Affluenza

I came across an article today about how yesterday's luxuries have become today's necessities. This article was specifically about Australian children taking things like their own bedrooms and a personal TV for granted. A couple of weeks ago, I read a very similar article about Australian households in general having a new norm of large LCD/Plasma TVs, several computers, dining out and overseas holidays. Both articles were basically talking about the same thing - Affluenza (the word was used in the article on children). The definition of it would be something like "succumbing to the inability to distinguish between what you want and what you need by buying extra of everything".

I like the sound of that word. AFFLUENZA. For example you could say "Oh, I'll have another iPad thanks. I'm down with a bad case of affluenza."

I don't think that I grew up with full blown affluenza but I definitely had everything I needed and a little more. Thankfully, I haven't developed affluenza during my adult years. Ask my friends and family and they'll tell you that one of the things I do best is talk myself out of buying anything. There isn't even a relationship between my spending habits and the amount of money I have in the bank. Its just chronic Savingitis.

Saving, re-using, hoarding and make-doing with everything. Its just how my mother taught me - not that she lived through the depression era or anything like that. Her mother did though..so, I guess I have watered down, third generation, depression era tendencies. I do have moments of frivolousness and splurging which are almost always followed by bouts of depression and more stringent budgetary measures.

Anyway, back to affluenza. I definitely don't think its great but at the same time, its not all bad if there are only one or two adults involved. Once children come into the picture, I feel that its important to create an environment that keeps their needs and wants simple. They are born with simple needs but very often, we, as parents, teach them to want more of the luxuries in life.

I have tried to do this by never buying anything (other than food) for Aaron or Adrian when they are around. Books and toys have just magically appeared over the years. This has helped to curb all "I want that toy" tantrum situation in the toy section. Those books and toys also only appear on very special occasions. As Aaron has grown older and knows more about money and its function, things are a little harder. Recently, he yelled out to a neighbor that we had to plant our own food because we didn't have enough money. Oops! I guess that came from me talking too much about how we can save heaps on grocery bills if we grew enough food. I don't want him to grow up feeling deprived but I want him to know that even if a person has money, they don't need to spend it on everything they like.

We Can Get More Money From The ATM

I have been very careful not to purchase any books or toys for Aaron when he is around. I just didn't want him to get into any sort of tantrum habit of demanding us to buy him stuff. He has definitely asked me to get him things and he knows that things need to be bought with money but so far, my response is that we'll need to save our money first. The money in my purse is for buying important stuff, like food. He seems to accept it.

He also understands the simplistic concept that people, like his father, need to go to work in order to earn money.

Recently, I also taught him that if we sell things, we can also get some money. We sold an old pile of newspapers for RM 1.80. He's got that money in his money box at the moment.

We were playing with the RM 1.80 worth of coins today. Buying and selling his trains and trucks. As he was running low on coins, and couldn't "buy" anything else, he said something like 'Oh No, I'm wasting my money. There is none left'. I rejoiced for a moment, thinking he had started to understand the value of money. The moment was fleeting as his next move was to try to bargain with me to lower the price.

I tried to show him that if we spend all our money without thinking, we will have none left for when we really need it. And what do you think he says?

"I KNOW! We can just go to the ATM. They have money in there."

*sigh* I tried to explain to him that it wasn't so simple. He ran to get one of his Thomas & Friends collectible cards and he told me that he had a card to put into the ATM. I don't think he gets it yet.

Life sure is simple when you're Aaron's age.

I still haven't figured out a long term approach for how we'll teach Aaron the value of money and the responsibilities that will come with (or without) it. So far, all I know is that I don't think I want to teach him to earn through chores. I want him to know that chores in a house need to get done because thats how a household works and not because it will earn him some money.

So, we're back to finding other ways of growing his RM 1.80. I think I'll show him the tall stack of old newspapers at his great-grandmother's and see if any lightbulbs go off in his head.

Relative Wealth

In Palembang, we often feel "wealthy" and find ourselves so much luckier than the people around us. The gap between the rich and poor in Indonesia is huge and we're definitely not part of the rich crowd. The people we mix with are "everyday" people and many don't earn enough for their monthly expenses. I don't like calling them "poor" because even they feel luckier than some other people. So anyway, over there, we don't worry about rent or mortgages, our groceries are cheap and there is really nowhere for us to spend any money. So, that's why so we end up feeling "wealthy".

The story here in Brisbane is something else. We have places to go every day and that means temptations to spend money. A snack here, a drink there, something on sale...y'know what I mean? I've put myself on a strict budget and have stuck to it so far. The problems is that I find myself constantly tallying up how much I have spent so far to see if there is any room left to be frivolous. I'm also always looking for the best price to get the most out of my money. (In Palembang, I usually just pay whatever is asked for even if its a little "over priced". Its my way of doing some charity for that vendor without obviously doing it.)

