Rs5000 + 20 days = A valuable lesson in LIFE !

Me and Mr. Extravagant, both synonyms! But that’s a fact of the past now. The last 20 days has taught me something. With a strong mindset and resolve to do something better, for a change, nothing is impossible. I’ve been working for over two years now, and that too in one of the metro cities of the Indian sub continent. But that doesn’t serve as a good excuse for the way in which I’ve carried myself around and the way I’ve spent foolishly and without any second thoughts, and in the process almost becoming on the verge of claiming a bankruptcy, just like the small banks are doing in the US now. But unfortunately I won’t get any financial aid to recoup like them. So it was upon me to do something to show and prove to myself that, even in a city like Chennai life can be lived, and that too with minimum out of pocket.

I’m back home now after my first, last and the only extravaganza for the month, a movie at one of the multiplex here at Chennai, which in a metro and especially in Chennai, considered to be the most extravagant and costliest thing to do next to traveling in an auto!! Step your foot into an auto here and you'll regret it for a lifetime if you're new to this place. They'll start with the price of the auto to take you just down the road for probably a kilometer. Anyways, you won’t believe it, but due to some unfortunate circumstances, unwanted spending and debts I brought upon myself, my bank balance on the 2^nd day of this month was just Rs5000!! The immediately previous month and for many months before this, I had found it so tough to make both ends meet, with slightly more bank balances. But not this time, I had a purpose and a strong mind to do better at least once before I probably call it quits.

I’ve spent the last 20 days on basic necessities like food and travel, cut short my other fantasies and urge to buy books, hanging out with friends and other things I’ve been doing over the last 2 years. Looking back it doesn’t seem so tough now, and the results are in front of me. A valuable lesson learnt and a better perspective achieved on how to spend and how to live with what little one has. I used to think how people with low incomes could survive, not only in a metro but also in any town. What with the inflation rates becoming other worldly (The price of every commodity is rising, except one’s salary!!). But I’ve learnt something now. The more your income the more you spend. With only Rs5000 to spend and debts still left uncleared, which is piling up to huge amounts, I had to do something about my being a spendthrift. I learnt a few valuable lessons and got a few pointers from my roommate in the way he spends. Added to it a few points of my own, by pondering upon what and where I’ve been spending on without any actual need for it, lo and behold! I learnt my own practical lesson to live life KING size in my own way. In the end that’s what matters, how you think you’ve done it, and how well you’ve enjoyed each moment. I had the same feeling when I was a spendthrift. I used to roam around without paying any heed to what others used to say and I enjoyed it because I loved doing what I did. Even now I do enjoy, but in a different way and now I understand so many others like my roommate. This is probably just a beginning, but something for me to go by in the coming months and years.