The Baboon Congress, The Future, Travel

Show Me the Money

41 Comments

Today’s post comes from Verily Sherrilee

(Part 2 in a Baboon Fantasy Series)

I’ve heard many people say “I know money doesn’t buy happiness but I’d like to be part of the test group.” Everyone can point to lots of examples of money being the root of all evil but still think they could handle extreme wealth better than others.

In my fantasy dog-free world, I do not want to win a billion-dollar lottery and have to hire an entourage the first week. Give me just enough cash so that I can #1: not have to work, #2: travel to an exotic place at last once a year and #3: write some nice-sized checks to a variety of my favorite causes.

I love my job but if I didn’t have to sit in a cube and arrange things for others, I don’t think I would miss it. Having no job would give me more time for gardening, reading, volunteering and maybe my house might get clean.  I already volunteer at a few places, but I’d love to volunteer at the library and maybe an animal shelter.

Although I’ve traveled quite a bit and been to some fun and exotic places, it’s always been on the client’s agenda; I’d love to do my own thing and take Young Adult along with me sometimes. Australian Outback, Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Alaska, Rio de Janiero, Prague…. this could go on for a bit.

One of the reasons that I volunteer a lot is that I don’t have much cash to spread around to some of my favorite causes. But I know that in addition to volunteers, organizations need money to keep them going. I’d like to be able to write a nice check each year to both of our zoos, Planned Parenthood, Feed My Starving Children, UNICEF, Haiti Mission, malaria prevention, Cantus, my daughter’s education.

I could probably add on to all these lists easily but I don’t want so much money that I have to spend a boatload of time managing it and I certainly don’t want to have to hire someone to manage it. So add a bit more for some meals out and a bit for my stamps/glitter/ribbon and I should be good to go!

What would you use a little extra cash for?

41 thoughts on “Show Me the Money”

  1. A little extra cash would be good and, I agree, a huge amount of extra cash might not be the best. However, I think I could make better use of massive amounts of money than is the case for certain very wealthy people. Even a very massive amount of money probably couldn’t reverse the all damage that is being done some of the very wealthy. However, there might be some way to repair part of the damage.

    With a modest amount of extra money I would do more traveling, put more money into landscaping and gardening, and do more to decrease my carbon foot print. I would, also, give more financial support to good causes. In addition, I would try some of those more expensive wines that currently don’t fit into our budget.

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    1. I recently found two high-quality leather belts at my local Salvation Army Thrift Store for $3 and $4! I think they’ll last longer than my last belt, a $50 job that was supposed to be all leather but managed to disintegrate at the point where I usually buckle my belt after about 5 years of daily use.

      Chris

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      1. Once while shopping at a thrift store, I discovered a whole flock of dress suits that were just my size. A business man had died and the relatives had donated the guy’s clothes to charity. I bought five for 100 dollars. I’m sure retail on those would have been over 2000. They were most excellent. When I “grew” out of them, they were still in great shape, and they went back to the same thrift store.

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      1. Buying used relieves you of the responsibility of trying to track whether the clothing was made in a sweatshop, or considering the carbon footprint of the manufacturer. The secondary market doesn’t drive the demand that fuels those problems.

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  3. I’m still thinking about what my perfect pet might be. I think I decided I don’t really need a perfect one, as long as I have at least one. My English Mastiff “Madame Hildegarde” is about as close to perfect as any I’ve had…though yesterday she “found” (or killed) a dead chicken. She hasn’t been killing since the first three, but…

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  4. By January we will have our daughter’s last year of college paid for. That will leave us with some extra cash every month that I hope to spend on remodeling a bathroom and maybe new carpet in the basement.

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  5. I’d use the extra cash to set up a health insurance premium fund. My wife retired so we’re at the mercy of MNSure and the boondoggle caused by the Affordable Care Act, so health costs (both insurance premiums and high deductibles, have instantly become a major retirement years expense.

    I don’t worry about it nearly as much as my wife since she seems to incur the majority of the health costs, but it would be nice to have enough money in a fund to essentially be self- insured for all but the most expensive procedures.

