Thoughtful Thursday: That One Thing

9 Apr

Posted in Thoughtful Thursday by Roger, the Amateur Financier 5 Comments

Every so often as I read through the blog entries from other PF bloggers, I come across something that touches me deeply. One of the great things about blogging is that, as you get more comfortable with sharing your life online, you open more of your life to your readers, or, if I may sound a bit emotional for a moment, your friends. Some of the things that other bloggers share just pull at my heartstrings.

Such are the sensations that I felt when I read Stephanie’s post on the one object she wants the most. It seems she had a necklaced stolen from her four years ago. The true value of the necklace was not the jewelry itself, but rather it what it represented: the necklace was a gift to her from her older sister. When her sister got married, Stephanie was part of the wedding party, and the necklace was a gift to all the bridesmaids. The value of the necklace to her is almost entirely sentimental.

Reading Stephanie’s comments about the necklace, I couldn’t help but be touched about her situation. I have a few objects I feel strongly about, myself; sometimes, we imbue objects we own with such emotion and energy that it can hurt to lose them. I wish her the best of luck in getting her necklace back.

Some of the other posts that made me stop and think this week:

10 Things I hate about Economists – One of the latest additions to my blog watchlist, the Weakonomist notes many of the flaws with economics. A lot of his criticism seems to be well founded, since economics (as currently practiced) tends to be uniquely situated in our society, holding the ears of politicians, businessmen, and even scientists with their explanations and theories. Which wouldn’t be so bad, if they had a better track record.

Emotions and Personal Finance Don’t Mix Well – Over on Studenomics (not Stud-o-nomics), there was an interesting discussion about how your emotions can cause you to make bad emotional decisions. He gives an example of one of his friends who would bet on his favorite team regardless of their prospects, losing hundreds of dollars in the process (at least $100 of which found its way into Studenomic’s pocket). The lesson is two-fold: betting on sporting events, especially based on your personal preferences and not actual performances, is a losing proposition, and mixing money and emotion generally doesn’t end well.

Glass Door, Know Your Worth – A post from My Life ROI about a website that allows you to see what other people earn at companies for which they used to work. He also raised the interesting point that the common workplace practice of not asking your coworkers what they make only helps your HR department. Certainly, a change in corporate culture would be for the best, but until then, Glassdoor.com makes an interesting site to help you figure out what you are worth.

Find Meaning in Your Money – Mr. ToughMoneyLove waxes about the need to reflect and renew during this Easter season. I certainly agree; if we don’t have meaning in our pursuit of monetary gains, or our lives in general, all our success will be very hollow. Have a wonderful spring financial cleaning, and get your money situation in order.

Related Websites

Thoughtful Thursday: Back to School (Sep 03, 2009)
Thoughtful Thursday: On the Job Training can be Fun (Aug 20, 2009)
Thoughtful Thursday: Tomorrow’s the Day! (Aug 13, 2009)
Thoughtful Thursday: Med School Bound! (Aug 06, 2009)
Thoughtful Thursday: Family Values (Jul 30, 2009)

5 Responses to “Thoughtful Thursday: That One Thing”

Studenomics
on April 9 2009

Thanks for the mention and I look forward to you sharing more!
Stephanie PTY
on April 10 2009

Aw, thank you Roger! I don’t know exactly what to say. I’m glad the story resonated with you – there are just some things that we carry with us all the time, even long after the object is gone. I’m grateful for the relationship that I have with my sister (and now, with her children).

It probably helps that I am, in general, overly sentimental.
The Weakonomist
on April 10 2009

Thanks for the link inclusion. You’re analysis is better than anything I could have ever dreamed up.
Mr. ToughMoneyLove
on April 11 2009

Thanks for the thoughtful sentiments and for including mine.
Roger
on April 11 2009

@ Studenomics: You’re very welcome, and you can be sure that I’ll be sharing more soon.

@ Stephanie: There’s nothing wrong with being overly sentimental; we are emotional creatures, and we ignore those emotions at our own peril. And your story really resonated with me, so I was glad to include it.

@ The Weakonomist: I think you’re giving me a bit too much credit; I was simply trying to give a (very brief) tease of your entry to entice any of my readers who missed it.

@ Mr. ToughMoneyLove: You’re quite welcome. And welcome to my blog!