PRACTICAL STUFF
In the last month or so I have spent money on three kinds of things which have cut into the pandemic savings that I have used for travel and when I compare what I have spent money on I realize that I value them in very different ways.
1. Travel is what I most like to do. First of all let me say that I have discovered that the way to save money on travel is not while traveling it is by being a Scrooge when I am at home in Swannanoa. I do try and save money on overseas flight costs both by accumulating points through bonuses on credit cards which I pay off twice a month so that I don’t have to pay interest, charging all spending on credit cards. And I try to find inexpensive Airbnb’s where I can cook many of my meals. And by spend a month in one place while abroad I save a great deal on accommodations and transportation costs.
The way to save money on travel is not while traveling but by not going out or spending money here in the United States where everything is expensive. Which brings me to the two things that I have spend money on here in Swannanoa.
Of course I spend nothing on housing because I own my house, and I spend little on food by buying groceries at Aldi.
2. The big thing I spend money on here are my old automobiles and on maintaining my house. This month I had to pay $328 to fix the rear brakes on my 2003 Kia, for which I paid nothing, and new tires for my Honda, for which I paid $2000. I consider that $2000 for the 2007 240,000 mile Honda eight years ago well spent since it had just had brand new $1000 Michelin tires installed and $750 worth of upholstery repair. The tread on the $1000 Michelin tires has thousands of miles left on it, but dry rot has set in. So I’ve paid $500 for a new set of tires hoping the tread wear and the dry rot will come at the same time.
3. My third big expense after travel is electronic equipment, a yearly new iPhone because of the camera improvements, and a new fast MacBook Air which will let me sort my digital photographs as I try to clear out my possessions. But for me this digital equipment is also part of my shift from living in a house that is too big for me to much smaller spaces where I can take everything I am attached to because I am shifting to a digital life. If I can live out of a carry on bag for three months abroad with everything I want with me, I can do the same here.
So these are the three kinds of expenditures that I am comparing. Upkeep of home and cars, digital equipment and travel. The thing I get the least pleasure out of is spending money on my house or cars. The thing that I get the second least amount of pleasure out of is the cost of digital equipment. But the digital equipment allows me to leave the burden of house and accumulated stuff and to be free to move around and travel. The thing I get the most pleasure and stimulation out of is travel, itself, which includes photographing with my digital equipment.
This month I spent money on all three and really ate into my savings. But the point I am getting to after laying my cost of living bare, is that when I spend $500 on new tires I don’t think twice. I need a car and need new tires to be safe and will pay whatever it costs to do so. Same with the brakes for the KIA. Car repairs are in any case much cheaper than paying monthly for a new car.
But I am much more cautious about buying digital equipment. I will only buy what I am sure I will use and know will give me pleasure. I am not seduced by the latest thing unless I think I will really enjoy it. But it is still much less painful for me to spend $1000 on car repairs than $1000 on digital equipment. I don’t fret, I just do it. And for travel, which is what I really like to do and to spend money on I am more careful still, only going to places that are inexpensive at times with the air ticket price is lower which is why I am going to Bogata without ever once in my life having had any desire to go to Bogata. I even discover I am not going during the best season, it will rain a lot, but the ticket price was good now so I’m going. I am even beginning to be excited about going.
So what seems very odd to me is that I am quite willing to spend a fortune without hesitation on practical things that mean little to me, my cars, and am a Scrooge when it comes to spending money on things that give me the most pleasure, travel.
A $500 set of new tires is the same cost as round trip from Asheville to Paris on Going.com, and I would much prefer to go to Paris for a month than to sport new tires, and yet in my mind the tires are cheap and the Paris trip expensive. Why?
BILLYBABA’S WANDERING 