141–145 of 145 posts
The next thing you need to understand about money is this: all of the things you picture buying, they are only worthwhile to you because you cannot afford them (or have to work really hard to acquire them). That was one of the biggest surprises for me. I never realized the degree to which not being able to afford certain things was what was making me want them. That childhood excitement of saving up your money to buy…
The next thing you need to understand about money is this: all of the things you picture buying, they are only worthwhile to you because you cannot afford them (or have to work really hard to acquire them). That was one of the biggest surprises for me. I never realized the degree to which not being able to afford certain things was what was making me want them. That childhood excitement of saving up your money to buy…
The next thing you need to understand about money is this: all of the things you picture buying, they are only worthwhile to you because you cannot afford them (or have to work really hard to acquire them). That was one of the biggest surprises for me. I never realized the degree to which not being able to afford certain things was what was making me want them. That childhood excitement of saving up your money to buy…
Agreed. While we're clearly not as rich as you or the top commenter on Quora, we're definitely in the "not really limited in purchasing" category of wealth. Sure, we can't just up and buy a second home, but we are definitely of the "just buy that nice mid-range car you want, in cash" category. There is a third way to deal with the loss of excitement of buying -- not just buying 10x, or buying nothing, but engaging in…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed. While we're clearly not as rich as you or the top commenter on Quora, we're definitely in the "not really limited in purchasing" category of wealth. Sure, we can't just up and buy a second home, but we are definitely of the "just buy that nice mid-range car you want, in cash" category. There is a third way to deal with the loss of excitement of buying -- not just buying 10x, or buying nothing, but engaging in…
I'm surprised there isn't any answer to this, after seeing the heavy (and undeserved) criticism to Dustin Curtis for his post, The Best: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4755470
Ex: back when Dustin was shopping for pans, he tweeted something like "What's the best cookware?" and I responded that he had to answer what "best" meant for him, because there are many "best" pans — some are the easiest to clean (non-stick), some are the most beautiful (copper), some are the most durable (Le Creuset), some are the most versatile (copper pans can't be used with tomato sauce, you know), some are the best at creating even heat dispersal (cast iron). No pan is the best in all categories. IMO there is no such thing as "best". The world is too complex. And even then some people would say that a wok is easier to "clean" than non-stick because you never use soap; some people don't think copper is the most beautiful (although I do), etc., etc. Like I said… complex.
I've got no illusions that I have "the best" of anything. I may say something is "Perfect for the room" (as I did about my new medicine cabinet), but that's deceptive because there are many things that are "perfect" for the room. They create different effects. I swapped sofas because one was sagging and I was shopping for possibilities without something particular in mind and found several totally different sofas that would have been awesome. I picked only one of them. It's perfect for the room. So would have the other one I liked best.
Looking for "the best" sounds like it could eat up your entire life. I'm positive there are better medicine cabinets out there, even for my purposes. But I didn't find one, and it won't keep me up at night. I had a blast and I love the one I found (and negotiated for).
For me, it's about fun and enjoying what I have.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The OP seems to think most people want to get rich because they think it will make them happy, and he may be right. But in my life, most of the decisions I've made with my happiness in mind have had the side effect of reducing my income -- going to music school, leaving my day job, choosing to spend time with my girlfriend instead of getting in 8 billable hours every day. That being said, I've recently made the decis…
>But in my life, most of the decisions I've made with my happiness in mind have had the side effect of reducing my income -- going to music school, leaving my day job, choosing to spend time with my girlfriend instead of getting in 8 billable hours every day. But this is exactly it. If you were dirt poor you couldn't have done these things. Conversely if you were richer you would be able to do less of them. I suppose…
The day job a I quit was a 34K/year entry level web dev gig that didn't pay me enough to live in NYC and do any saving. I quit without having any runway because I was miserable and decided that I had learned as much as I was going to there.
My point is that I've been poor, and decisions I've made about being happier have not involved making more money. I've been rethinking that decision lately.