Do you need more salary or time?
On a daily basis, I get a chance to speak to multiple people who are looking for a better job. Even though all of them have very convincing reasons, it somehow doesn’t feel right. It makes me wonder, what exactly has happened in a couple of years of you starting a career, that you are not able to live like you used to. The more I think of it, the more I feel it’s a matter of choices we made after our first job.
The Poor Me or Was I?
I remember, 5 years ago I was happily living college life with some of the best minds I could find out there and actually enjoying it. The only money I had was what my Dad used to send me. The 5000 rupees were used to cover my rental, food, and spending on some junk food (a luxury at that time). Today I cannot even imagine living 1/4 of a month with that money.
So what has changed? If I compare myself to the version of me 5 years ago, I have more gadgets, better clothes, richer friends/relatives, consumer loans, etc. But if I think about it, none of these actually has elevated me from what I was before. If I didn’t have these things, won’t I be me? Of course, I would have. Hence I made poor choices.
Education is free
Learning today is free. Well, it always was. It’s the government that tricked you into buying it. Just like someone tricked you into buying water when 70% of the Earth is water. You don’t even have to buy a course these days. You have enough talented authors and bloggers who are creating exceptional content for you. Even then only a small percentage of people spend their money on upskilling. But everyone is buying consumer goods even if they have to take a loan for them.
My Plan
Here is what I want to do someday. Find out all the expenses, and by that, I mean extremely unavoidable ones, and get a job that allows me to fulfill them. The rest of the time I want to spend on upskilling and doing something that gives me happiness and allows me to generate income.
Getting a bigger job inherently means spending more time on it which actually means lesser time for myself or the ones I care about. A job is to help me live a life not take that away for some money.
Think about it, why do we earn money — to make our lives easier — how does life become easier — when we save time — but if getting a bigger job takes away your precious time — is it still worth it?
The Effect
The world of today is inflated. It’s not growing but inflating. Everything is pricier. From food to clothes to gas to water. Everything is getting costlier day by day. 5 years ago I used to question myself before taking a cab as I knew I could use cheaper transport — the bus. But today I pay 500 Rs for a cab ride and justify it to myself by saying it’s okay everything is getting costlier. But the real question is, is it costlier? Isn’t it again a choice I made?
The Hypothesis
In a perfect world can’t I -
- Take public transport and save 50% on my travel expenses?
- Go for a walk/run and save on my gym membership?
- Grow vegetables in my garden and save on grocery expenses?
- Wear the same/standard clothes and save on shopping?
- Eat healthier and save on medical expenses?
If so will I still need the same amount of salary as I earn today? And if this is replicated by many, won’t the prices of things go down automatically? I mean if there is no demand, the prices will be slashed right? And since I earn less, won’t that also mean I have lesser income tax liability now?
Hence the question remains. Is education being put to use or is it for buying things only?
