One Red Hot Country Mama!

I was talking to my friend tonight about making four-figure retail purchases today and both of us just can’t do it. Economic theory says that as you make more money, you will get less out of spending it. So, the idea is that when you are a broke student, the $29 shirt is a luxury but when you make more, you need to spend more to get that same amount of joy. The next thing you know, says the theory, you are making 4-figure purchases.

But, my friend and I disagree. It’s true that "it is your money or your life"… I spend so much of my time at work, getting to-and-from work and building my skills to make sure I am relevant at work. If the only thing I got out of it at the end of the day was a fancy outfit (even worse if it is for work!) I would not be happy. I would prefer to give money to charity (imagine what they could do with microcredit with my $1000)… or at least spend it on an interest (building my wall of books, or music collection – supporting the artists that made them) or on a big trip.

Because, really, at the end of the day what am I going to remember? The entrepreneurs I contributed to in Bangladesh, the great literature I read, the one-month trip to Vietnam… or the tag I had on my shirt back in 2007?