Its just a very different feeling and today, I actually felt a little disappointed because I had to hold off buying somethings until Friday (start of the financial week for me). I must add that I felt relatively poor.

Living here is definitely costly and I worry about the future when I will eventually have to move here. At least I know that for fruits and vegetables, there is the bulk buy market.

On top of all that, there is of course the worry of how safe my money is in the bank. Here I am, budgeting away so that I don't over spend but WHAT IF the Australian banks go the way of the US? Oh where, oh where, do I put the money that I am stopping myself from spending?

I wonder what its like...

...to earn RM100,000 (~USD30k) each month.

I know there are plenty of people who earn more than this but today, its the RM100k paycheck that I'm pondering. Supposedly, this is the amount that a local physician here in Ipoh earns.

RM100k each month is more than double what most of his patients would earn in a year! Yes, I know that he would have spent many years studying and he probably works hard each day but I don't think $100k is commensurate. Especially for a profession that is there to help others. After removing the hurt from their bodies, he's probably inflicting similar pain in their pockets.

I'm sure there are insurance fees and other hidden expenses that I'm not aware of but its still such a mind blowing salary. What does a person do with so much money? This particular physician seems nice enough and has not yet developed the 'God Complex' that many doctors have. Perhaps its because he's still young because it isn't really hard to see how they develop that sort of attitude when you find out how much money they command and how the community in general look up to and respect them.

I do respect doctors, the same as I respect the role that the postman, accountant and air traffic controller plays in our lives. I just can't reconcile their jobs with their salaries today. And, I'm also not one of those who fawn over doctors.

1 Australian Sausage Roll = 2 days food in Indonesia

Well, thats just an approximation. Our meals are very simple in Indonesia and are mainly vegetables and tofu/tempeh. So, thats what I'm basing the comparison on.

Its crazy isn't it. The sausage roll I ate for morning tea today would have paid for the meals in our Indonesian household for nearly 2 days. Its silly but I'm always doing conversions like that when I buy things over here. The quiche that I wanted for lunch was 4.5 days of food. I decided to skip it though because it didn't look all that fresh and these comparisons are driving me to find more value.

Yes, I know its not really apple to apple and you need to do the dollar to dollar type comparison but....I'm not analysing it for a doctorate. Its just how my brain operates.

This one is the most shocking conversion I've had so far. I went to my favourite dentist for my annual checkup and clean and it came to the equivalent of :

66 days of food for out household in Palembang
OR
2 months pay for my driver (who incidentally NEVER goes to the dentist)
OR
the cost of a 2nd hand motorbike in Palembang
OR
3 months membership at the Novotel Palembang Gym
OR
8 days of trucked water

What is your definition of wealthy?

My frivolous definition is to be able to watch the Monte Carlo Grand Prix from the balcony of my hotel room. That is my personal definition of wealthy. Do you have one?

Anyway, I like novels as much as anybody else but its a well written book on trading or 'growing' my money that really excites me. When I quit my job in 2004, I started my new job as an amateur home trader. I LOVED IT. I definitely looked forward to waking up each morning and 'getting to work'.Thats when I started all the reading on money. It used to be mainly books on technical analysis of stocks but it was inevitable that I also read all the books on how to make your money grow, how to make
your money work for you etc etc etc....

After 10 months of not reading and doing little trading, I've started up again. Trading AND reading. Its exciting. And the book I'm currently reading has really kicked me into action again by forcing me to re-write my financial goals. The book is 'Money Secrets of the Rich' by JohnBurley. While the title comes across like those in celebrity gossip magazines the contents of the book are much more useful.

I'm not here to give a summary of the book but I would like to share the single point that I truly believe gets each of us started on the journey to meeting our financial goals. This is to write down what your goals are. Answer the question of what it means for you to be wealthy and what steps you will take to do this. The answers should be on paper (the physical white stuff or in a Word document) and not just in your head.

My husband and I did this exercise a few years ago when we were newlyweds. While I am the main finance controller *chuckle* the fact that we sat down to determine what we wanted to achieve and how we would do it has allowed us to avoid a lot of arguments. Before we married, we did have quarrels around this topic but after the exercise, I can honestly say that we probably only have a minor tiff regarding money once a YEAR!

OK. Thanks for reading this post. My gift to you is the advice to allocate some time now to write out your financial goals. Its a nobrainer, LOTS of books advocate the exercise. Thousands read but don't act so do it TODAY!

Too poor for fillings

I offered our driver some bread sticks today but he declined. I thought he was just lazy to eat (thats his usual response) but this time he said "No thanks, I have too many holes in my teeth and that will just all get stuck in them"

Just like many other things that he does without, the lack of fillings is probably due to his lack of funds.

Just 1 month ago, he had one of his molars literally FALL OUT of his mouth and he didn't seem to mind one bit.

He didn't seem worried that he might lose more teeth at all. He just said that he'd get dentures. I guess he'll go somewhere like this place.



Bikin Gigi means to Make Teeth.