I Moved Home During the Pandemic And Saved 80% of My Income
Reflections on Materialism and Money
My dirty secret:
Pre-COVID-19, I have never been a good saver.
Besides a company 401k plan and a small emergency fund, I always let my upper-class dot com Californian lifestyle got the best of me.
The more I earned, I more I spent.
Luckily I earned well or otherwise I would really have been broke all of the time.
I would start each month promising myself to cut my spending and save more. Then I would fail. Mainly I lived in a very expensive place. San Francisco is famous for the cost. Everything was overpriced. Hell, I was too busy to care. But I’m far from innocent too: I love to shop, to go to restaurants and venues, and to travel. Whenever I would win a new deal or a new client, I would celebrate by increasing my spending. San Francisco is a nightmare for people like me.
Blame it on my parents who were both hoarders, living in California which has a massive consumer culture, or on my inflated Silicon Valley salary. Blame it on the media I grew up consuming full of rock stars and lavish lifestyles. For whatever reason, I became a spoiled person, convinced it was ok to spend ungodly amounts of money on stuff I didn’t really need.
