Everyone acts relaxed about money until you make them actually choose. That's the whole idea behind the "Money or Life?" theme in our would-you-rather app, Infinite Balance. Here are its six questions and what I picked.
1. Respected and broke, or rich and looked down on?
Everyone respects you, but you're always broke. Or everyone looks down on you, but you're seriously rich.
I'd take the money. I can tune out what people think of me. I can't tune out an empty wallet. When I said this out loud, a friend told me nobody would want to hang out with me anymore. That got me for a second, but I stuck with my answer.
2. Decent pay and free time, or a huge salary and a packed schedule?
I just picked money, and here I am picking free time. A big paycheck doesn't help much if I'm too tired after work to enjoy any of it.
3. If you had to give one up forever, spicy food or sweets?
Sweets, no question. Last week work was a total mess, so I stopped at a convenience store on the way home. What did I grab? The spiciest cup noodles they had. The ice cream freezer was right there and I didn't even look at it. So yeah, a weekend without spicy food just isn't happening for me.
4. Same outfit forever, or same food forever?
Same outfit, easy. Honestly, I already wear the same gray hoodie about four days a week. Eating the same meal for the rest of my life? I'd crack within a week.
But a lot of people pick the food. Is there some meal out there you just never get sick of? If you've got one, I really want to know what it is.
5. Delicious food and broke for life, or terrible food and rich for life?
At first I was going to go with rich, same as question 1. I figured money could make up for it somewhere else. Then I pictured three bad meals a day for the rest of my life, and I changed my mind fast. That just sounds like a punishment.
So it's good food. After questions 3 and 4, I think it's pretty clear I take eating very seriously.
6. $1,000 a day but 10 years off your life, or your full life at your current income?
$1,000 a day is $365,000 a year. Once I did that math, I was tempted.
I still pick the full lifespan. Ten years is a lot of places I haven't been yet. A friend went the other way. She said with that kind of money she could live the years she had left twice as hard, and honestly, that made me waver all over again. Which one would you take?
So how many times did you pick money, and how many times life? I only picked money once, back in question 1. Infinite Balance gets a new theme like this every week. If you want to play it with friends, grab it here.