How I stopped cribbing and finally started living.

Like most of you all know, I wake up every morning wanting to travel. But within a few minutes the realization dawns upon me that my bank account is not at all in agreement with my wanderlust. This results in going around in circles over the same ground, daily frustration and a cloud of hopelessness because I am not quite the savings kind and even the once or twice when I have tried, it just ends up some place else. More pragmatic if you would like to call it that but of little real use to me in the present day and also often times ends up being put to philanthropic causes, yet again never really making me directly happy or closer to my life goals or wants. This is a vicious circle I haven’t been able to break for years. But last morning, I had an idea, almost a brainwave and I think I can finally change this. Also, I have barely begun but I want to share this with you in case you want to give it a try too. It would be fun to have some company on this mission.

Now, like most of us our generation, I am an impulsive buyer. I buy a lot of things to put it bluntly just because I “feel like”. I also tend to get lazy and most times don’t pack lunch from home and end up spending $7.5 at the office café on food I honestly don’t even really want to eat. These are just two examples. There are numerous such thoughtless expenditures every day, multiple times a day. Once in a while, I do act somewhat prudently (by my and strictly my standards, of course) and don’t order that overpriced $12 Long Island Iced Tea that is a shame on the pious institution of mixology anyway. But even when I do that, I don’t see my savings account grow richer by $12. I just never realize I saved a few even on the rare occasions that I do.

So, starting yesterday I have set myself an account called 'Travel Fund' at a zero balance. This could be a savings account linked to your primary bank account, a PayPal account anything really that lets you move small sums of money into it without charging you a fee or making it seem like a Herculean task. And the idea is simple. Every time you cook and bring lunch from home, you transfer the money you would have spent on lunch to that account. Similarly, when you go out for dinner with friends and you order tap water with lemon instead of a fancy ass cocktail, you transfer the $10 or $12. If you wax your hands and legs at home instead of heading to the parlor this weekend, give yourself the $30. And if you pass on that awesome looking brown and gold Michael Kors at the mall tomorrow, transfer that $400 to your Travel Fund account and give yourself a pat on the back. Then when it hits a $600-700 or whatever can buy you a cheap ticket to some place you have been wanting to go, Go! Then come back penny broke but rich with experiences and start at zero again. And remember this life mantra – “Buy experiences, not things” because when you are older that Gucci or Armani won’t make you smile but the hotel staff that clapped like you were President Obama when you were leaving your hotel at Nashville and hurriedly delivering your thank you-cum-goodbye speech clubbed into one, sure as hell will.

Bon voyage!