trisected

Tag: money

  • The Money Relationship

    My pay came in today, along with my keycaps that I had ordered from last July.

    I mean these are really nice keycaps.

    And I just recalled the process I had to take in order to plan the purchase for these keycaps. It didn’t take too long, it was a process of thinking “hey these keycaps are kinda cute” and “hey it ships kinda quick!”

    Quick shipping in keyboard terms usually means within 6 months, and these were supposed to be shipped last year end, but they only just arrived. In keyboard terms, this is also not too late, considering that it was within half a year. Usually keycaps take about 2-3 years to ship, and that’s those that are on time.

    In any case, the story is about the relationship with money that I have. I don’t usually consider saving, but the resources I have at hand to use. Sometimes these resources are also into resources that I receive on credit. I know that’s not a good idea, but sometimes I dig into it anyway.

    This way of thinking, and having this relationship with money usually lead a lot of people to question my judgment. But I reassure everyone constantly, it’s just that I really don’t see the point of having too much money in my hands that I will die not having used.

    I realised over time as well, the privileged life I have lived to be able to say that, and that’s why I do want to talk about how I think about it.

    Too often I’ve heard to flip side of the story, especially in Asian cultures, where we save money, or buy money based things, like insurances, stocks, lottery. In Singaporean Chinese culture specifically, it feels as if it’s the best if we spent the least amount of money for the most quantity of things. This results in huge orders of unnecessary things from Shopee, or an extremely large savings account with only one or two names for the dependents of that account.

    I see the point of it as storing the wealth for the next generations, but I also see a lot of hurt and brokenness. I see families broken apart because they feel that the money should be theirs. Or worst still, when they are told specifically that the money is not theirs.

    Theres money, but there are no humans left, the relationships are all broken.

    Both approaches are bad, because there could be better relationships to draw with money. And in the long run of it, I think this is something many people and cultures need to approach. Why do we work, and why do we want to draw a salary. Why do we think savings are better than spending. Why and what drives us for many of these things.

    I don’t want to make a positive judgment statement for either approaches, but I can tell you that right now, tonight, I am happy because I have my keycaps, and because my wife is also happy for me to receive these keycaps. Sure money spent helped me get these, but money saved wouldn’t have, that’s for sure.

    I’ll probably think different about this some time soon, so don’t worry. I’ll be alright one day. And maybe I’ll think different about that another time after that.

  • Time vs Money

    I awoke earlier than expected today, which led me to think, why not? And I decided to go for a morning run at 630, instead of rushing it at 730. This gave me a whole hour ahead, and I’ve already cleared through some of my morning routine before my regular waking hours. It might mean that tomorrow I would try to make these same timings again, or maybe I would sleep in because tonight would end a bit later than usual.

    Yet, Time is what I’m really chasing after.

    I’ve been watching many finance videos recently because of a sudden interest in NFT gaming, and the whole crypto space. The more finance videos I watched, the more entranced I became with the idea of money being key. But today, on my run, that was something I really just struggled to come to terms with. What do I want money for? What’s the point of it?

    I currently live in a smallish apartment, under a government based rental scheme, as I wait for my pre-booked apartment to be built. In Singapore we call these BTOs – Built To Order. But because I have my current apartment, I’ve been able to purchase many things for the household. We have a single seater sofa, we have our bed, we have shelving (that I purchased in my twenties), clothes that will last me a good 3-5 years without me buying new ones, and a few other household things that I would survive very well with.

    I honestly have to say that I am living a very rich life right now. My interests are easily pursued, and the depth of knowledge and experience that I would like to pursue is within my fingertips. I don’t need anything that would require me to have a lot of money for it. I currently don’t see the need for the “financial stability” that many in finance have been talking about.

    I do see the flip side, that if my interests, in collect keyboards, vinyl, and diving deep into things like art; if money becomes one of these interests, I can see myself diving very deep into it as well, and aiming to “collect as much as possible”. But why? Money as a point of collection or accumulation sounds ridiculous in the skill and scope of what I have been able to achieve. Currently at least.

    And because of that, I will still play around with crypto, and properly throw some money into long term investments, maybe with a regular yield (regular to be defined). But I will not invest the same amount of time and effort that I had put into keyboards, or my other creative hobbies just for gaining wealth. I think that would be an unwise use of my time.

    Instead, I will chase my daily times of exercise, of creativity. I think even the gaming NFTs (Gods Unchained and Axie Inifinity) have more holistic gains because I’m able to learn tactics, and enjoy myself. I will chase the things that would be harder to chase after when I hit my older age. Like learning new things, experiences and stretching my body to its healthier limits when I still can.

    As I note myself thinking through these things, I am reminded that I am after all saying all these things from a place of much career safety. I would like to think that I am in a niche, and will be needed. But I know the truth of it being that no one is really needed that same way.

    I also understand that I am very influenced by my own sense of idealism. I do not mean to put any one down. I know that the hobby of collecting keyboards would sound ridiculous to someone who is into finance and investment. And my ideals are really not normal.

    I am also moved by my current moment, which does not need me striving for money. My views on all these might change one day, and probably will. But for today, I will live with my ideals.

    Tomorrow might be entirely different.