I’ve found the higher income of older age unlocks all kinds of “firsts” that I simply couldn’t afford when I was younger and living with a beater car and a ramen noodle budget.
I found that when I lived with a beater car and ramen noodle budget, I had several months of free time per year to do things that I have never been able to repeat since getting “a real income.” Life sucks that way.
Yes, absolutely. However, on $14K/yr income (in 1990), with a beater car, ramen diet and cheap room rent, I was taking summers off and flying to Europe. Sure, I’d stay in youth hostels and travel on the train pass or rented bike, but 3 months in Europe didn’t even cost $4000 out of my $14K income.
Domestic trips in the beater car were of course even cheaper, as long as I mooched lodging off of friends and family.
I’ve found the higher income of older age unlocks all kinds of “firsts” that I simply couldn’t afford when I was younger and living with a beater car and a ramen noodle budget.
Further, as I’ve gotten older the value of different “firsts” shifts dramatically. “First roller coaster” was an important first of my childhood while sitting in an office where Abraham Lincoln’s practiced law eating a piece of pie in what is now a restaurant was a much more important “first” that my childhood self wouldn’t have cared about. The pie is fantastic too!
I found that when I lived with a beater car and ramen noodle budget, I had several months of free time per year to do things that I have never been able to repeat since getting “a real income.” Life sucks that way.
The time, yes, but the resources? There are monetary limits to many “firsts”.
Yes, absolutely. However, on $14K/yr income (in 1990), with a beater car, ramen diet and cheap room rent, I was taking summers off and flying to Europe. Sure, I’d stay in youth hostels and travel on the train pass or rented bike, but 3 months in Europe didn’t even cost $4000 out of my $14K income.
Domestic trips in the beater car were of course even cheaper, as long as I mooched lodging off of friends and family.