The certainty of stinginess

David likened himself to the new Rami Levy. He defined himself as a scribe, while others defined him as a miser, and just as the word falzen translated by the subject to "connoisseurs," David accused people of ignorance of the meaning of economy.

To save, he thought, was a divine virtue. There was no doubt in his heart that few and a few people could work so systematically and economize on their way of life so that they would spend exactly as expected, and sometimes even less. In his imagination he likened himself to a senior finance man who ran a financial control of the business, and wondered whether in another situation he would have held such a function in an extraordinary way and was compensated accordingly.

Frugality, he knew, stemmed from tireless diligence. You should monitor your expenses daily, plan unexpected expenses, and neutralize your expenses. Every day he would sit in front of the Excel spreadsheet and examine his expenses against his income, and since his income was fixed he would have to weigh more carefully what was coming out of his wallet.

At the same time, David developed a somewhat ascetic thought. He could not understand the economic logic of a single Kenya, for a product that could be prepared at home, or for a service that did not pay off. At first he gave up the car. The holding of the vehicle involves annual insurance, unexpected repairs and fixed fuel expenses. A new vehicle was a dream for him, because he did not understand why to absorb the entire decline in value at the end of the first year. Making such decisions was economically unfeasible to him. In his heart, he sometimes toyed with buying a car, buying it only from his own money to avoid interest, and he calculated that it was time to make the purchase five to six years later. But now, instead of the vehicle he did not have, David complied with the amount of travel he received legally from his place of work against a multi-monthly line.

Under the same weight, David also canceled departures and entertainment, let alone restaurants. He did not understand why a beer that costs NIS 7 in a supermarket costs as much as a place of entertainment, not to mention the tip and the fact that the owners are no less British than the Pints ​​who have become so popular in our country. After all, if the feeling of alcohol is the same feeling, why do you have to pay five times the beer, or alternatively choose a more expensive beer?

As for eating in restaurants, David divided his attitude into two parts - eating within and outside the work. Regarding the framework, he calculated that people who eat frequently in restaurants spend more than NIS 1,000. In this case, too, it was impossible for him to understand why a man buys 200 grams of beef, a bun and French fries - called hamburgers and fries - for NIS 50, while a parallel meal can be prepared at a fifth of the price. As for out-of-the-box restaurants, David could not understand why the hell people spend about NIS 150 on steak washed in the throat, while the steak can be made cheaply at home, and replaced with a healthier alternative as a chicken breast. The motif of pleasure that goes to eat in restaurants, and the fact that it is an entertainment, but even in light of this consideration, he has not succeeded in increasing the food-at-home ratio: food for more than a third.

David's wholesale thought actually guided his mode of operation. He would do his buying with unique writers, with the guiding principle being to find coupons and spin in several places to put together the cheapest basket. Since the rabbi had a free monthly line, David needed only to invest his time, and since his salary, like his way of life, was permanent, he was not prevented from doing the same activities that saved his expenses.

So slowly the money was collected one by one. The savings remained constant, and when he saw his ability to preserve this life almost as easily as a long distance runner felt that the distance was running properly and had to move on to the next challenge, David raised his economy to the next stage.

Trigger came in perfect timing, when the owner of his apartment decided to unexpectedly raise the rent by about 5%. For David there was nothing he hated more than an unexpected expense. Although he was 35, David was apparently educated under the patronage of the great philosopher Descartes, since at a relatively late age he doubted even his need to pay rent for an apartment. Since the purchase of an apartment really was not an option, since only the mortgage doubles the value of the fund, David chose to return to his parents' home. He quickly canceled the contract and assumed that at some point a considerable amount would accumulate in his hands, the result of his wisdom over others, and his ability to put his ego aside for his overall good.

And if that were not enough, David knew that living with a spouse could balance the burden on both partners. Yet, from his previous experiences with partners, he saw that they did not always accept his decisions. Women in general, he thought, were subject to long-term caprices that led them to spend money on inappropriate targets. And while the relationship was a way station for a family, David calculated that raising children would require an unacceptable expense.

"No, no," David decided, as a man whose economy was a source of savings. The certainty that his ability to preserve his way of life pleased him from within, and his measured successes in terms of savings made him stronger in front of others. In the security room in his mother's house, reading an old book and drinking a beer by himself, David sat opposite the Excel sheet and planned a long-term plan until he was 40 years old.