get it under control. But in theory, I've bought most of the things that I've been wanting to buy. Of course, there is a flat-screen monitor for my computer. But I really think I can hold off. I'll try, anyway. Otherwise, you have my permission to spank me next time you see me.
1. When I was younger and used to go grocery shopping with my mom, we always had this running joke about how certain things (donuts, for example) would "jump into the shopping cart." So it wasn't that I was putting a box of donuts in the cart, I was just facilitating the movement of the donuts who had the independent desire to jump into the cart and go to a good home like ours. These electronics seem to do the same thing. It's not that I try to buy them, then just end up getting bought. Or at least that's what I'd like to believe.
posted by N at 5:15 PM
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