3p or not 3p... That is the question!!! (Money)

Member Name: dlb74

Product:	Money
Date:	08/10/06 (120 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Money's niiiiiice!!!

Disadvantages: I don't have any!!!

Oh my… Where on earth do I start with this infernal topic?!?

There are things that are said about money every single day – some of which we hear often…

“Money, money, money… must be funny in a rich man’s world” so stated Abba in their song… Okay – so that’s not the best example of a money-related saying etc… So how about some of the following that you may no doubt have heard at some point or another…

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“Money is the root of all evil”

I suppose this means that some people who are in desperate need of money will turn to any means to get some – even if it means doing something that is illegal, immoral or possibly both!!!

Personally I don’t know if I agree with money being the root of all evil though… I think it’s the people that either have more money than they would ever need – and still want more – or people who have practically nothing to their name that are desperate beyond belief that are the basis of this saying. Are they actually evil though? Possibly not. I personally believe that although money and the greed it can produce in human beings is undoubtedly a very established truth on which to base a saying like this one, but lest we forget that the evils that are produced by the likes of religion these days too – money is certainly not the only usual suspect on the list now…

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“Money can’t buy you happiness”

There is certainly a lot of truth to this one, I dare say. I’m sure you could be rich beyond your wildest dreams and still be vastly unhappy.

I know that I find myself rich in ways other than financially – with the relationship I have with my girlfriend for example. Like every other couple in the world, we have our good days and our bad days. Sometimes we fall out or get mad with each other (although the making up is always worth it in the end!) but when all is said and done, I know that I love her and she loves me… and that is something you cannot put a price on. Therefore – we may not be financially rich, but when it comes to the knowledge that we are there for each other and are loved, then in that sense at least, we win the lotto every single day.

Would anyone care for a sick bag?

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“Money doesn’t grow on trees”

No sh*t, Sherlock!!! If it bloody did, I would be as mega into gardening as my better half!!!

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As you might have gathered by this stage, I’m not a very rich person. So much so that when I put a review up here on dooyoo, I actually appreciate every 3p I get for each read and if any of you lovely folks ever nominate my ops, then believe me that the £1.50 for the crown is almost more appreciated than the recognition of receiving the crown itself…

Money… You’ve either got it or you haven’t, I suppose. I’ve been a believer in the old “What’s for you will not go by you” approach to life and I suppose that includes whether or not you are to be blessed with money or not.

Of course, there are always things we can all do to try to make good things happen. Surely we all have our own personal goals – some achievable and some possibly not so. The question is – what you do to try to reach them. Most of the time, our own personal goals will include us doing something we absolutely love for a living – and having the good fortune to get paid for doing it.

I myself have lots of aspirations. The problem I sometimes have is focusing on them and allowing myself to get down-hearted when I suffer from a set-back to my well laid plans…

For example, I currently work in a call centre and although the job itself is bearable in general and I work for and with some really nice people, it certainly isn’t something I’d like to do for the rest of my life.

I’ve always hoped to be able to do something that would let me use my creative and artistic streak. I’ve had aspirations to do something connected to with graphic or web design – but have never done a hell of a lot about it. I have an old web s(h)ite (which I won’t give the address for here as it’s not been updated in absolutely years and doesn’t show some of my more recent graphic design) and have been meaning to put together a brand new one to showcase some of my more recent work.

I would certainly lean more toward the graphic design area than web design these days as I still really enjoy creating posters, DVD covers and the likes but it’s such a hard industry to get into. However… am I going to let myself get all down about this? LIKE HELL, I AM!!! There is another area where I see my dream job and hopefully some nice money to help make ends meet and still leave me with more than enough change left over to allow me to be comfortable. I have no desire to be rich. Just comfortable.

I would love to become a professional cartoonist. I have been drawing my whole life – since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. In recent years, I have been drawing lots of cartoons – ranging from ones that would be aimed at the Christmas card market – to others that may be suitable for more general greetings cards. For quite some time, I have been showing these cartoons, to friends, family, work colleagues and my very supportive girlfriend who find a majority of these cartoons very funny and can see my potential. They always asked when I would do something about it – rather than showing them to merely people I know.

Well… about three weeks ago, I sent some examples of my cartoons to a London-based card company in the hope that my work would suit their style and range. Sadly, I received my work back a few days ago – along with a letter stating that that although they found my work “interesting” they didn’t feel that it suited their range at this time.

Needless to say, I was pretty gutted about this – although books that I have on the subject (that are invaluable guides bought by my girlfriend – and that I may well review in future ops… the books, that is… NOT my girlfriend!!!) state that rarely will you get work accepted by the first company you send work off to – so I suppose this is to be expected. I’ve been feeling very down-beat about this over the space of the last few days and have entertained all manners of stupid notions about my cartoons – including on whether or not I can actually draw them in the first place! This is clearly all a part of the learning curve when it comes to pursuing something that you truly want in life. If you want something badly enough, you will do anything in order to accomplish it.

To further prove this point, one of the books my good lady bought me details a lot of card companies within the UK and where applicable, their web site addresses too. I discovered to my joy a few nights ago, another card company who appear to publish stuff more in the style that I draw – so I reckon they’ll be the next on my list…

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I wonder how many people will read what I’ve written above and wonder just what the hell it has to do with money…

The answer to that is simple:

Everything.

The reason we all grudgingly crawl out of our warm beds in the morning is for the most of us at least, very rarely for the love of the jobs that we do – but instead is for the money that we earn from them.

I can’t give invaluable financial advice to anyone as I must confess my ability to control my finances leaves a hell of a lot to be appreciated. I know a lot of people who know me probably still think me completely incapable of taking charge of my finances – and though they may be right in some ways, I am getting older, slightly wiser and am doing everything I can to learn from my past mistakes. Rome wasn’t built in a day and I think that although I am desperately trying to be more responsible with my money, it certainly isn’t going to happen overnight… but it WILL happen sooner rather than later.

If you want some incredibly useful financial advice, I would recommend you check out Martin Lewis’ website:

www.moneysavingexpert.com

Which I could certainly look into much more often than I do. Who knows? Perhaps there will be a shed-load of updates on this op in the near future detailing a change in my fortunes! Watch this space!

In the mean-time, thanks for reading this fairly personal op. As you will no doubt have realised by now, the 3p’s shall be very much appreciated!!!

Derek.

Summary: Love it or hate it, have it or not... money DOES make the world go round.