I get some sort of split personality.
I think about the times when I make some effort to save an additional $25 or cut down on spending to save another $50, or collect petrol vouchers to save $5 per fuel pump, etc.
Then I think to myself, seriously? I could just go to work for 1 year and that would cover all the savings I had done for the past 5 years.
Examples, buying stuff in bulk, taking advantage of petrol vouchers, credit card promos, etc.
For example, let's say I trim my spending or get some promotions which help me save $500 per month. Which is quite a lot of trimming. That equates to $6000 per year.
Or around $30,000 for 5 years.
For 5 years of consistent monitoring and allocating expenses, spending on various credit cards, controlling my spending, waiting for 1 month before buying, etc. This is 5 years worth of effort. And the effort is very real, cos I have to monitor my credit card religiously every 2 weeks to make sure the spending hits certain limits, track my internet usage on my phone, look for deals at supermarkets etc.
Or I could trade all this monitoring for just 1 more year of work, then I wouldn't need to monitor for 5 years.
So many times I wonder, is it all worth it? I mean, I understand that the small amounts all add up. But a simple decision to just find employment, work/ Uber, whatever, for another year would make my life so much easier. Something like sacrificing one more year of regular work for 5 years of consistent effort. Wouldn't it be so much more convenient?
When I mentioned this to my wife, her response was, "This is ingrained in you. If you go and work, you will end up doing both anyway."
And how true this is. This has never been a chore to me. It has been a challenge. It has been a challenge to pick up the savings/money lying around in places where others do not bother to look. It has been a challenge to live on less rather than a challenge to earn more. Personally, I do not have much material desires in life and all these savings are fun to collect. Although sometimes they are a hassle when they don't work out.
I recently had some issues getting some rebates from a credit card which I was using and had to call them. The issue lasted 2 months with the customer service bouncing me from department to department and I ended up having to escalate and send an email one of the heads in the company. (I managed to find his email address) It was only then that the issue got resolved. And just for $125 rebate. And the total hours and headache spent on it was probably not worth the effort. And yet I did not cancel the credit card cos they have really good deals all the time. So I take it in my stride and take the good with the bad.
It's during these problem issues that I feel, what's the point. For $125, I could just drive Uber for maybe 2 days and make that amount, instead of having to follow up consistently for 2 months.
Oh well but nonetheless, I'll still be doing the same thing as what I've always done. That's how it's been for my whole life. The fun part is finding the deals and savings. Even if I go and work, I'll still enjoy getting the good deals and trying to get the "free" money on the table and optimize my cards, and spending and everything. Just that... every once in awhile, I do wonder... is it worth it?
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