Wealth: all in the mind?

[john kane]

ill start off with a bit of a brag. on my finance recording, 11 months ago to the day i had £12,500. Today with gold's rises I hit £100K. great in a way.

but the problem is i feel no wealthier. the only difference i feel is that my self confidence is now even greater becuase i feel i've done pretty dang well to be aged 23 and have £100k given i should be in £10k in debt.

But....i am living at home....i only have about 3 jumpers i ever wear.....i look like i cant afford to eat (always been thin).....i cant drive.....i dont go out and spend much on anything (bar now and then when i get shitfaced)....

and then i thought, well, how much will it take till i actually start blowing some on some decent clothes, moving into a really nice place, eat really well, have enough sleep, go away on weekends etc the kind of thing i invisage i'd like to do when i've 'made it'.

the thing is whether i had £10k, £100k or £200k, i'd probably be doing the same - trying to make more.

i know relatively £100k is nothing. heck i could just about buy a garden shed in london for this, but still, it is a lot of money for someone my age imo.

I'm not at all tight with money, just i dont really see any need to blow it (unless im drunk) on things like clothes. like ill get taxis when i need, ill get some drinks in whenever im out, i dont have a financial worry. yet i dont feel like i have more money than i should.

heck, at times it does make me feel really good, like at work when everyone is asking about when they'll receive their £7k loan and im sitting there thinking '[censored] sweet i dont need to worry about that'.

i just seem to enjoy making money, it's not enjoyable as such, just i am addicted to the challenge.

then i also thought, well, lets say i had £5m. what would i do? well i'd go on a few holidays, but then i'd want to go play poker at really high stakes, go try and set up a business or something, either way, it would be something that would be challenging, interesting, with the plan of also making money.

so.....am i always going to have the mindset of wanting to make money? given ive spent so much of my time trying to do so, will i no longer be able to go back to being 'normal'?

ill stop there, i think im waffling, i suppose £100k is a nice amount, but still, i am so far off the amount i need to have the nice house, no need to make money etc, that for now im caught between wanting to keep trying to make more cash vs trying to enjoy the present as much as i can (becuase i kinda feel i should given how lucky ive been to accumulate money via online poker). one thing i've always told myself is aim for a target, and enjoy the ride, becuase when you get there, it probably won't be as amazing as you'd hoped, so you should make sure you enjoy trying to get there (which i def try to do).

for example, i could go for a weekend away to europe and stay in a cool hotel, have a good time, but then the other part of me would rather research in commodities and play online poker. i suppose i am fortunate to have those 2 options available.

your thoughts/perspective on all this and yourself much appreciated.

[jono]

life is more important than money, although having money does make things easier.

1) move the [censored] out of your parents house
2) spend $2K to get a nice looking wardrobe and furnish your place
3) poker makes for tons of free time so hang out with friends more and go out
4) join stuff that you like to do ie: salsa lessons - make more friends

[Actual God]

[ QUOTE ]
life is more important than money, although having money does make things easier.

1) move the [censored] out of your parents house
2) spend $2K to get a nice looking wardrobe and furnish your place
3) poker makes for tons of free time so hang out with friends more and go out
4) join stuff that you like to do ie: salsa lessons - make more friends

[/ QUOTE ]

why the [censored] does everyone talk about salsa lessons as a life redeeming activity?

[john kane]

jono, i completely agree (except for the salsa lessons [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img])

1) im waiting to hear back from my trader friend who may be moving to london then i can move in with him into one of his company's flats on oxford street (that will be awesome).
if not a couple of friends have both asked me to rent with them and ill do that if this flat falls through.
2) i tried to a couple of weeks ago, but i didnt like anything in the shops, so hard to find good clothes. i just like plain clothes of good quality.
3 and 4) ive pretty much been on a 5 year bender with a really good bunch of school and uni friends. i feel like i need to retire from going out and getting shitfaced. but that probably becuase i am often feeling tired becuase my brain is on from when i wake up trying to do stuff.

i guess part of me wants to sit at home and chill out and make $$ but the other part of me is saying you should go out and go crazy, but then i think i've been doing that for 5 years, it's time to relax.

[PokerPaul]

Because if your a guy, and can learn how to dance salsa, and look good doing it, and sweep and lead the ladies around the dance floor, you will score ALOT of points with some very HOT ladies.

Its very difficult for a man to learn the moves and lead the lady, but when you get there....$100k or $3 mill, dont matter, you'll score

[Henry17]

When I started reading Op's post I was expecting this to be about how as you get wealthier your expenses increase so you don't really feel any better off. Turns out is was actually the opposite. I think you have increased your wealth but not your quality of life.

I would definitely move out. There is no excuse for living at home at 23. That seems like it is in motion. After that you need to start enjoying life more. If you don't start giving yourself some of the perks of having money what is going to motivate you to go to the next level?

[Combusted]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
life is more important than money, although having money does make things easier.

1) move the [censored] out of your parents house
2) spend $2K to get a nice looking wardrobe and furnish your place
3) poker makes for tons of free time so hang out with friends more and go out
4) join stuff that you like to do ie: salsa lessons - make more friends

[/ QUOTE ]

why the [censored] does everyone talk about salsa lessons as a life redeeming activity?

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL, exactly what I thought when I read that.

[spex x]

[ QUOTE ]
you need to start enjoying life more.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree completely with this sentiment. Look, have lots of money isn't really all its cracked up to be. I don't have nice clothes. Thats because I don't like to wear them. I like to wear Levis 527 bootcut jeans and t-shirts. Sometimes if I'm going into the bank to ask for money, I put on a polo shirt (untucked).

I don't drive luxury cars. IMO, they're stupid. I used to have a BMW but everyone started thinking that I was a big shot, and lots of people wanted to talk about the car (which is boring) so I got rid of it. I drive a compact pick up truck. I sprang for the fully loaded version.

What I've found is that having lots of money is very highly overrated. You can buy lots of useless [censored] like flat screen tvs and stuff. But I don't even watch TV. In fact, I dont' even have cable because I think its a waste of my time. Travelling is fine, but its too stressful for me, so I don't do too much - maybe 2 vacations per year. Mostly I like to hang around with my friends and family. Thats good enough for me.

I guess that the point I'm trying to get at is maybe instead of focusing on the amount of money you have, you should take a look at the kind of life that you want and then decide how much money it'll take to get that life. Accumulating money for the sake of it is really really pointless and stupid, IMO. Get as much money as you NEED, then stop and focus on other worthwhile activities.

The only real commodity you have is TIME. Get the money so you can be the master of your TIME. Thats the only thing that money is good for.

[ItalianFX]

[ QUOTE ]
11 months ago to the day i had £12,500. Today with gold's rises I hit £100K. great in a way.


[/ QUOTE ]

Can you elaborate on this? You mean you went from 12,500 to 100k in 11 months from holding gold?

[Henry17]

My point was actually the opposite of Spex's. By enjoy life I meant doing fun thing but also consuming. If you are just going to keep spending money like someone who is average then why accumulate wealth?