I hate spending money
And my wife loves to shop.
That sounds stereotypical, but it’s true. And I’ve been thinking more and more about that lately.
On the Giovanni Ribisi episode of my new favourite podcast, Maron starts out talking about this. Maybe sometimes it’s okay to buy stuff and feel good about it.
I was brought up always not to spend money frivolously - in fact, not spending money was a bit of a virtue, and going without? Next to godliness. We were upper middle class, so it wasn’t a necessity thing - more of a jewish values thing, I guess.
But shopping seems to genuinely bring my wife happiness, and she is a much happier person than me. And you know what? Maybe that’s okay. Maybe enjoying the things money can buy doesn’t make you shallow, or less-than in any way. Maybe it’s just a nice thing that when you have some excess money, you can spend it on things or experiences that bring you some happiness.
Doesn’t sound that revolutionary, I’m sure. But it’s a pretty new idea for me.