A Matter of Perspective

Perspective.  It tends to evolve from our life experiences.  We all have a slightly different one.  Different doesn’t mean more wrong or more right, better or worse, smarter or dumber.  It just means “not the same.”

When I was a kid, we had a big old antenna that had to be turned to tune in different TV channels.  Calling Grandma on the phone was a rare and short event, because it was long distance, and long distance was not free.  My mom took us to the local beauty school for free haircuts. We didn’t qualify for free lunch at school, but we couldn’t afford the 50 cents it cost.  We ate bologna sandwiches every day, except for that special occasion that we would get the pimento loaf or ground bologna that was usually reserved for my dad.  I didn’t know what real cheese tasted like until I was an adult.  I had to drink powdered milk and orange juice that came in a can and tasted like metal.

I worked my first job, delivering newspapers when I was 12, and I spent my income on Christmas presents for my siblings.  After that I babysat for the people around the corner in order to be able to buy a pair of Nikes so the kids at school would stop making fun of my cheap shoes.  When I got my next job at 15, my parents had divorced and my mom was not receiving the child support she was supposed to, and was trying to take care of 3 kids. With my paycheck, I paid for all of my own necessities, paid to have cable in our house, as well as helped with things for my brother and sister.  

At 17, I moved to another city and put myself through college on a combination of working, scholarships, and student loans.  I didn’t have a car or a phone and everything I owned fit in a suitcase and two milk crates.  I just finished paying off the student loans, with a 10% interest rate, a year and a half ago, at the age of 44.

Average per capita income in the U.S. in 1990, when I started my first out-of-college job, was 18,667.00 (I made $6.60/hr, or $13,728.00 with a job that REQUIRED a degree).  At the end of 2012 was $42,963.00, 2.28 times higher.

That year, I rented a $450 1 bedroom apartment.That same apartment today is $705, only 1.56 times higher.

Average loaf of white bread in 1990, $1.29.Today, $1.45. Eggs in 1990, $1.16.Today, $1.61.Gasoline, yes, is about 3.49 times higher, but in 1990 I couldn’t even afford a car with my income at a professional job.I rode my bike to work.
 

34 years of working, and it’s just been in the last year since I’ve been married with another income, do I actually feel comfortable enough to go to the grocery store without adding up every cent down to the last penny to make sure I’m not spending too much. Though I can now afford more, I’ve had one professional manicure in my life, I get my hair cut at Supercuts, most of my wardrobe is used from Ebay, and the only Coach purse I’ve ever had I bought two years ago. At Goodwill. For $3.

My life wasn’t privileged.  My life was often a struggle.  I'm not bitter about any of it. I was taught no one owed you anything, and life is what you make of it, and so I’ve made choices and sacrifices and, well, made something of it. 

I’ve not only always felt grateful for what I have, I have always felt blessed.  What many see as necessities, I see as a waste of money.  When I look at the numbers, I can get a little confused when sometimes people believe that if you are not a young adult today, you can't understand their financial struggles.   I understand perfectly, as do many others, we just have different methods and ideas for dealing with them.  Maybe we should open up and listen to each other sometimes.

And that is my perspective. Yours may vary.
 
Life is hard.  That’s why they have wine.