D’s mom and dad were, the other day, looking at travel options for a pilgrimage tour that they’ve been intending to make. I checked for flight availability and pricing. The minimum price that I could find around the planned dates was around Rs 30,000. They canceled that option in an instant. No second thoughts. No regret.

On the other hand, if I were planning the same trip with D, I’d have no second thoughts about proceeding with the booking. I’d simply take my credit card out.

Root cause for why:

• My ERE savings each month don’t cross the 43% barrier.

• When I wonder — in retrospect — what ever happened to all that income earned since I began my career. Seriously, 8-years and I can’t account for a major chunk of my income (mostly from the earlier half).

• My net cash flow sometimes dips below zero and into negative territory.

• I sometimes doubt if we’ll ever be able to lead a frugal lifestyle.