Thanksgiving Day kicks off what I call the “Gathering Season” which lasts until New Years Day. During this time there we go to two Thanksgiving gatherings (my family and my in-laws family), one gift exchange gathering with our friends, one gathering with co-workers, two Christmas gatherings (my family and my in-laws family) and one New Years Eve gathering. That makes seven gatherings in usually a six week time span! That’s a lot of food and wine.
As you may be able to tell, a side benefit I enjoy from all these gatherings is the excuse to buy and drink a wide variety of wine.
A funny thing happened one time when a family member found out how much I paid for the wine I brought to share. He said I was a fool to pay that much for wine and no wine was worth over $X dollars.
My first thought was “jerk” but then it dawned on me, based on his value system of what is and isn’t important to spend money on, wine was on the not important list.
I feel the same way about how people “waste” money on products or services I don’t feel are important as I am sure people feel I “waste” money in other areas in my life.
The Wall Street Journal reported the newest version of the Call of Duty video game reached $500 million in sales in its first day of release.
Are video games a waste of money? What about traveling? Eating at restaurants? Going to the movies? Going to sporting events? Buying the latest techno gadget? Driving a new car? Paying for Cable TV? Buying nice clothes? Volunteering? Giving to Charity?
In the end it all comes down to priorities.
From a budgeting perspective, I believe you can have anything you just can’t have everything. Want to travel to somewhere far away for vacation great, but you may have to not eat out at restaurants as much in order to balance the budget.
How do you spend money that others might consider a “waste”?
How does that make you the person who you are?
