Money, Money, Money: Where does the dough all go

When you work a full time job, the words ‘paycheck and payroll’ are music to your ears. This means you will have money in the bank and the bills get paid. Soon it’s not just bills; it’s a house mortgage, a child, car expenses, media expenses, social life expenses, insurance expenses, credit card expenses, which turns into a long trailing list of dues. The paycheck rolls in and it isn’t the golden ticket of joy you had when you got your first paycheck at your first job. For some it’s the thread holding everything together, or a chance for maybe a new pair of shoes (since your current ones are past the stage of acceptable). The check rolls in in waves, depending on when a company sends out ones paycheck. I receive mine every other week. I used to babysit when I was 12 and receiving green currency from a family was rewarding, but not as valuable. I would take the money earned and suddenly I was Paris Hilton or Donald Trump spending that money quicker than pitcher throws a fastball; it would be everything from Candy, to outfits I never wore, trinkets I didn’t need, junk food I know wasn’t good for me, etc. Living at home, the world is definitely your oyster, (rich or poor); kids are taken care of regardless. Essentially as a kid, I didn’t learn the value of a dollar until I was a senior in high school and it was the summer of my job at the movie theatres before college. I learned that I had to pay people gas money to get rides to work, I had to save money for school. I started at college and things were different. My parents and family helped out with the living expenses, but if I wanted to have fun, that money came from me. I worked during school and watched the money fade as I would use it up quickly again, and was shocked it was already gone before weeks end. After getting a full time job and moving to Fair Oaks in February, I was able to eventually move into my own place. Once there, I became another individual who has to pay the piper when the time is up. To get an idea of what is paid here is my list for myself: (Car insurance, gas (monthly), gym membership, groceries, Marcy’s credit card, social life, internet, rent, utilities, gas and electric, 401k deductions, and home insurance. I may not be speaking for the lot here about what goes in and what comes out, but people manage money differently. We pay the dues simply because they must be paid. You don’t see a man going well I won’t pay that this time or ever again, unless he’s Prince Henry and his mother does it for him! If the bills don’t get paid as Robin Hood Men Tights says: A tolls a toll, if we don’t get no tolls, we don’t get no rolls!”(i.e. if nothing is paid, consider living underneath candlelight, dumpster diving and living in van down by the river; money makes this silly world go round. As children, we believe it will grow on trees and instantly keep coming back. People if it did, I would quit my job right now and write to my heart’s content. Since pigs do not fly, and Santa only comes once a year, I think it’s safe to say, reality and money is here to stay. Sometimes I wonder after everything is all paid, where does all the money go? The circulation must be bigger than the water cycle and has been going on since before I was born. I learned the value of the dollar when I visited Washington D.C and about the proposal of currency and what it means for us as citizens. Your grandma tells you, “A penny saved, is a penny earned.” She wasn’t kidding. The more we put away, the better it becomes in the future for our standings and contributes to retirement. Not every job, has the security of bonuses or a nice exit plan for employees. Not even a Roth IRA, stocks, 401k’s and recovery plans can make a person rest easy every night. There is still that notion of where does all of this go? How do I continue to manage it? Am I ready for the next disaster or survival procedure? I imagine you are feeling like Bart Simpson after his wife chews him out; annoyed and frustrated, minus the drool mouth, yellow skin, and IQ of about 40. Truth is, we aren’t ready, and none of the organizing and settings we have in place will substantiate our survival.  We rely so much on our government for funding and our own spending, and the real deal is we have no idea where the concrete money is truly going. Is it to fund another iphone update, send these doctors to Syria, cure cancer; we have no clue, and that’s scary. All we can do is put the check in, turn in the documents, cross t’s dot I’s and pray we don’t go under; same goes for a jo: no funding means no work. Money makes the world go round and the dough is our lifeline. Can we keep the tube running(track our dollars) long enough after the heart monitor (the world) quits? I don’t know and Ghandi doesn’t know, maybe ask Gates. Cough it up buddy!