Beyond the piggy-bank

So, when Booba came back from Nigeria, everyone asked him how much he had managed to save during his 3 months there. After all, people make a lot of money when they go abroad, don't they? His reply surprised us a little. He told us that he had not made a single penny and in fact, he thought he ended up spending a lot from his own pocket.

Apparently, there is a big difference in the policy that governed his company (and mine, of course) and other Indian service-based companies. Here, we are not given any extra salary on a per day basis when we are sent abroad. In fact, no cash ever reaches our accounts as an allowance. You can only claim what you spend. Of course, you do not need to spend out of your own pockets - they give you a corporate credit card which you are expected to use for all the allowed expenditure. You save the receipts and you submit them for verification and then the company shall pay the credit card company, leaving you with little scope for any means you might devise to save some money for yourself. We cribbed a lot about it and complained about how unfair it was. We cursed our fate and slept thinking how cool it would be to go to the US, save a few thousands of dollars and come back home and spend them happily - after multiplying them with 47.

I have heard a lot of such "success" stories - about how so-and-so went to the US for 6 months, managed his/her food and other expenses with a mere 20$ a day, saved the reminder and returned home proudly. The other day, I was having dinner with one of my colleagues. We went to an expensive restaurant that served Mexican food - only because our expenses were taken care of. Our dinner there alone cost us 32.5$, each. Over the dinner he told me about how he had been to the US before, sent by his previous employer, and how he used to eat only Maggi (brought from India - cheaper) for most of his meals to maximize his savings and how all his friends did the same (if not Maggi, something else). And then, it dawned upon me. The simplicity of the realization was so amazing - it just left me smiling.

By giving us a corporate card and reimbursing our expenses, we are convinced to just have a good time! When people realize that they can't save this way, in a bid to make the most of it, they start spending well. They stay in comfortable hotels, have great food, go to nice places and on the whole, have fun! They are liberated from the burden of 'trying to save' and they do not feel guilty about 'trying to enjoy' and i think, that in itself is something every one of us deserves. I agree that many people have the need to save - responsibilities and all that. No offense intended at them for doing it. But, I think, if we have an opportunity to save, we succeed in finding a justification for it or do it anyway just because we are "supposed" to - its in our blood - we are Indian, and more importantly, human - it is natural.

All I am saying (mostly to myself and of course to all those people who might be thinking like I and Booba did) is, it is okay to have a good time for once. It is okay to spend. It is okay to not "save" - especially when you can't! I probably won't be any richer when I go back. I may have, in fact, spent a couple of thousands from my own pocket. But, if a few thousands of rupees is what it takes to go to the US and have a great time, I think I am okay with it. I think I am more than okay with it!