Hi there,
When I was younger, I loved to shop. On trips I wanted to buy everything: clothes, souvenirs, and any number of unnecessary things. I remember my dad always asking me “Do you need it?”
Then I went to the opposite side, I became thrifty. Also, since I started working and seeing how difficult it is to earn a salary, I think about it several times before spending.
Some time ago I got together with my friend Yayi on Skype to empty out all the things I had in my room in Caracas and to put in boxes what I want to keep for its sentimental value. You can’t imagine the amount of clothes I still had there when I had been living in Spain for several years. Lots of stuff I hadn’t even used more than three times.
I was amazed at the money one spends on things that are not needed.
After selling my apartment in Spain and deciding that I was going to live somewhere else, I started to select what I really use. I put up for sale almost my entire collection of watches, my converse shoes (I had all colors), a lot of clothes, all the sheets and towels that were left from the apartment I sold, books. A lot of stuff.
Diego’s parents, for example, have a garage that looks like a dump. There you can find mattresses from 50 years ago, the crib from when Diego was a baby, computers from 50 years ago, and countless things that will never be used again. Since Diego’s mother complained so much about all the trash in the garage, we decided to help her throw it all out. The first day we went, she began to say that she was sad to throw things away. Then, when we were going to throw away a dusty cardboard sofa that is 50 years old, Diego’s sister came to say that she wanted to have that sofa to sit on when she went to the garage. We decided to leave them with their garage full of junk.
My dad also had this habit of saving things that he no longer used. When I emptied my room, I told him to donate everything he no longer used. This way you can help someone who needs it.
Now I dedicate myself to having only the bare minimum. I try to sell the rest, and if it is not sold in a period of 6 months, I give it away.
Then there are the people who like to wear expensive things. People who want to have branded things that give status.
In Venezuela, when I was in school, things were fashions; One year it was BabyG watches, another year it was Skechers shoes, the next it was Quicksilver or Kipling backpacks. If you didn’t want to be left behind socially, you had to buy whatever was in style.
I remember that every time I unfortunately had to go out with my dad’s partner, she and her daughters would start talking about the brands of the things they had and the cost of each. They lived huddled together in the apartment of their relatives and had nowhere to go (today they still are in the same situation) and instead of saving to find their own home and be independent, they lived on borrowed money to pretend to have a status that they didn’t have.
My dad also had a time of spending a lot on stupid things. As the friends from the beach went to the pool area with very expensive watches, he also wanted to show off. He paid for it with his work, without having to borrow from anyone, but still, isn’t that a bit excessive? What need is there to have so many watches and so expensive? Once someone broke into his house and took all the watches. That’s where the nonsense ended. I find it difficult to understand how my dad, a person whom I always considered very intelligent, must buy brand-name things to show off to his friends.
In Spain, people also like to show off what they don’t have and many live beyond their means. When most people have a salary that does not reach a thousand euros a month, which is not enough to live or be independent, they spend their time buying things, eating in expensive restaurants, etc. How do they do that? They live up to date and depending on loans.
When I worked at Sellbytel, I had to sell 300 euros per call to collect a bonus at the end of the month of 100 euros net. In other words, a month you sold around 200 thousand euros in Apple products to collect a 100-euro bonus. If I never liked Apple products because the price seems excessive, imagine after having to work for them. Even so, coworkers who earned less than a thousand euros a month, and only could afford to rent a room in a shared apartment, asked for financing to buy Apple products. There are people whose only concern is having the newest phone, even if they don’t even have enough to eat.
In short, since I became independent, I also became a compulsive saver. I am realistic and I have my priorities clear. I have money saved that serves as economic support in case I lose my job, I own the bare minimum to be able to move without problems, I don’t spend on unnecessary things or luxuries and I save as much as possible to travel.