How much money do I need?

Forward: This blog  is dedicated to my parents because of whom I am today in this position. Like most of the persons on this earth, I also think “I got the best parents whom God can never create one more time for anyone”. With all due respect to them, let me start this blog :)

It was in May 2007 that I graduated as BE in Electronics and Cmmunicactions Engineering. My monthly expenditure during the final year of my Engineering was Rs 5000/-. For the first 3 years, it was Rs 3500/-.I really love, adore and respect my parents for all their love and affection. They didn’t  even a single time refused to provide the money I asked for. I never realised that when I am asking for more and more money, my parents had to cut many of their other costs and provide me the funds I asked for. I was so blind and selfish that I never thought about the difficulty in earning a rupee. I don’t know how many sarees my Mom had to sacrifice for sending me the money to watch movies and buy gifts to friends. I am not sure how many loans my Dad had to manage to run a family of 6. They never told me about it. Whenever I asked them if it is becoming becoming difficult for them, my Mom used to say “I can earn back Money. But I cannot earn back the time of your student life. So, forget everything and enjoy the moment”.

It is now almost 3 years that I started earning. In these 3 years, I learnt many things. One of them is the fact that “Money is valuable and is not easy to earn”.

One thing always puzzled me. When I was getting 3500/-, it was always JUSTsufficient for the month. Today I am earning 5 times that, and even then, it is just sufficient for the month. Keeping aside the inflation and cost of living, one major difference I noticed is that my wants increased. It was not until my parents forced me to that I used to buy a pair of jeans in my engineering. Today, I started spending 10000/- per year on clothing. I used to walk a lot and save money spent on transportation. Today even to go to the near by general store, I use a bike. I used to watch movies in an average theatre in second class ticket for 20 or 30 rupees. Today I prefer multiplexes. Fast foods were never part of my menu in student life. At the max, I used to have chat or pani puri. Today, I visit subway thrice a week. Those days, treats were given only on birthdays and that too in very average restaurants. Things are completely different now. My phone bill used to be 800 for 3 months then. Now, it is 700 per month. Those days, I never bothered about Brand. But now, all I bother is Brand. It is now a prestige :)

When I introspect myself, all I can find is one major difference. Probably that is the root cause of many events.

I must say that my environment had a great impact on me. I’ve become part of the herd. My “SOFTWARE PROFESSIONAL” tag increased my standard of living. I got tempted to the system and had to go along with that. To say frankly, it is killing me :)

Last week, I was sitting with my friend in Subway (my favorite food chain) and I asked him "Ram, How much money do you need per month to survive?" He replied "35000/-"  Is that enough? For you and your Family? He replied "For my standard of living, it should be fine. I don't want to drive a BMW or build a bungalow". I asked "But you are now getting much more than that. Don't you have a dream of receiving a hefty pay cheque?" He said "I don't have such big dreams. All I need is a peaceful life". I asked "Money buys many things. Then why are you not trying to make better money?". He replied "I need money but I don't love it and I don't crave for money. All I want is: When I wish to go out for a restaurant / movie, I should not think twice about doing it. That's all".

I had similar discussions with various people. Consolidating all their wisdom, all I can say is one point: "You should control your wants. Your wants should not control you". Your status / pride doesn't lie in the assets you accumulated but lies in the quality of work you put across and lies in the number of good acquaintances you developed.  

I also learnt one more thing. The more money you have, the more will be the luxuries you go for. The more luxuries you go for, the more you have to maintain. The more you have to maintain, the more will be the pressure you should sustain. I was a very happy man when I was not earning. I never had to spend and never had to think of luxuries. It was such a peaceful life.

So, from my experience, I can say one thing. The more you earn, the more you'll need. It is not true that once you become a millionaire / billionaire you will get settled once and for all. Your wants will grow with your earnings. So, the only way you can answer the question "How much money do I need?" is by answering "How well can I control my wants?" and "How self-satisfied person am I?". I have to start working on how to limit my desires and control my greed.


As the first step, I am going for an acer lappy instead of an Apple (having apple was once my dream :))

Let's see what happens :) Experience is the best teacher :)

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Luv,

Chaitu.