NOTES FROM THE WILD
Yesterday I paid myself first, the way Arkad tells it. The tenth that stays in the purse gets all the attention and next Friday I give the whole book a verdict.
The nine coins that go out interest me more this morning. That is the deliberate spending. Most of us worked out how to do it long before anyone handed us a book about it.
So here is the question.
What is the first thing you remember buying with your own money?
Some of you bought something with scones money at twelve. Some of you waited for a first fortnight in your twenties. Both count.
Mine was a Tracy Chapman CD and a movie ticket, bought the same afternoon, out of an after-school job at a kindergarten. I had saved for weeks and I spent it in one go, and I remember choosing the CD far more carefully than the film.
Picture Daniel, who works at a hotel in Kokopo. His first fortnight came to K460. He spent K190 on a foam mattress, sent K120 to an aunt in Kavieng for a haus krai, and put the rest into food for the household. Eleven years on he remembers the mattress. The K120 shaped more of his life, because it set the pattern for every fortnight that followed.
Send me your answer. Some of you will recognise your own sums in somebody else's. I will put the best of them into future posts.
TOMORROW
Week one and what I have learned from your replies.
Best
Amanda
P.S. What’s your view on today’s newsletter? Did I miss something out that you’d like to share? Write to me, [email protected]. I may not get back to you, but I will try to read what you send in.
IMPORTANT NOTE
Wild Money is general information only, drawn from my own experience and research. It isn't financial advice, and nothing in it is a recommendation to buy, sell, hold or manage money in any particular way. What worked for me won't necessarily suit you. Please seek advice from a licensed financial adviser before making decisions about your own money.