“What good is a barrel if you don’t make memories?”
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Marieke has a buffer of just under 1000 euros, but her salary goes up completely every month. Money has to roll, she thinks. Moreover, she does not really have to be frugal, because a generous inheritance awaits her.
Marieke (38), single mother of Isa (6):
“I have never been a saver. As a child, money burned in my pockets. If my grandparents gave me money, I just didn’t run out of the house with it on my way to the toy store. In that I was completely different from my sister. I remember one time she triumphantly told me that she had a hundred guilders in her piggy bank. I thought that sounded magical. Magical and incredible. It really wasn’t for me like that.
Big spender
I have the character of my mother, my sister resembles my father. My mother was one too big spender. That was also possible, because my parents were quite well off financially. Every weekend my mother came home with bags from the most expensive shops. My father sometimes grumbled about that, he allowed it all a little less. She didn’t care about it. Wasn’t it nice that she always looked ready to go through a ring?
“You only live once and it could be over before you know it”
She passed away in 2002. She was a perfectly healthy woman, but then she contracted pancreatic cancer and died in six weeks. That sparked the yolo feeling even more for me. You only live once and it could be over before you know it, that was the lesson I learned from her passing. Don’t delay. What good is a ton in the bank if you don’t make memories? Let that money roll.
Savings
Eight years ago I got into a relationship with Samuel, Isa’s father. He lives the same way as I do. We are both very impulsive and don’t make a fuss about spending money. We have saved something together, but that should not have a name. We have never had more than 5000 euros in our account.
When we separated, we split the savings account and I was left with 1000 euros. With the rest of the money I bought furniture. I have agreed with myself to stay away from those 1000 euros. That’s for an emergency, such as a repair to my car or a broken washing machine.
spending space
Fortunately, Samuel and I are still very good friends. We never have a fuss about money, if Isa needs something we pay for it together. Isa is with me four days a week, three days with him. I rent through my father for a bargain price an apartment that he once bought as an investment. I pay him 600 euros rent per month; who can say that nowadays?
Including allowances, child benefit, a little alimony and my salary, I have about 3200 euros to spend every month. An amount that I could easily set aside, but I don’t. I want to enjoy myself, have a nice lunch with Isa, go on a weekend away together, go out with friends, buy nice shoes or just stretch out on the beautician’s chair. Why not, I work hard for it, don’t I? The fact that I am so easy with money also has another reason. I know I’ll be pretty rosy in a few years.
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Heritage
My father is now 79 and his health is deteriorating rapidly. He had a heart attack two years ago and has never fully recovered from it. My sister and I both don’t think he will live very long. We don’t have a very warm relationship with him. He’s a real businessman, still. I think he’s a bit harsh, he won’t show his emotion that quickly.
I’ll be really sad when he dies – it’s your father after all – but it will be different than it was with my mother. In her I lost a friend, someone I really loved dearly. Sometimes I don’t see or speak to my father for weeks. And honest; then I don’t miss him either.
“I sometimes fantasize about what I will do with all that money”
My sister and I have quite an inheritance ahead of us. I don’t know exactly how much money, but tons. The house he lives in is completely mortgage-free. Then there’s the apartment I’m in now and I know he has a big savings account – he’s let that shine through regularly when he once again let me know that I was wrong in his eyes. I sometimes fantasize about what I’m going to do with that money. In any case, I’m going to make a very nice trip to America with it, together with Isa.
Investment
Yes, that future money is also burning in my pockets. Recently I was walking through the city with a friend and we saw an amazing coat from Isabel Marant; 600 euros, I read on the price tag. I had almost finished my salary at that time and really couldn’t afford it. ‘Just a little while and then you just pull out your debit card for this,’ said a little voice in my head. I think that’s a wonderful prospect.