    Chris in Owatonna

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  6. I’d put some money into the house, maybe hire somebody creative to add some amenities like a screen porch, upstairs bathroom, green roof, solar. Then I’d like to have a massage every week. I don’t go in for spa stuff like facials and pedicures and all that, but I do see the appeal of having a massage. I get sore shoulders.

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  7. Ah, the “If I Had a Million Dollars” game.
    We have not played it in our household for a long time. Should do that soon.

    We always start by taking 10% off the top and distributing that.
    Pay off all debt, including the mortgage, fix up the house to sell, and move North, get the s&h educated and stick the rest in savings to live off of.

    Our needs are pretty simple- I know that as little (!) as $100K would allow me to breathe more easily.

    We’ve dealt with the insurance thing through a high deductible insurance plan for major stuff and an annual membership at our neighborhood clinic that covers the basics (if we ever get around to going). Our prescription needs are minimal. We’ve lived like this for 10 years, so the ACA has had little impact on us-premiums were increasing at a shameful rate long before the ACA for us.

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    1. I used to have one of those high deductible policies and I’m glad those days are over. However, the tax implications of the ACA are beyond the comprehension of a good percentage of the population, and make me yearn all the more for single payer.

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  8. I have moved to a land of stunning beauty, and yet I can’t enjoy it because I can’t afford to travel and because traffic here is so fierce. If I had money I’d hire a chauffeur so I could explore this astonishing place. And since we are indulging in fantasy, let’s make that driver someone who is a terrific conversationalist who knows Oregon history.

    And then there is all the predictable stuff. I’d like to be rich enough to donate to my favorite causes. And I’d like to be able to give gifts to special people who have been good to me (especially some of the folks I met here).

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    2. I’ve fantasized about making a donation to our local NPR station that would be just short of their goal. “All we need is one more person to donate 95 dollars. Who will it be that puts us over the top? We can shave five days off our fund drive with just one more listener making that call.”

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      1. My daughter with her small donation was the one who put an MPR drive over the top about ten years ago. She did not even know it. It was on her todo list while they were moving in. I heard them read it.

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  9. I don’t know if VS explained the second picture in some ancient post. It captured a moment of one of my former favorite volunteer activities – the Coat Flinging. VS and Young Adult (mostly VS, of course) were in charge of Warm Coats, Warm Hearts at our church. After the coats (most of them) were dropped off by donors, we gathered in the narthex to sort them by family. The flinging happened when the 50s were in the far corner and you were holding bag #53.
    It was a wonderful project and VS ran it beautifully.
    A bunch of unexpected money could buy a lot of coats for those who don’t have them.

    Other than that, I would pay off the church’s mortgage and give more to my favorites: Habitat for Humanity, Second Harvest Heartland, Heifer, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, Partners in Health, Opportunity Partners and Resource, Inc.
    Maybe build a fancy ramp and hire someone so I can stay in my home (really thinking ahead, I hope).

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    1. There was a second really fun part of the coat project. After we sorted out all the coats, we put each family’s coats together in a bigger bag. Then on the Saturday morning that we were delivering the coats, we would need to get them from the 2nd floor storage to the first floor near the doors. We would drop the bags down the open stairwell one at a time. They made an extremely satisfying “thunk” when they hit the floor!

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  11. I guess it depends on how much is “a little extra”. First I’d make sure that people close to me (including us) have enough to survive on, if they don’t quite have that already. I don’t think I would change much in the way I live. Gotta run, more later.

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    1. A question you can answer, if you wish.
      I have a 920-word short story, fiction, that would would serve as a blog and prompt. Should I use it?
      Maybe I should count non-votes as no-votes.

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    1. I just requested a book through MNLink yesterday. Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawkins. Got a review on one of the science blogs I follow, although this particular day’s blog had nothing to do with science. John Green recommended it, said it was hysterical. I’ll let you know.

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  15. I would hire someone to babysit some two-year-old twins so I could be selfish and do what I want to do for a change. Then I would buy some camera equipment and rent a small house somewhere beautiful and spend my time taking pictures…

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