Money is just pieces of paper with numbers on them

"Money cannot buy happiness." "Money is the root of all evil." For everything there is to say about money, there's always a witty rebuttal (Ben Affleck's character in Boiler Room: "Whoever says money is the root of all evil doesn't have any!").

Talking about money is quite tricky, since everybody has their own special, personal relationship with money. One cannot really impose their views upon others (sort of like religion, really, although some people will disagree). Yet money is often a tool others use to judge their fellow human beings.

The person who has more power is most likely the person who has more money, creating tension and jealousy. One friend also believes that money is equal to dignity. "If you have it, you don't have to owe anybody anything, in any sense." my friend says. It can also provide a boost of self-confidence (take that, snooty sales assistants!) and a dignified environment to live in, work and play.

Researchers in the UK have come up with a name for the under- 35s: the IPOD generation - Insecure, Pressurized, Over-taxed and Debt-ridden.

While they may enjoy cheap travel and have all the latest gadgets, such as DVDs, iPods and flatscreen TVs, the IPOD generation is financially worse off than their parents were at the same age. They face more debts, greater difficulty in buying a first home, fewer returns on higher education and fierce competition in finding work. Sound familiar?

A school friend who currently resides in the United States was aghast the last time she came back to Jakarta for a visit. Most of her friends from university are now clad in head-to-toe designer items. "How do they afford those things?" she asked me after she managed to pick her jaw up off the floor. After all, their salaries merely average Rp 5 million a month, the minimum price for a proper designer handbag. Aaah, the joys of credit cards. If, 15 years ago, I personally thought that Americans loved to get loans, these days Indonesians are catching up real fast, along with the mass visual assault of international trends and fashion. Thus my friend Fiona thinks that there are three kinds of people: the haves, the have-nots and the have-not-paid- for-what-they-haves.

Some people just cannot save money, some people simply cannot be bothered to save. One said, "Why work so hard for it if you don't get to enjoy it? I might be dead tomorrow and we all know that you can't take money to the grave!" Fair enough. But me, I have the middle class mentality. Like a squirrel, I just save, save, save. People often ask me whether I get to enjoy life because of it. Of course I do. It just happens that I spend my money on things others here find less than valuable (books, original DVDs, travel). After all, one woman's bag du jour is another woman's functional receptacle to stash her organizer and keys. And to be honest, I do not just save money to feel secure, I actually enjoy it. Other people collect art, I collect money. Money does not have to be in the form of the latest Dior suit to be appreciated.

My point is, when it comes to money, whatever floats your boat, lah. You can blow your whole month's salary on the latest mobile phone, you can save it or invest it, just as long as you get into trouble for it. Money, after all, is just a bunch of pieces of paper with numbers on them.

Krabbe K. Piting