Show Me the Money

So in 2007 I felt like I was super rich. I travelled a little bit, I dropped a few hundred on tattoos, I bought new jeans, I purchased an iPhone, I had a ridiculous shopping spree in Pacific Beach one afternoon, I paid my bills on time, and I ate whatever I wanted regardless of price. Well, today I did my taxes and guess how much I made the whole year? Just around thirty thousand. That's like at once embarassing and amazing. How did such a small amount feel like so much?

To keep things in perspective, this is probably the most I've ever made in one year but still, it's not very much at all. You could be a freshly minted college graduate and make more than that at your first job pretty easily. Heck, that amounts to only fifteen dollars an hour. I remember coming out of school thinking that the bare minimum salary I would accept was thirty thousand. Anything below that would be an absolute insult.

Now, nearly eight years out of school and having finally achieved my first financial landmark, I feel absolutely satisfied. Wait, is the world supposed to work this way? Shouldn't my dollars have met my cents by now and exponentially multiplied? Nearly everyone else I know is creeping steadily toward six figures. My cousins, who are way behind me in age, made easily twice what I did in my banner year. If I'm not careful, the next generation of cousins, who are still in college, might outpace me too.

I guess not really paying rent has really helped. I was mostly rent free for half the year. And technically speaking, I pretty much only worked seven months out of the twelve. And since I don't have any real bills to speak of, everything I make is immediately slush money. In a way, if I can maintain a steady thirty grand or so (and then luck into a surprise showing on Deal or No Deal in the next five years) I'll be crazy rich. Bitch.

In related news, my tax return is huge.