I can't help but put a lot of thought towards money. In fact, I probably spend at least an hour each day thinking of how much I'm earning, my expenditure for the week, how much I need to save up for so-and-so, etc, and it's not because I love money. Well, I do, but I think about money so much because I always find myself short of it and need to keep track of how I'm treating it so that I don't end up in horrible financial situations like the one I'm in now.
There was once a time when I would ask my parents for money for my outings with friends. It seems like forever ago, but I know that the time existed because I would always complain about how they didn't give me enough money when I went out. When I first began to meet my friends outside of school, we spent a maximum of $20 on each outing. Even $20 seemed like so much at the time. As time progressed however, the cost of our outings increased, until I was eventually asking for $30, $40 and $50 for outings. I could never understand why it was so difficult for my parents to spare that extra change in order to allow me to enjoy my time and be able to fit in with what my friends were doing; mind you I was around 13 at the time, so what would I have known about our family's financial situation?
In the past five or so years (in other words, ever since I began to work at McDonald's) I've asked my parents for money maybe once or twice. The moment I began working at McDonald's, I began to pay my own phone bills, buy my own toiletries, buy any extra furniture I needed, pay for any expenses required for travel, etc. Every time I heard about a friend who went overseas, got a new car, or even just went shopping with their parents I became jealous, because 99% of the time, their parents would pay for all of their expenses. I think the most expensive gift I've received from my parents is a $100 note, and even then I was grateful for it, but I couldn't help but to compare it to my friend's gifts. What I received for my birthday would never equate to what they received for Christmas in both thought and monetary value.
Recently while applying for Youth Allowance, I happened to see both my mum and dad's yearly earnings in the financial year ending in 2011, and I guess I've been forced to view our situation differently. It's no wonder that they're waiting for me to finish uni and start working as a dental technician.. They need me to support our family. I can't really understand why they can't ask my sister for more help. I wouldn't be surprised if she's earning more than both of them combined, and she doesn't even have a house to pay off. Yet they're placing all of the burden on my shoulders. It's not that I don't want to help them as soon as I graduate; I really do. But I also want to start living my own life as well. I want to buy a car, and hopefully even move out in the next 10 years. But I just don't see myself doing that while helping mum and dad at home to the extent that they want me to, unless I magically start off with a high salary which leaves me with endless money to spend each week.
I guess everyone has their own issues and money happens to be one of mine, but I can't help but wonder how different life could be. I probably wouldn't ever buy a lotto ticket myself, but IF ONLY I could be in one of those situations where I picked a ticket up from the floor and it happened to be the winning number. If only.. *sigh*
No comments:
Post a Comment