Sunday, August 11, 2013

Forecasts coming True

When i was around 10-12 years old...i was asked to get Toothpaste from a nearby shop.
I was given a Rs 100 note and the toothpaste cost was Rs 20 (approx).

The shopkeeper asked me to give change..
I refused to have any....
He asked to buy something else .
I told him to give 5 toothpastes.

My mother saw the 5 toothpaste tubes and asked me to justify the stupidity.
I told her the change thing...but she didn't buy the argument.
Argument that followed was...that this is something which will get consumed.
If we have spent something extra this month....we would be saving it in the coming months.

This argument was sound enough but this called for my father to arbitrate.
I repeated the argument...

Papa also took mother's side.
His reason was...that you cannot disturb the budget of the house.
We have a set budget for the house...you can not skew your spending in just one department.

I got irritated with this.
In a fit of rebellion...i left the place murmuring something.

Papa caught me from the ear and asked to repeat whatever i was murmuring.
Out came the murmur ...clearer this time....
"Jab main bada ho jaunga..itni income hogi ki budgeting ki jarurat hi nahi hogi."

and this was followed with a challenge from Papa.

"Koi na beta...bade ho jao ....phir puchungaa.  
Jab khud karna padega na...tab samajh aaega."

After i started my job..
I tried to keep up to the challenge...
I would never keep any record of  what was spent where.
This was more out of stubbornness than me getting some value from it.

If Steve Jobs' hadn't intervened ..i would have gone on with the splurge
Yup it was an article on Apple which told about Apple's budget for the financial year.
The budget was really disciplined and focused.

 It took me by surprise that a company worth 500 billion was so financially prudent. 

...and hence after 15 years....Vashistg finally accepted that 5 tubes of Toothpaste could indeed throw a budget off.

Budgeting has nothing to do with what you are earning...you need to plan whatever you have.

So this was the day when papa's forecast #1 came true.


 Forecast #2 : Next Post.
Please share if any such forecasts are coming true for you as well. :)