I worked for 5 months at my mom’s restaurant and I saved up a good bit of money. I paid back the $1500 loan I borrowed from my brother for school (food and a new laptop). I also saved up $5000. I have been unemployed since late November and I’m living rent-free and bill-free in my parent’s house since I’ve worked for at the restaurant since I was a kid, and this is my reward.
Since I’ve been unemployed, I’ve bought groceries for me and the SO*, Christmas and birthday presents for friends and family, funded most of my trip with my family to Thailand (to visit family so I had to go) for two months and a trip to Disneyland for a week with friends as a last hurrah before I go to work full-time.
The money has finally run out so I asked my mom to borrow $500 for groceries and miscellaneous things until I get a job. She then lectures me about how I’m spending so much money and how could I waste so much money in such a short time. Please keep in mind it’s been 8 months since I’ve worked, so I’ve had no source of income since November.
Does she think the thousands I paid for the Thailand trip meant nothing? And that food from Safeway is cheap? I think I’ve done very well for the length of time I went without a job. But she thinks I’m going on spending sprees every time I go out. Uh, no. I’m going out for milk and cereal usually. She boggles my mind.
*I have no debt because my parents paid for college. The SO, on the other hand, transferred from his JC which was paid for by his parents to my university which they wouldn’t pay for. He has a sizeable debt so I think it’s only fair that I pay for groceries while he’s digging his way out of that financial hole which was because of me.
I have a smiler problem. I tell people I’m saving for a house and live at home. I don’t have a $350 rent payment but I pay for all my own food, internet, cell phone, cable, health insurance, car payment, student loans, etc. Basically I pay for everything BUT the rent.
Nevertheless everyone is always envious of the THOUSANDS that they seem to think I’m swimming in on a monthly basis by not having to pay $350 in rent. I’ve done my best to impress upon them the fact that I probably pay as much in bills as they do, but nevertheless, it seems that no rent = automatic free ride and endless disposable income to some people. :smack:
Also, one I’m guilty of myself…
I work in a casino. A place where money kinda ceases to have meaning. This leads to all sorts of crazy situations.
I’ll look for HOURS to save $1.50 in shipping when I buy a DVD online, but then playing poker takes $100.
And how did casinos convince people that $5 a MINIMUM bet? That’s 4 tacos, a Jumbo Jack, and a small drink at Jack-In-The-Box…EVERY HAND. TWO BETS and you could feed a family. Only one buy-in a MONTH into an IRA and you’d be sitting on about $58,000 after 20 years.
But none of that seems to matter. People know they’re going to lose, do it anyway and walk out the door with a wallet that’s $200 lighter and a smile on their face. Usually.
Yeah, I don’t get it either…everything listed except for the groceries were luxuries…not the kinds of things most people spend money on when they aren’t working. Usually you build up a nest egg to get you through a time when you have no income, not to spend it on trips and then borrow money for necessities.
During the 8 months I spent it helping my mother remodel our house and do some volunteer work. I thought of it as the school break I haven’t had in 10 years since every break and a lot of weekends were spent working at my mother’s restaurant. For the first few months after my mom sold the restaurant, I wanted to get a job, but my mom wanted to “tidy up the house” which consisted of totally remodeling two rooms.
Then we decided as a family to travel to Thailand to visit family because we thought it would be the last time when we’re all free of obligation. That was two months. Then when we got back, my mom decided to rewire and repaint the outside of our house. We’re still working on that.
I think it’s time for me to get a job, so that’s what I’m doing instead of staying at home and helping my mom with the remodeling.
True, I did do some rash things. But the trip to Thailand was a must. We wanted to see family before we weren’t able to as easily. My brother and I also wanted to pay our respects to our grandparents’ graves and see our other living grandparents before they pass away as they’re currently experiencing a lot of the bad parts of old age (advanced diabetes, not being able to go to the bathroom on your own, etc.).
The L.A. trip was totally for me. I understand it wasn’t the best thing to do. But when you never get to spend time with friends outside of the school year, and you only get to hear about all the trips your friends go on, you want to join in. I went my one time, now I’m going to get a job, pay back my loan and save up money to help pay for my mom’s remodeling jobs.
Ah well my friends know better than to rag on me. They’ve all visited me while I worked at my mom’s restaurant and they saw how hard I worked each and every break I was there. That’s the reason NO ONE saw me during breaks unless they dropped by to say hi! Plus, they knew that I’d rip them a new one if they got on my ass after an 80 hr week. Perhaps you should start offering them a healthy helping of a can of whoop ass.
