Mister Jones

It's always great to have the latest and greatest gadget. That new netbook is so small and everyone else has it. The Droid does so many cool things, even SSH. I deserve to have all of this cool stuff.

I'm getting rather annoyed with this attitude. Sure, I really want a Droid. They are really amazing. My fiancée no doubt gets tired of hearing me talk about things I'd like to have. However, I would only 'like' to have these. I'm not one to go on and say I 'need' or 'deserve' them. When I talk about them, I'm describing what I would probably do with unlimited money.

I try to save money because I know I'll need it. I hear so often that I'm "so lucky because [you] don't have all these extra expenses." Here's the deal though... You choose to take on those extra expenses.

One of the last people I got into this conversation with went on about how they don't have enough income and can't support themselves. As they were recently a business partner of mine, I knew exactly what they were making. They were making (to the penny) exactly what I was making. I mentioned this and this is where they said that I'm "lucky" that I don't have a lot of extra expenses.

I asked about what expenses he had that I didn't. It interested me because I just had over 25% of my monthly income go to car repairs. It turns out the extra expenses were from partying, cable tv, movie channels, a huge cell phone plan, driving around, and going out to eat.

Yup... I'm lucky that I don't have these; or maybe... just maybe... it's because I "choose" to not shit my money away. I have the lowest cell phone plan I could get by with (without overages). I don't waste money on booze or cable tv. I do spend money on Internet, but I have the lowest plan that I need to get done what I need to.

The point I'm going after is this... If you're going to complain about money, then I'm going to ask you what you're spending it on. If you give me crap like a new tv, cable, alcohol, etc. then you better not be expecting me to give a crap.

It's actually very common for me to hear this so I decided I'm just going to go on a rant about it. :)