The value of money

If I had a nickel for every time I heard the words “You’ll understand the value of money when you start earning”, I probably wouldn't be writing this piece.

All through my childhood, this line was thrown at me repeatedly by my parents, as I’m sure it was at most of my peers as well. Initially it used to be an admonition, and all I could understand when I heard it was - Parents are pissed, stop asking questions and steer clear of the hall and kitchen until the storm has passed. But I never actually understood what it really meant, or what they wanted me to take away from it. Later, I just threw it into that collection of things that parents say that I didn't want to understand or care about - “You’ll understand why people get married when you’re of marriageable age”, “You’ll understand why idly dosa is good food when you go to a hostel and eat in the mess”, You’ll understand the value of money…”  - you get the drift. And as you've probably guessed, life has made a habit of throwing all of it back at me from time to time.

To be honest, I don’t claim to know the value of money even now. I thought I had an inkling in college when I moved to a hostel and had to live on a strict (albeit self imposed) budget. But anything I learnt in those four years seems to have vanished with the advent of the salary.

It pretty astonishing, the ease with which I can go to a fancy place for dinner and in one night, part with an amount of money that would have lasted a month in college. I've always been the type who used to eat to fight not only hunger, but anger, grumpiness and boredom too. But boredom-bingeing in college used to mean going to the Nescafe stall and getting the 6-rupee coffee and, on special occasions like exam time, the 10-rupee lays packet. These days I call up Domino's and order a medium pizza, some garlic bread, a coke and a choco lava cake for dessert, without giving it a second thought! Reason : “I don’t feel like eating what the cook made”. Which incidentally would have been something wholesome like chapathis and brinjal curry.

The same can be said about clothes. Admittedly, I've not been too spendthrift since my first-salary-crazy-shopping-spree, but even now, I’m am surprisingly comfortable with buying branded clothes that I once deemed unnecessary! Not to mention buying flight tickets simply because - “I don’t feel like travelling by train alone”.

Another drastic change I've observed is while keeping account of expenses shared among friends. A debt of 16 rupees used to keep our feathers ruffled until we paid it back, whereas now, our loans keep accumulating and reach four figures before we feel even the slightest inclination to repay what we owe!

I wouldn't call myself reckless or irresponsible, but I am still at a loss to figure out why they kept saying I would realize the value of money after I started earning, when quite the opposite has been happening! Maybe they meant that I would realize it when I was supporting kids of my own. Come to think of it, if a couple of brats try to blow up my hard earned savings, I’d certainly tell them the same things! Then something else occurred to me. I am now so used to this self-sufficient life of luxury and financial freedom, that I cannot a picture living any differently. I simply cannot imagine myself quitting my job and depending on somebody else to support me. I am far too used to this guilt-free control to let it go. 

All this while, when they kept trying to emphasize “the value of money”, I took it to mean that it was hard to earn. But maybe “value” is just a sugar coated expression to indicate the power it yields on our lives.