Tuesday November 22nd, 2005
In the office complex where MoneySaving towers is based, there’s a bar/restaurant for all to use. I often take my laptop there and write during the day. Many of the companies’ employees are young so mid-month evenings the bar is deserted. Yet when it comes to the last Friday of the month the place is a kicking, heaving mass of generous, partying souls.
Why? Pay day of course. Their salary goes in, there’s a rush of short-lived affluence and it’s party time down in the bar. I’ve really never understood this mentality. For me, perhaps because I’m a stats and theories man, the party day should be the second last Friday of the month. At that point you’ve budgeted well for the whole time and you know what you have left to spend, so with a real carefree attitude you can afford to party.
The short-termism of the “last Friday of the month” spending pattern is ridiculous. If you’ve limited cash, why rush out to spend it, and live the rest of the month with nothing? I’ve chatted to some people who do this, and they say things like “spend it before it goes”. It’s as if for them money disappears like some ephemeral creature slowly tip-toeing away rather than an active decision to pay for things even if, heaven forbid, they’re necessities. Maybe I’m getting old!
