“What are you doing?” I asked my husband. He was wrapped neatly in his dressing gown and slippers, and closely examining something in the morning lounge-room light. He was of course unable to hear my question as he is afflicted with the masculine inability to do two things at once. His ability to do one thing at once can depend on an alarming number of variables. You should see him psych himself up to call in a dinner order. My God, you’d think he had to cook the curries and drive them over in 45 minutes.
The crinkle of his nose and the reflection of rows of numbers in his specks answered my question. “Ah, doing your numbers eh?”
My husband has become obsessed with the lottery. He’s always waffling on about quick picks and supps and what not. I of course am gifted with the feminine ability to appear to be listening when I’m not, so I can’t say that I know much about it. I figure if he ever wakes to find he has the numbers he’ll collapse in a puddle of fear and flanalette and I’ll have plenty of time catch up and get involved.
I tuned in a couple of days ago when he was reading from the paper the story of a local family who’d won 2 million dollars. I found myself fantasising about what I would do in their position. I’d buy a big but sensible house in a nice but down to earth neighbourhood. I’d send my kids to a private, but not too hoity school and I’d keep working but at something meaningful, helping others. I started feeling really miffed that those jerks had my 2 million dollars.
“Don’t stress,” my husband reassured me with a zen he possesses only when discussing his numbers, “the other one’s jackpotted. It’s 8 million now!”
I’d been ever so humble and happy with 2 million a minute before, but now 8 million sounded altogether more reasonable. Yes, I definitely deserve 8 million free dollars to rain down upon me like rose petals on a Hindu Goddess.
The question my revolting greed raises is, how much is enough money? How much money would allow us to relax about money? To not have to talk and argue and cry about money? To never even have to think, ever again, about money?
Of course there is no amount of money that can change the way we see ourselves reflected in it. By that I mean that judging your success as a human by how much money you have can only lead to craving more money, can’t it?
What if we just relaxed about money? Like without even winning the lotto? What if we lived in a smaller house, and shared a car? What if we just went without things we couldn’t afford, and enrolled the kids in a school we could? What if we didn’t even care who knew about it?
What if we stopped paying interest on credit cards.
What if we stopped doing jobs we hated?
What if we did something meaningful, helped people?
8 Comments
So true! As I’m reading this Oprah is discussing the same thing! It’s true my husband and I pretend/imagine/day dream and even argue about the money we are yet to win! Crazy. Keep up the great work Meshel, we love you!!!
I always fantasise about winning the lotto…even though I never buy a ticket! It’s great to picture yourself with no mortgage (and if your win is big enough – clearing your whole family’s mortgages). Realising you could work doing something you love – not just to get paid. You could travel whenever you wanted to and experience everything the world has to offer.
Then I imagine my inlaws bickering (money is such a THING with them) and the irrational fear of all the money running out. People expecting you to pay for everything.
I think I’ll keep my life and realise how blessed I already am
My gentleman and I argue about ‘my’ unwon lotto (I buy the ticket) because the first thing he wants to do is fly to Germany, hire a ridiculously powerful car and drive laps around something called the nerburg ring. I keep insisting if I win then I get all the power to decide where the money goes. Amazingly he thinks I am joking. Then again, he thinks I am joking when I tell him he eats too much salt. It would seem I am quite the comedian. If only it were that simple.
Great post. Have you seen the doco Lucky? It’s a film about people who have won. Not many happy campers in that lot. I on the other hand wouldn’t let it change me….
I saw the Oprah episode today that talked about the exact same thing. It said we should take what we need and give the rest to others. ‘I am,’ is a documentary about a man who did exactly that. I can’t wait to see it.
My husband and I did that a couple of years ago. He now has a job that he likes, we have a mortgage that we can afford. Private schools are out and public schools are in. No credit cards and no car loans. Fortunately we can sustain ourselves to a very moderate but comfortable life without giving up on the small things that we call luxuries. There are times that both of us want the latest or greatest but we remember the absolute stress of our previous life and it is easy to wait a little longer than most.
I think you need about $10 million to make it worthwhile. That will set you up in a decent house, with the kids fees covered, and interest income to keep you basically happy.
Anything less, sorry but you’re going to struggle…something will have to give.
Seriously how much do we need? Don’t ask Gerry Harvey: that turd has millions and still manages to live like a cheapskate and be shitty all the time.
It is all well & good to wish for more money.
Thru work, I visited a German refugee from WW2, who lives frugally.
I asked why she wears so little & no heater, she told me ” there are people colder” & I thought, there are people richer, warmer, greedier, but are there people happier?
I meet many rich people in my job, I meet few genuinely happy & content people -shame. Really, we all have twice as much money as we ever need, even the poorest of us, somehow we have a computer.
What about those without food, or safety, or medication.