Live life, spend money

A coworker always talks nonsense and makes useless remarks, but one of his nonsensical statements actually got me thinking and writing this post.

He always asks, "So Nikki, you make all this money; where are you going to find the time to spend it?" I always give him a useless answer or just ignore and continue with my work, but now that I give it more than 5 seconds of thought, it is a really important answer to ponder about.

True, I make enough money to pay rent, buy groceries, pay bills.. Basically, enough to survive. More than enough, I'll say.. I put away almost half of every paycheque and it's just sitting in the bank account. At some point in time, I'll probably have to give a portion to it to my parents (they've been asking me! Can you believe that?!), but I'm still hoping to save up for our future in Canada.

Living standards are high in Vancouver, one of the most livable cities in the world (fell from No. 1 spot already, but still No. 1 in my heart).. It certainly is important to save up for a house, probably a car, and most importantly, to start a family. I may still feel young but it's about time to start planning (or at least giving it a thought) about these things.

But contradicting my own previous statement, it is also important to know when to spend my hard-earned money. As they saying goes, "If tomorrow never comes.." What are you going to do if it was the end of the world and you don't even have a chance to enjoy life and reward yourself?

I used to be very tight with my money, never eating out unless I am hanging out with friends, deter myself from buying pointless things, etc.. But the boyfriend has encouraged me to spend more on the things that I like to make myself happy. I used to think that was bad news for my bank account, because money would hypothetically flow out faster than it flows in.

But now, he's the one keeping a vigil eye on his bank account because he put away some savings.. That kind of makes two of us who are saving our money. Now I'm more used to spending, it's kind of strange to be holding back again. I realized the difficult task of spending to make yourself happy and yet keep track of what you are spending and saving.

These days we don't eat out as much because school has started and he's so busy! That also means less activities and date nights, but we did so much in summer it's time for a break!

This might have gone a little sidetracked, but I realize that as I keep earning money, I should also keep spending to reward myself once in a while, at the same time put away enough for our future.. Spending money is not a rational action, so you have to make it justifiable most of the time and keep irrational spending to a minimum.

I'm glad that I still do not wish for branded clothes/bags/accessories.. Back to the topic, I think I value my free time more now that I am so swamped with work days.. I spend all these time working, so I should also find free time to enjoy myself, instead of squirreling away all this money. Work is important, but knowing when to spend your money is more important.