Money can't buy love, but it sure gets you a great bargaining position

Can man ever have enough of everything? Will there come a time that he will stop and say, "Enough! This is too much. All I have is all I need. I'm happy now"? Is there a limit to man's thirst for knowledge, for power, and for wealth?

I had a conversation with a friend some time ago about readiness when it comes to marriage. Is financial stability a good gauge to know if you are ready for married life? I said, "Nope." It doesn't matter whether you have ten thousand dollars or one thousand pesos in the bank long as you are sure of each other and that the love that should bind you together is there.

Let me put it in another perspective. Think about the time when you were just earning 20 thousand pesos back in the Philippines in 1999, is it enough for your single lifestyle? Maybe just about enough to get you through a couple of gimik nights in a month. Somehow after two years you got an offer to work outside of the country and your salary almost quadruples. You were ecstatic; it's a huge difference from what you are making do with, and so you grabbed it.

Suddenly you realised that it wasn't really that huge at all, because in a foreign land you have to pay for all the bills this time - you're not living with Mom and Dad anymore. Yet you're not in the same situation you were in before; money isn't tight now: you can afford to buy more things and go clubbing once a week, and have enough money to store in the bank. Life is easy and without realising it your lifestyle changes: you need a higher paying job. The more money coming in, the more lax you are when it comes to spending. Before, you can take the bus, but now it's either your car or the cab.

So is ten thousand dollars in the bank enough savings to carry with you into marriage? If you're going to have a lavish wedding, I don't think it's enough to cover everything. Think, however, that the wedding isn't the whole of marriage but just the rite. People will say that love can't feed you or "Nakakain ba yang love na yan?" As long as the two of you are not going to live off as bums, things will work out right. Take it from me; I didn't have ten thousand dollars in the bank when I got married.

A man who follows his own wishes changes his attitude with time. Very soon he is not satisfied any more with the things he does. - Leo Tolstoy