My partner and I recently took a week-long trip to the opposite coast. I visited with my daughter and grandkids, and we attended a number of sporting events along with a concert. Al of this was planned and prudently budgeted for far in advance, including taking a red eye flight home because it cost so much less. I hate red eyes, but the savings were substantial and so I sucked it up.
What struck me frugal wise was the concert. It was held at a casino location a bit of a drive from where we were staying but the band was a favorite of my partner’s and the tickets were cheap.
For the record, I had not been inside a casino in a long minute, not since a work-related trade show held in Las Vegas. As a result, I found myself observing in a way that I had not done prior to this. After all, I wasn’t managing a stressful trade show as part of my job. I was on holiday, in fact. I never bothered to look deeply into gambling before this and what I saw blew me away.
Casinos are full of very sad people. Very. Sad. Many are gambling addicts and many gambling away their monthly social security or pension stipends. I saw countless older people shove their elderly grannies in wheelchairs off to the side while they played slots which, come on, the house always wins.
Keep that in mind, the house always wins.
Repeat After Me: The. House. Always. Wins.
I never had a penchant for gambling luckily enough but watching throngs of people throw away good money after bad was certainly disheartening. Most of the people I observed looked like they could ill afford to spend ten dollars, much less their entire paychecks. In addition, while standing in line for a restaurant buffet, the young couple in front of us took a full ten minutes to find credit cards they cobbled together to pay for the buffet. That was a major red flag right there. If you cannot pay for a meal outright and have to juggle credit cards in order to cover the bill, your spending is out of control, and you are not living within your means.
Even more disheartening was the smoking. Yes, yes, I know. The state of California does not allow smoking in public places so even I had to ask a bartender what the deal was. Turns out, we were not in California, technically speaking. We were on tribal lands, which meant the casino was not subject to California law hence the ability to allow customers the right to smoke on casino grounds. We beat a hasty retreat through the smoke stinking casino and made a beeline to the venue where the concert was being held. Even so, I saw countless people, literally smoking away their lives, cigarette after cigarette. Having known any number of people addicted to nicotine, I can only imagine what they were paying on a monthly basis for the privilege of blackening their lungs and increasing their risk of multiple forms of cancer.
So, smoking and gambling addictions are clearly major money traps. They are also life traps of multiple forms as well but let’s stick to the money aspect for now. My advice? Quit immediately if you are indulging in either of these money trap vices and if you haven’t started?
Don’t. Just. Don’t.
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