So me and my cousin are just 1 year apart. He's 25 and I'm 24, not that makes much of a point in the scenario or maybe it does just to make a point, but needless to say we are pretty much the same age.
I never really grew up around him living on the east coast and all and he being here in the west so really we grew up in entirely different situations. Well just a few months ago we were both struggling to find steady work. He's excuse... no one is hiring college grads. My excuse... I don't have enough experience. So we both eventually got a steady job and earning a steady paycheck. He invited me out for drinks with some friends of his just so I could hang out with people my own age. He decided that since he was earning a paycheck that he would pick up the tab. I had like one drink. So I just said thank you and that I would get him back the next time. I come home and was just chit-chatting with my aunt and uncle were making a case that they would be shocked to see my cousin offer to pay for anything. And then I just casually mentioned "oh he paid for drinks". And then they proceeded to lecture me about his spending and that he should be saving up his money so that he can move out of his mom's house (my cousin lives with his mom, my aunt is his step-mom, in case it gets a little confusing there). And I was like don't look at me. So then I felt bad, maybe I should have just paid for my drink. And this is were the differences between me and cousin are like night and day. My cousin was never taught the value of money and so he spends it freely because $100 to him is just that $100 of pure spending money. I look at $100 and I'm like okay... $10 - to savings, $20 to credit card, $30 for gas, $30 to student loan and then $10 for spending.
I just think it's rather strange that my aunt and uncle are lecturing me about my cousin's spending, I mean they are clearly talking to the wrong person. I can pull out an excel spreadsheet of my finances.
They are the same people that told me if I were to ever win the lottery that I was too young to retire and that I better still work.
But the point of the story is that I should have paid for my half just so that they could get off his back. But then would they be lecturing the both us if we had split that we should be saving money and moving out?
But on a side note... my credit card increased my credit limit. They didn't send me any notice, I just sort stumbled upon it when I logged in to my online account and saw that the limit increased. I'm never even close to reaching the the first limit they had for me but whatever... if anything is makes my debt ratio even lower because of higher total available credit. I just thought it was strange because I didn't think the credit card companies were uping limits, I thought most of them were decreasing limits without notice. lol. Oh well.
Maybe I should have gone dutch...
September 3rd, 2009 at 05:55 am
September 3rd, 2009 at 06:17 am 1251955061
Sorry his parents were on your/his case though!
September 3rd, 2009 at 04:38 pm 1251992328
September 3rd, 2009 at 05:48 pm 1251996489