money isn't everything, not having it is

That title is a quote from the great poet, Kanye West in his song, "The Good Life." Makes a good amount of sense. Money can't buy happiness, but a lack of money can sure ruin one's day. Or week. Or life.

For the most part, I've been rather unaffected by the recent economic downturn, because I never had any money to start with. In mid-2007, I became unemployed and stayed that way for about 4 months. I cashed out my 401(k) (when it was still worth something), my teacher's retirement plan and pension, and still racked up a bunch of credit card debt trying to make ends meet until I could find work. I was never flush before that either, nor since. I'm not sure I'd know what to do if I did have extra money, but my guess is that I would spend it just as foolishly as I spend the money that isn't extra. I have never seen an inherent value in money- no point in saving it. Live for today, carpe diem, and all that jazz. Even when I worked at Fidelity Investments, the only complaint was that I didn't seem to value money. My boss went so far as to buy me a book about the history of money. I still didn't get it.

Somehow, over the course of 30 years, it has begun to sink in that spending more than I make or have is not a good idea. The idea of a budget has started to make sense, or at least seem possible. I am still pretty certain that I will never be rich (unless one of the annual lottery tickets I purchase turns out to be a winner). But I do look forward to the day when I don't have to stress about it. When I don't have to end up projecting that stress onto my loved ones. When I can afford the organic meat and dairy. When I can go to a store and NOT only look at the clearance racks.

Money isn't everything- obviously, or I'd be a very unhappy person. But I can see where it's nice to have around- like a spare roll of toilet paper. Just in case.