When to spend money. When not to spend money.

When not to spend money:

The time when I avoid spending money is when I spend it on myself for myself with no clear benefit. I'm a simple guy and I don't need much, and I am quite fine not bothering to spend money to have a good meal for myself, or to buy a PS4 for myself so I can play Final Fantasy XV, or buy a 27" 4k computer monitor for the added resolution and desktop real estate area. In other words, I don't need leisure, and I don't want to spend money on leisure.

If I didn't have to worry about impressing anyone, I'd probably not even bother with brand name clothes and accessories.

When to spend money:

When I was younger, my mom would always say it was a waste of money when our family went out to eat. And for a time, I believed in the same thing. But then I had an epiphany. What's the purpose of saving up money, when at the end of everything, you don't spend much of it before you die? What's the point of having a shit tonne of cash in the bank, but not having experienced what life has to offer?

I'm seeing my parents die slowly each day before my eyes. They need to enjoy life. We went to eat at Cattle Cafe today. The bill was $45 after tips, and between the four of us (my sister too), it wasn't bad at all. What we get out of the $45 was a meal, but more importantly, we get family time. Since my parents are always in the restaurant, they are never home, and we rarely spend quality time. So to me, the value of the quality time we spent greatly exceeds $45, and thus in my eyes, it's worth it.

My dad wants to go to France for a week and a half this summer. My mom thinks it's a waste of money, and the old me would think so too, but then now I realize, my dad can still walk, and has relatively low health problems. If he doesn't go now, when will he be able to go? He's only going to deteriorate further, and maybe one day in the future, he might not be able to go. I told my mom she should go too, but she said her heel spur makes it too painful for her to walk around a lot, which is what tourists do. So sadly, for my mother, it's already too late for her to go to France. I'll try and convince her again to go though. But as for my dad, I'm all for him going to France. Spend the money he worked hard for, and enjoy life while he still can.

For health reasons, I'd spend money. It's an investment, in my eyes. I'll spend money on exercise equipment, like shorts, badminton racquets (though I still have to buy a new one; my old one = 9 years old), court shoes, gym drop in fees, swimming trunks, etc etc. The return I'll get is a health body, and I'll get to live longer. Definitely worth the money.

Social reasons, I'd spend money. The truth is, to build and maintain your social network, money is involved to participate in activities and events that cause social bonding. In other words, this is the fun stuff that people do regularly for leisure. Since I don't need leisure (yet), I wouldn't do these things myself, but I'd do it if my friends were doing it. This includes going out to eat, watching movies, going to E-Spot in Richmond, etc.

For relationship reasons, I'll spend all the money in the world. I will value my eventual wonderful partner higher than anything else. So, that means I'll do whatever it takes to make her happy, and that often means spending whatever it takes as well. One cannot divorce entirely activities from money. A part of this budget would be to improve my self image, not for my own sake, but for the sake of my partner. Before I find such a person, I would need to attract them first, and I'll spend a fair chunk to stock my armory with arsenal I can use to hunt down the truly special girls. This includes all the standard gear like clothing, jackets, and shoes. Also includes accessories like a ring and a watch. I even bought a $98 bottle of YSL La Nuit de l'Homme fragrance, just to make sure I have everything covered. I mean, if you can use aroma to your advantage when making an impression on a lady, then why not use it right? I'm no Taeyang or Godfrey Gao, I need all the help I can get. Btw, I love how La Nuit smells. I want to use it as a air freshener and just spray my entire room with it.

                                                    Godfrey Gao. Damn he's hot.

Since I have a limited amount of money, I need to make sure to allocate it the best I can, so I often think about what is worth my money, and what isn't.

PS: I just finished watching the trailer for Final Fantasy VX. And all I gotta say is ERHMAGERD. I might have to retract my statement about not getting a PS4 lolololol.