Pause for thought

The housewarming visit last weekend has affected me way more than I could have imagined. We ate his roast lamb and bread-and-haloumi salad, laid on his plush sofa and oohed and aahed at his Bose sound system that costs as much as my car (second hand), a built-in oven and all the works. To top that, he announced after dinner that he was about to buy a fancy European car. Granted, a second hand one, but still....

Which inevitably leads to unintended comparison. AK and I lead rather simple lives. We rent a little house for RM650/month, and I hire a maid once a fortnight to do the heavy housework and ironing. I make do with our little kitchen, and our furniture are the cheapest we could find. We drive the same cars we had when we first joined the company. We both refrained from the iPhone 4 temptation. My friend lives by himself in a new detached house, gets his cleaner in twice a week and the service costs of his car could probably pay for mine ten times over. Our money is locked up in stocks and property. We do take some pretty nice vacations though, by far our most indulgent expenses. Don't get me wrong - I choose to live like this. And for the most part, I am happy. What am I saying? I am happy. I have someone to spend the rest of my life with, the world's naughtiest, funniest orange cat and a loving and supportive family.

But when it comes to the way we spend money, he more I think about it the more I feel like the little ant toiling away, resisting the temptation to rest and enjoy the summer sun, while the grasshopper enjoys the comforts the sun's bounty allows him to - for now.

Things are, of course, seldom that simple. "Winter" could spell even more trouble for investments than simple cash - and what if we're wiped out in the next big recession and had to start anew? What if it made no difference at all - and we lived it all for nought? What if the ant's hoardings just rotted away, and he had to start anew just like the grasshopper? At least the grasshopper enjoyed himself while he could.