Money is there to spend

Zoe Scheglova, Valerie Nechay, 501

Some people say that it is better to enjoy your money as soon as you earn it while other prefers to save the money for later. It’s a difficult choice faced by lots of people because of the different attitudes towards money shaped by their parents’ spending patterns and experience. As far as I am concerned, I vote for the former choice, which is that better for one to enjoy his or her money as soon as it is earned.

1. Spend on experiences

First, the dominant philosophy nowadays is ‘enjoy your life when you are still young’. Most young adults like to work for a period of time and they go on for a trip to visit some places they have never been to. Those trips provide them different kinds of knowledge and new perspective in looking at their environment.

Experiences are usually shared with people we love and they tend to be our greatest source of happiness. So one should not be tight on money and spend the money on travelling or some things one can share with the dearest and nearest.

Counter-argument

One should have an emergency fund for the rainy day

This philosophy is good till the rainy day comes. There are moments in life that will change everything and shake things up for you. It may be getting a pink slip at work, or a positive pregnancy test when you were not trying or it could be hearing some great news or finding the perfect job that presupposes a change of living. Not all unexpected events are negative, but generally the big ones will affect your financial future, and you may need to change the way you think about and handle your money. It is important to have an emergency fund set aside to cover such unexpected expenses.

2. Making money work is better than saving up.

In the old days, it is said that people who save money in a bank understand the philosophy of thrift. Actually, economists say that in the modern world saving money in bank is the quickest way to lose it. Moreover none of the rich people became rich by getting interest from the bank. Living in a constantly changing world, we should adjust ourselves to accept the new ways of investing our money to different areas in order to get the most of it. That is probably the reason why most of the people nowadays put their money into business to get a better payback.

Counter-argument

People may consider save money for their retirement

Well, I do not preach the necessity of saving money in a bank as security of the assets there depends on the level of financial stability in the country. Moreover, everybody has their own saving techniques and places where to save. However, savings in the bank is a good idea for putting some money for retirement. The sooner you start saving for retirement, the less you will have to save in the future. You can put your money to work for you. As you continue to contribute overtime you will be earning more interest on the money you have, then you put in each month. You should at least be contributing up to your employer's match and eventually you will want to contribute ten to fifteen percent of your gross income.

I would say it doesn’t work in our country. Hardly anyone has a bank account, not to mention a savings account, as well as few think of their retirement when they are young.

If you take our country, then you are right.

3. High quality is worth it.

In case of buying something that is high in quality, spending more is obvious.

If you don’t want to be constantly buying something over and over again as it breaks, you need to pay extra for something of high quality. In such cases, it’s not about the cheapest thing; it’s about the best value.

Counter-argument

I see, it makes perfect sense. This argument is also a part of my position towards saving. However, each thing can break, even the one of the best quality. Things of the best quality, like shoes or cars, are tricky in some way. If something happens to them, then they need repair or upgrade, but the more expensive the thing is, the more costly the services are. It again sends me back to my argument about an emergency fund.

I’m glad we at least partly see eye to eye on this point.