It struck me recently that we have relatively low-key cars, my husband and I, even though we both work, and could probably spend our money on something a bit more flashy. But we don't choose to spend our money on that. By my reckoning, we spend our money to buy time and experiences.
We buy time by spending money to have someone clean our house and mow the lawn so we don't have to spend the weekend doing it. We get back time that we can take the kids to the movies (or just be lazy if we choose).
We also spend our money on experiences - each year we spend a weekend with each of our kids alone, so they have special time with a parent and then alternate (one year I will have one kid, the next year the other). We don't have to do anything fancy - it just has to be alone and special (like going to the movies, Chuck E Cheese, ice cream or a park). But it could be fancy - like Seaworld! Or a family vacation - maybe camping.
We are blessed to be able to afford to do that.
I always wonder if we did have more money, what would we be spending it on? Maybe a fancier house? Recently I happened across an MTV special, counting down the "priciest pads" - Wayne Newton's house has crystal bannisters on the stairs. My mouth was gaping looking at that. Of course everybody has to make his/her own choices, but that special did make me think about what else could that money have done and what we use our money for.
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