You have to spend to earn (Part II)

Sorry, I’ve been a delinquent blogger the past couple of weeks. I was working way too much. I hope I can also say that working 16 hours a day brought in an avalanche of moolah, but I’ve just again proven the title of one of my early posts:

“You have to spend to earn”

1. The past three weeks, I have been going to the office almost everyday, which meant transportation and food expenses. Since I was in the office for extended periods of time, it also meant having breakfast, lunch, and dinner outside. I was spending almost P500 a day! Ag!
2. Because of all the stress, at one point, I had to a quick massage over lunch at a nearby spa to remove a pain in my neck. Easy way to burn P750.
3. Two weekends were spent “working” for Mabuhay Magazine–yep, I got to travel for free, but I pretty much spent my salary from those two gigs for pasalubongs and for the people I brought along with me.
4. Since I was getting too stressed out, I had to hire someone to take care of administrative/coordinating tasks in one of the publications I handle. That meant cutting to almost half what I earn from that project.

So yes, I did earn more over the past three weeks, but I also spent more. Bottomline, my net earnings are practically the same.

I see how people often forget this, quickly jumping at a job that offers higher pay, but forgetting to factor in the costs related to working. I remember my sister (who’s a work-at-home-mom) pointing out to me a study that shows double income families are not necessarily financially better off that single income families, because the former incur twice the work-related expenses (food, transpo, office clothes), and have to hire household help.

I suppose it’s just about finding a balance. However, I’ve always maintained that salary should not be your main consideration in looking for a job; if you’re happy with the work, by all means go do it. You’ll find a way to make the money be enough. But if you’re not happy with the work, no amount of salary will ever be enough.

MoneySmarts talks about a survey that shows income and financial security are only fifth on the list of what makes Filipinos happy. That should tell those of us–who devote all our time for work, sacrificing time for family and friends and rest–something.

I guess what I’m trying to say is: if we work too hard to earn more, it’s not always worth it because (1) you end up spending more anyway, and (2) it won’t even make you that happy.