Things I wished I would have been told about at 25: A One Act
(I was told to be creative, so now you pay!)
Cast of Characters
Me at 25: baselle in grad school
Me at 45: baselle now
Scene: A favorite coffeehouse near the campus of the University of Washington, a Sunday twenty years ago.
Me at 45 (pointing at an empty chair): Mind if I sit down?
Me at 25 (looking up from a newspaper): Sure.
Me at 45: New York Times, eh? What’s new?
Me at 25: Not much. I get the paper for the crossword. But I get it at the student rate subscription, so it’s cheaper than the Seattle paper.
Me at 45: That is a deal! So do you pretend that you’re buying the Seattle paper?
Me at 25: My budget only works at the student rate.
Me at 45: So save the difference and stick it in the bank.
Me at 25: Nope, besides that’s only about 35 cents per day.
Me at 45: Or about 120$ a year.
Me at 25: Which I’ll need. I need every penny. If only –
Me at 45: If only what?
Me at 25: (sigh) If only I wasn’t trying to survive on 550$/month.
Me at 45: For how long?
Me at 25: So far, about a year.
Me at 45: Atta girl. I’m impressed. Now that’s a skill - surviving on $6000 a year. It’s painful and ugly, but it gives you flexibility. Don’t lose it.
Me at 25: No fun, though. I have to ignore everything except the necessities. No TV, no nothing.
Me at 45: But no TV helps you ignore what other people do and spend. If you ignore everyone else, you can concentrate on what you do and spend. People spend with peers, but they save all by themselves. Funny that.
Me at 25: So what do you make?
Me at 45: $44,000, savings, an inheritance.
Me at 25: Inheritance? Are we related?
Me at 45: (lying) Not that I know of.
Me at 25: Still. Wow. Easy street for you.
Me at 45: (sigh) Not all it’s cracked up to be. You can always buy more. No matter how much you have, you can always buy more. The trick is not to earn more, or buy less even, but to want less. (picks up a section of the newspaper, flips through the ads) Geez, never gonna see prices like that anymore.
Me at 25: You’re making fun of me.
Me at 45: Not at all. But I do have one piece of advice for you. As soon as someone says “only” along with a dollar amount…
Me at 25: Run?
Me at 45: Think carefully. “Only” repeats monthly for many, many years. Coffee’s on me – thank you for the chat.
Things I wished I would have been told about at 25
December 21st, 2007 at 05:02 am
December 21st, 2007 at 01:36 pm 1198244166
December 23rd, 2007 at 09:23 pm 1198445002
45: Not all it's cracked up to be.
Now ain't THAT the truth!
December 24th, 2007 at 01:00 am 1198458009
January 3rd, 2008 at 02:14 am 1199326441