nordlead said:
Pipedream24 said:
Seece said:
pizzahut451 said:
you still bursted his bubble. He was saving that money ever since Christmas and you just came and said ''your 70 bucks are meaningles'' Not everyone gets paid 2500 dollars a month, you know.
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saving money now serves little purpose, when he gets older, saving $70 WILL be meaningless. He's young (obviously) so he should be spending his money on himself and not worrying about saving that money which took him months to save, cos he'll earn that in a day when he gets a job.
Stop blabbing on.
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That is the most untrue statement you could tell someone. The earlier you begin saving money the better. Compounding interest works to you advantage the longer you have it invested. Once your in a position you should be investing 15% of your income for future use/retirement. I'd much rather be 55 and comfortable then 70 and having to work at Mcdonalds because I pissed away my money.
But you're missing out on GOW 3, I'm playing it right now and it is pretty awesome.
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exactly, I saved 10% of everything I made from as soon as I could count til I was married and had over $20k in the bank. Sure, $1-2 week saved doesn't add up to much now, but a good habbit can't be started early enough.
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Yeah it's good to save. You need some sort of entertainment at the end of the day to unwind though. Don't be financially irresponsible. But gaming is a very cost efficient way to spoil yourself, especially if you rent like me. Going out is much more expensive than gaming and I pay very little for cellphone use unlike most people my age. So I have the leeway to spend on gaming and I don't spend all that much on gaming to begin with compared to a number of my friends. I pay $26/month for my gaming needs (rental subscription).
I have bought some other games recently on the side on top of that rental subscription but unless it's a game I want to play long-term with my friends online, I have no real need for buying games anymore unless the game isn't available to rent. Mass Effect 2 has free DLC included with new copies (not rentals obviously) but I don't care for ME (different strokes is all). And Battlefield Bad Company 2 has something similiar but I'm just not that interested in shooters. I can also do without paying $80+ for importing Japanese shmups. I have to admit that I geek out with shit like that at times. I like them but I also like the domestic games that I can rent too so. If No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise on 360 is announced region-free, I'm importing that shit though. I'm the biggest NMH fanboy who doesn't own a Wii. lol. I plan on getting a Wii soon too so it would be a good idea to hold off on purchases, go with the rentals I'm getting and play games that I already own that I've been meaning to get back to.
That said saving $70 won't really net a whole lot. Like you said, the thrifty financially responsible ATTITUDE is great to have at an early age. That is good and when he gets a job and starts taking on more responsibilities in his personal life, this attitude will stick with him. But even if he kept that $70, he'd still be 99%+ financially dependent for a year. Unless he has to pay his own way to go to job interviews (the $70 would come in handy there) and his parents won't spare him some money for a bus ticket, I can't think of anything really significant he can do with $70. I assume his parents provide him with food, shelter, all that important good stuff that we need to survive. And he'd be better off leeching off healthier food from his parents (lol) than buying McDonalds or whatever with his own money at the caf. And that $70 won't cover tuition, a car or anything like that.
At the end of the day, gaming is a LUXURY but we shouldn't beat up ourselves for indulging in luxuries when we can. You only have one life to enjoy (god forbid we get hit by a car and die tomorrow or we find out we have terminal cancer or something like that) and a life where you don't enjoy yourself when you can is not worth living. Yes we don't need videogames. If someone gets into the habit of thinking they need a game, that's a problem. But it's not a bad thing to spend money on luxuries. It's bad when you spend beyond your means. I've seen plenty of people who spent all their money in their working years, had nothing left for retirement and lived like shit in the twilight years of their life and seeing no way out but waiting for death to happen or suicide. It's a good idea to plan for retirement. It's a good idea to have a financial cushion anyway in case something terrible happens (ie. you get into a car accident and you kiss months of pay goodbye). If you don't have to live paycheque to paycheque, don't.
It's also worth noting that happiness is a state of mind. So if you ever, god forbid, find yourself in a situation where you are fucked during your retirement years, it really isn't the end of the road. Shit happens so you never know. I could be paralyzed tomorrow and need someone to financially support me forever. I've seen homeless people on the street smiling and many of them are religious singing religious songs and preaching the gospel and talking about how the poor are blessed and will be rewarded in Heaven (I don't believe in religion but it's nice to see that it's getting people by difficult times). Some are just happy to be alive and I envy them for having that mindset and mental strength and perserverance. For not feeling that we need all this shit to feel content.
TC, I wish you luck on your job search. I know the economy is quite bad these days. But there are many places at the entry-level that are constantly looking to hire people because these jobs have such high turnover. So keep plugging away at it. Remember the three magical words of Tommy Vu: Don't Give Up.
