Smart With Your Money

This weekend, I was at one of my son's baseball games when I overheard a conversation between two of the parents.  They were talking about Lake Vermillion, one of the true gems in the state of Minnesota, and a lake which has become increasingly high end over the years.  I have movies from the 1930's of my grandparents and a Native American guide fishing a very rustic Vermillion, but today, the lake is covered with multi million dollar mansions owned by some of the state's, and nation's, richest people.

The two parents were comparing stories of trips they'd had to Vermillion, and one parent relayed the story of how he got to stay at a major corporate vendor's place, a massive sprawling complex on a private bay, a cabin so large it was compared to a full resort complex.  This individual was responsible for some bit of computer code which most computers use a version of.  To quote the one parent, "he was really smart with his money!"

He then describes this massive cabin complex.  It sounded lovely, but he bragged too much.  He was talking about how the guy had imported all of the logs for the cabin from the Pacific Northwest, at a tremendous cost.

I've no problem with successful, wealthy people, and the computer age has created some so rich, they've no chance at ever spending it all.  More power to them.  I hope they can eventually get to a point where they go and enjoy the money they've earned, as opposed to being that wealthy guy, still putting on a suit and tie for a regular day at the office.  But when he described shipping logs to northern Minnesota, it made me immediately question how smart this guy really was.

The logs were a form of him bragging, but a really stupid one.  Not only is northern Minnesota flush with lumber he could have easily used for his cabin, at a tremendously lower cost, clearly the main reason he did this was to pat himself on his back about the logs he used, turning his cabin into a monument to foolish spending for foolish spending sake.

Imagine, instead of shipping logs across the country, he would've built with local lumber, applying the savings to feed a few thousand people for a month.  He could've taken dozens of homeless families off the streets.  He could've helped get needed medicine to developing countries, or helped inner city communities develop new employment opportunities.  He probably could've given 12 people full ride scholarships to college with the money he spent, or bankrolled one of the many non-profits which make his community better.  Nope, he spent it on logs.

For the record, you can do whatever the heck you want to with your money.  That's your call, and your right.  But maybe it's time for us to start evaluating what exactly is the definition of smart spending.

We as a society worship money WAY too much.  There's nothing wrong with having money, but to applaud such a reckless waste of it, only so one can bask in the shadow of a worthless brag, is godless, hollow and empty.  We should applaud selfless acts with far more vigor as selfish ones, or at least stop fan boy-ing over such epic waste.  We'll be a better people, and a better country, when we do.