We have no Idea!

Last month we cancelled one of our insurances. A big one. One we had for about a decade and that we had paid a lot of money into. About a week after cancelling the insurance, I received a phone call from the insurance agent. “Veronica, are you in financial trouble?”, he asked me. “Is that why you are cancelling the insurance?”

From his perspective, there was probably not many other alternatives to why someone would do something like that. For the purpose of the post, I can tell you that, no, that it really wasn’t the reason, which I also explained to him, even though it wasn’t any of his business ;-).

So why did we do it? Because we didn’t believe in it anymore (and maybe never really did). We felt that it is a waste to spend that kind of money on something that, we don’t believe will is worthwhile and therefore that sum, should go towards something else.

The incident got me thinking about how many assumptions we make based on how people spend their money. Did the neighbor just buy a new, big car? He must be earning well! Did your friends just go away for holiday again? I didn’t know they earned that much! Maybe they do really earn a lot, maybe they saved for a long time or maybe they are now quite in debt because of that expense. The thing is, we have no idea!

I believe that looking to others is most possibly a waste of time and that it is much better to look to ourselves instead. Are we spending our money in a way that serves our purposes, goals and priorities? Are we doing it in the best way possible? The insurance, among other things, did not, and that was why we cancelled it.