Spend money on EXPERIENCES, not "things"

[Rod]

Invest into a trip to the park with friends over a brand new gaming console. I assure you, you'll build more than money can buy.

[Virge]

Let's see if I got this right. Don't own your boyfriend. Do your boyfriend. Is that it?

Kinda sorta maybe halfway yes halfway no.

More like us being able to take off tomorrow, Aug 2nd, for a 22 hour drive to New Oralines for Southern Decadence Thurs through Sat before heading east to Florida to do a few days on the beach with no real schedule before heading off with no real timetable to be anywhere except home on the 16th. Taking the canoe, camping gear in case we want to do that, see friends if we don't get distracted by a the international museum of paperclip art or a 57th annnual frog legs festival. Stopping in Nashville and Memphis just for music. Ride the back roads and see the real US rather than ride the boring interstates.... stop at odd old stores and museums... eat weird places.

........ and do it again in April before things get busy up here again.

[LONDONER]

I fly to London on the 23rd September and once again, as always, I will take advantage of the Cultural Capital of Europe.

With a friend, I am due to see the exhibition of Goya portraits at the National Gallery and in all probability I will buy the book that goes with the exhibition since, as photography is not allowed, I will take photos of the photos so as to be able to pass my experience on to my friends. Some of you mjight remember I went to the exhibition of Rembrandt portraits last year.

We are also due to see the Cindy Lauper musical "Kinky Boots" based on the true story of an ailing northern English shoe factory that saved itself by making kinky boots for drag queens. Clip from the film here:




In addition to that we are also going to see Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Ernest" with the lead role of Lady Bracknell taken by David Suchet. For those of you who don't know who he is, he is famous for playing Agatha Christie's "Hercule Poirot". He's somewhat rotund and rather hairy.

We are also booked for a concert at the Royal Albert Hall to see/hear the John Wilson Orchestra playing works by Gershwin. You can see the orchestra in action here:




That's what we have booked for the moment. I'm sure that my time in London will be filled with many other experiences too.

[LONDONER]

Kinda sorta maybe halfway yes halfway no.

More like us being able to take off tomorrow, Aug 2nd, for a 22 hour drive to New Oralines for Southern Decadence Thurs through Sat before heading east to Florida to do a few days on the beach with no real schedule before heading off with no real timetable to be anywhere except home on the 16th. Taking the canoe, camping gear in case we want to do that, see friends if we don't get distracted by a the international museum of paperclip art or a 57th annnual frog legs festival. Stopping in Nashville and Memphis just for music. Ride the back roads and see the real US rather than ride the boring interstates.... stop at odd old stores and museums... eat weird places.

........ and do it again in April before things get busy up here again.

Sounds great Virge. Enjoy.

[Darius]

Nothing wrong with "things". I bought my first home this last year. It's a thing, but it's my home, too.
Like many "things", it came with experiences. I looked at many properties before I decided on this one where I had friends and family with me. It was both a scary and exciting time and I'm glad I had others to share it with me. Things are meant to be shared and enjoyed. I bought all kinds of "things" for my home. Things like furniture will get worn out and replaced. Other things like artwork might be with me for a lifetime. I found this wood sculpture that I really liked but nobody else who saw it seemed to feel much for it. I liked the warm, natural wood tones and it's abstract design, It had a very masculine appeal to it and even though it cost more than I thought I would normally pay for something, I bought it and place it right where you could see it when you enter my home.
A close friend that I hadn't seen for nearly a year came to visit and it was the first thing he noticed was the sculpture and he LOVED it. At that moment, I was never so happy I had bought it.
He then said he always loved my wood....another memory I won't forget.

Owning things is fine as long as they don't own you.

[Virge]

[MENTION=18457]LONDONER[/MENTION]
Your trip to London is the exact type thing I'm talking about. Getting out doing, seeing and experiencing things outside the fishbowls we all live in.

Nothing wrong with "things". I bought my first home this last year. It's a thing, but it's my home, too.
Like many "things", it came with experiences. I looked at many properties before I decided on this one where I had friends and family with me. It was both a scary and exciting time and I'm glad I had others to share it with me. Things are meant to be shared and enjoyed. I bought all kinds of "things" for my home. Things like furniture will get worn out and replaced. Other things like artwork might be with me for a lifetime. I found this wood sculpture that I really liked but nobody else who saw it seemed to feel much for it. I liked the warm, natural wood tones and it's abstract design, It had a very masculine appeal to it and even though it cost more than I thought I would normally pay for something, I bought it and place it right where you could see it when you enter my home.
A close friend that I hadn't seen for nearly a year came to visit and it was the first thing he noticed was the sculpture and he LOVED it. At that moment, I was never so happy I had bought it.
He then said he always loved my wood....another memory I won't forget.

Owning things is fine as long as they don't own you.

^^ Hell yeah! That's one reason we're not too big on receiving gifts for birthdays and other occasions. People give you things that are usually nice but not things you wanted or would have ever bought. Then you're going to feel bad if and when you get rid of them just to not be owned by things.

As for what you said about thinking of a home purchase as buying a thing, it's not that way. The things I think we're talking about are table settings for 68 when you have a table for six... three can openers or twenty sets of sheets in a house with two beds. With "things" like that you have no choice to either buy or rent them. You must buy them.

Having a place to live you can either rent or buy. Buying a place to live is more economical in the long run and eventually turns out to be a wise investment as its value increases.. An owned home gives back. A rented one doesn't.

At least that's how I look at it.

[LONDONER]

Hell yeah! That's one reason we're not too big on receiving gifts for birthdays and other occasions. People give you things that are usually nice but not things you wanted or would have ever bought. Then you're going to feel bad if and when you get rid of them just to not be owned by things.

I'm terrible about receiving gifts and on the whole prefer that people don't give me things. On the other hand I sometimes feel guilty because I deprive the giver of the pleasure of giving. One has to draw a fine line between givimg the giver pleasure and disappointing them. Receiving is an art and at timess one has to be gracious even if you dislike the gift. Sometimes refusing a gift can be very selfish.

But back to the original subject. We all reach a stage in our lives when "downsizing" becomed necessary, when you realise that all the "things" that you have accumulaed in your life are, if you are truthful with yourself, rather meaningless and the things that are truly meaningful are the memories of the places you have been, the things you have done, the people you have love and the people you have not loved and should have. Like the old saying goes: "You can't take it with you when you're gone".