How did you spend your bank holiday weekend? Drink in hand Friday, scared to look at your bank balance by Monday?
You’re not alone, and as things have began to open up we’re all seeing just how expensive a social life is.
We’ve all spent almost a year indoors (punctured by the odd picnic or Eat Out to Help Out meal) and are coming to the harsh realisation that our lowered costs during lockdown aren’t a permanent thing.
Some people managed to keep their jobs during the pandemic and squirrelled away the excess they’d usually spend on commuting, socialising, and general activities that couldn’t be done in lockdown.
Others – and there’s no judgment here – saw financial hardship through job loss or reduced income from furlough, or decided ‘hey, it looks like the world is ending, why not treat myself?’.
That’s left a gap between the grasshoppers and ants, with the former (like in Aesop’s fable) focused on the here and now and the latter ready to enjoy their saved spoils.
Grasshoppers will see their ant friends heading off to a festival here and getting their nails done there, while they wonder where they went wrong and try to play catch-up to have fun.
Unlike in the fable, though, this doesn’t mean grasshoppers have to live in shame and be shunned by your peers. It represents a chance to get serious about money.
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