Piggy banks. What actually is the point of them? To ingest every coin and dollar you put in until what? Until you grow up a bit and get a "grown up piggy bank". So then, every coin and dollar you feed into your account collects interest until...
Saving money is important. Saving for that house and car and a new phone are all things that you should no doubt keep a healthy and strong piggy bank for. The problem arises when you start to conserve every penny with the mindset of wanting you're metaphorical farm animal to have all of that moolah. I'm not sitting here typing all of this because I'm trying to tell you what to spend your money on and how to spend. I'm simply here to throw a few points out there concerning one's financial habits and I'd like to think I have quality advice to contribute to anyone who clicked on this article. But you can be the judge of that while I lay out my three points directed at "the person that's saving every penny".
I used to save every single coin and dollar that ever crossed my path. It got to the point where I had a shoe box under my bed with all sorts of junk in it...including a grand or two in cash. I forgot about the shoe box. Yep. More things got kicked under my bed and I'm sure you can only imagine what kind of a surprise it was to clean up the room and find that box a while later. I put it away in a bank account and refused to take a penny out. I shut down trips and sporting events and concerts because I didn't want to spend money. I could not have been more wrong. Saving is good. Saving is great and you should save any money that you can. But the bottom line is you can't take it with you when you go. You just can't. So why save money which you to say no to memories and to having adventures? Which brings me to my next point.
Having a decent car is important. And of course so is having a decent place to live. The cliche saying of "spend money on experiences not things" could not be more true. Go on those spontaneous adventures. Spend money on those trips. Spend money on those concerts and those sporting events and those nights downtown. Go have an adventure because as soon as you figure out that you can't take it with you when you go, and you start having adventures...you'll figure out my final piece of advice.
Life is about creating stories. I know we all love having our nice car and the newest smartphone and most popular game console and our stainless steel appliances next to our granite countertops. Don't get me wrong those things are great and I appreciate all of those luxuries in my life. But how many times has your granite countertop gave you the memory of sleeping out under the stars up north while the lake beats against the shore still calmly enough to reflect a meteor shower carving into the milky way? I love granite. But believe me...it can't give me a smile like that story can.
I'm not you're banker. I'm not a financial officer. Yes, I do waste money on more pizzas than I probably should. I am not an expert. But I know my values on saving a pretty penny are wise enough to share. You can't take the dough when you go. So go have an adventure because life's about creating stories!
