Stealing Money

It is Thanksgiving and I am back in Singapore. Over a cup of coffee, my dad was upset that my baby sister was stealing money from his drawers.

There was a shame and an unwillingness to continue the conversation because I too, committed the same act when I was a child. I had really wanted the money for additional Pokemon cards which my dad had firmly said no more to me. It was embarrassing, still is - that I committed such an act when in retrospect, I should have had a conversation with my dad and perhaps negotiated for it. 

And then right there - I realized that I was thinking like an adult, who over the years, had acquired tools to rationalize and the courage to actually ask and negotiate for the things I want. My baby sister, after all, is still a 12 year old child and lacks the kind of courage and intelligence to say “I want this, so what can I do to have that additional money.” 

While this is an easy statement, in reality, many adults still struggle to acknowledge and embrace this. The result - mindless spending on credit cards, debts and a lifetime struggle just to balance the books. 

So how can we get out of this seemingly never ending struggle of living by our means when we are constantly being bombarded by the media of a certain kind of lifestyle that deems us to be worthy? 

I am after all an accountant, and I like to think of the equation as: 

Revenue - Expenses = Income 

There are literally only 2 sides to the coin. Revenue and expenses. If we are spending more than we earn, we end up in debt. The converse is true. Hence 2 sides of the coin = only 2 things we can do it about. 

We either think of ways to make more money, or reduce/ manage our expenses. 

It is simple, but often we lack the strength to actually put our minds into making more money. Are we willing to sacrifice our “Me” time or “TV” time to put in those extra hours to make more money or are we willing to sacrifice our $5 lattes so that we can afford something nice further down the road. It is all a balancing act, but a really tough one that requires the strength, wisdom and courage to acknowledge the gap between what we have and what we want. 

It is tough, and nobody likes it. But if I can say anything to help, I hope that we will all be more intentional about finances, perhaps one latte at a time. 

Be brave and be strong - Money is a bitch and we will outsmart her.