How we prioritise

I am not sure whether I have written about this before or not but I always find it interesting how people prioritise their money and their time.

Years ago, when my best friend and I were living next door to each other, I was able to observe the differences between us. I have always loved the beach and I found no problem making the 20-or-40-minute drive whenever I felt like it. Weekly, even twice weekly sometimes.

My friend, on the other hand, would not allow herself that luxury, due to the amount of petrol such a drive would use up. However, she had no problem buying takeaways for the family at least once a week, sometimes several. To my mind, takeaways were luxuries and something we only indulged in rarely. And even when we did have them, often it would only be chips, due to the high cost of the fish if everyone was having a piece. And that was often on our way back from the beach we had visited on a Friday afternoon after school.

I am sure neither of us were right or wrong, it is just how we prioritised our money and our time. I loved to relax in the sun and body board in the sea and I made sure that was part of my lifestyle. My friend wasn’t that fussed on the water, so that did not hold the appeal that it did for me.

Nowadays Stephen and I do a big grocery shop monthly. Sometimes we might not even go into town between times. It is easy to top up the vegetables from the local markets or the garden or buy the odd thing from the shop if we run out. On Friday, we took our neighbour to her orthopaedic appointment. We asked her if there was anything else she required, food, pills from the chemist? She assured us there was nothing. I popped in yesterday, only to find she was running low on her medication. I hadn’t bothered to tell her we were doing our own grocery shopping on Monday as we had just been up on the Friday. It soon became obvious, that when well, she travels to town weekly, so in her eyes, she was well-equipped to last until the following week. Stephen and I always buy what we need at the time and the things we are likely to need over the following month. If we forget, then we do without, until we next go to town. This is a habit I have kept with me from the days when I lived 70 minutes from town down a long gravel road.

We have often talked about doing our grocery shopping more regularly, even fortnightly, but don’t seem to have got ourselves into that position as yet. I know the less we go to town, the less we spend. Every time we grocery shop, there is always heaps that goes in the trolley that is not what is needed, rather what is enjoyed.

During the years when I was sick with the pericarditis, journeys, such as the town one, were difficult, so that was another reason we got in the habit of going there infrequently. It is always time-consuming as well. If we have a trip to town, so much other stuff does not get done, as usually I am exhausted when I get home.

These are just examples of how we live, but there will be many more. I know when I was massaging, I saw how some people prioritised that as a weekly necessity, whereas for me, I would probably go once every couple of months. I would like to have more, but I find the cost to have one these days decides my regularity. Still others prioritise beauty treatments or hair dresser appointments. I have always dyed my own hair, saving myself thousands over the years. And then there are the coffees. Many people make it a daily habit to buy one of these. I guess it helps me that I don’t like coffee. And so it is with alcohol too, or cigarettes. I have my vices, especially anything sweet and I am sure the amount I spend on biscuits, for example, would not be the way another would wish to use their money.

We are all different. And I guess that’s what makes the world a better place.