Colorado: My First Paycheck

After working at the ski resort for two weeks, I received my first paycheck that came out to be a whopping $94 after taxes. No that's not a typo. It really was ninety four dollars. I think framing the check is more meaningful than its monetary value. Luckily I was hired for a short-term consulting gig in San Francisco last week that will fund the rest of my winter allowing me to live on my measly bi-weekly paychecks. Well, Justin's unemployment money helps a lot, too, as in paying for everything else. Power couple we are not; but blissfully poor? Most definitely!

After months of not working (ski school host doesn't really count), I do find myself missing the corporate world, or elements of it such as cute work clothes (it was great not wearing ski pants to work for a change), coworkers to socialize with, and of course expensed flights, hotels, and meals. When I arrived in the Palo Alto office last Thursday and was taken to the break room, my jaw dropped at the sight of baskets overflowing with fresh fruits - not just bananas and oranges but nectarines, berries, kiwis, peaches, and mangoes. There was also an abundant supply of cup-a-noodles, cereals, yogurts, hot cocoa, and a variety of teas and coffees along with their own cappucino machine.

But even cappucino machines weren't enough to make me go back to the corporate world permanently just yet. After hanging out with my new coworkers and old friends in the Bay Area for a week, I don't regret my choice as a ski bunny and was ready to go home. While their lives are fulfilling and rich with material goods (my colleagues' exhausting discussion about their portfolios was vomit-inducing), I realized that the more money you make, the more money you spend, and therefore the more money you have to continue to make to sustain such a lifestyle. Sure, I'm not the one driving a Lexus and go home to a million-dollar penthouse - I haven't even bought a handbag in a year - but we lead such simple lives here that we honestly don't need much to be happy. When I exchange stories about my life, they tell me how much they wish they could quit their jobs and be free like me. One even told me her husband doesn't allow her to have kids yet because of her earning power. All I know is that everyone has a choice. If you know what is important to you, you only have this life to make it happen. And it's never too late. Even when the price you pay is a $94 paycheck...