A friend of my husband asked me how in the world I do not own any Louis Vuitton, Prada, Tod’s, Burberry or Chanel bag, the carry-on status symbol of choice for the modern woman.

I had to smile.

Okay. I have to admit that I am not immune to their charms. If anything, I love soft leather, and I certainly can appreciate wonderful craftsmanship. The ooohs and aaahs of the woman who realizes what it is is also a great incentive, I will not lie.

But I never really felt the urge to whip out my credit card so that I can have it in my arms, never been to the point of really considering buying, never felt for it that urgent fire that one gets when one wants something, and now. Really.

Because, internally, I could not justify its cost. I do not understand why in the world it would have to cost an arm and a leg, or why in the world I had to have it just because every one else has it.

(hubby said that women buy bags for other women – those who can appreciate it – and it is the wanting to be the envy of that other woman that drives many a woman into bankruptcy… i told him maybe it is the same for men, except for them, it is cars, or trophy mistresses)

I would rather put my money in the stockmarket, or invest it in a business, or …

Let’s do that again.

While I would put my money in the stockmarket, or invest it in a business, I will entertain the thought of travel too (say, 70 percent of the time).

Because show me pictures of faraway places – snow capped mountains, private villas with a butler (at half the price), lodges in deep brown and adorned with elk antlers, being massaged into oblivion, having a romantic candlelit dinner with only the white sand, sparkling and beautiful, and the lullaby of the sea for company – would spark a yes from me and I would play with money and dates in my head until I could justify going.

That is my thing.

I found out that my thing is the in thing now (post recession).

A New York Times article that said people are happier when they spend money on experiences rather than material things. If I can quote: New studies of consumption and happiness show, for instance, that people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects, when they relish what they plan to buy long before they buy it, and when they stop trying to outdo the Joneses….

If they are creating memories rather than just collecting stuff.

Experiences over possessions.

The article actually started with the story of a couple who went to the extreme of limiting their possessions to just 100 things and then giving everything else away (and in the process, eliminating their $30,000 debt).

Amazing.

That they found out the pleasure of owning do not last very long. But a trip, a night at the theatre, adult ballet lessons, sleeping in with the kids, a Saturday night dinner with the whole family, even though fraught with little fights or inconveniences or little mishaps, would seem rose-colored when looked at through the (thankfully) hazy veil of memory.

I do not want to say never because I do not know whether I will succumb to a designer bag the future (maybe when they invent a bag that can double as something else?). But having what I have, knowing what I know, and feeling what I feel, I am oddly glad too, in a way.

Article by Issa. Photo by Madelene Uyehara. Copyright 2010.
Website: www.YouWantToBeRich.com
Email: issa@youwanttoberich.com

Let me tell you, I hardly ever looked at the business page before. It screamed boring! to me. After all, who cares about companies and mergers and acquisitions when there’s news that Actress A is pregnant and the dad is Actor B who is married and their story is played till kingdom come and I had 30 minutes to spare? Even the cartoon page would get first dibs. I do not know what happened between that point and now.

Please click on the title to read more.

It could be quite frustrating to be told that you cannot buy something that you really, really want to have. But that is the function of a financial planner – he will tell you if you can, when you can, how you can. He is my personal financial brakes, someone to tell me that I am going overboard, or that I am just being silly.

Please click on the title to read more on Walking Down the Aisle with Our Financial Planner.

Be warned, though. The stock market is not for the faint of heart. It is a very volatile market. Millions are made and lost in a heartbeat in this game. But you can (kind of) play with stocks via the route of mutual funds, a pool of stocks managed by a fund manager, and a good option for first time investors. But this is long term (read: at least 7 years) so the risk is eased out of the equation. Okay, okay. It is not very exciting.

Please click on the title to read more.

I remember Mr. S now, and Warren Buffett, both of whom are probably besotted by the plagues of the stock market because of the crash of the world economies in October 2008. But I remind myself it is a bear market once again, the kind that Mr. Buffett, and Mr. S, his follower, wait for and thrive in. I wonder how they are.

Please click on the title to read more.