Must you overindulge when you are young ?

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When I see or hear of people younger than me (31) in their late teens and twenties getting a big fancy car or a nice holiday with friends in e.g. Las Vegas and have lots of money and stuff like a pimp, it seems make me feel slightly envious and regretful that I didn't really do what they did from an earlier age even though my mindset was different than in it is today, I mean in my late teens as I had little interest and I still didn't drive a car even though at 21 my dad got me to try manuel driving which didn't go very until I started automatic lessons at 24 and didn't pass until I started driving on my own until 28. It annoys me a little that are still some young people having the high life a bit like maybe it was in the 1980s, even though the past decade was nothing like the 80s. It seems to make me feel like a decade has been wasted when you haven't gone out for a binge, partying and seeing every country in the world as though it fills in the gaps you MUST DO in your life and I seem to feel like I as though I want to relive as a way of catching up as though I am a bit of a late bloomer.

When I think about my regrets I mostly regret not spending more time with other kids my age while we were in school, and not having all the fun I could have had, or even getting into trouble a little. There are certain kinds of mischief you don't get away with as an adult, so you must take advantage of it while you're a kid.

No, I don't think about material things in regards to regrets, even though I was much poorer than my peers.

Admittedly I was still in high school when I started driving. My first car was a bucket of rust and required a lot of work before it was truly road worthy. I would beat the rocker panels with a mallet and watch rust raining down from the underside of the car. When the flakes of rust stopped coming down, only then I'd get under the car to work on it. The flakes of rust would get into my eyes, mouth, nose, ears. It was in my hair (back when I still had hair). It was fun though. My old man is a car guy himself so I always had him to ask how to do things properly, until YouTube came around. Now you can learn anything yourself.

[Though I have to say I lived (and still live, I bought a home nearby) in an area where there is no public transportation and most residential streets don't have sidewalks to walk on, a car is a must if you want to get anywhere.]

Last edited by r00tb33r on 29 Mar 2021, 6:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Prior to 31 I was a young single mother. I owned a house, a car, and some financial investments. I didn't go partying and my holidays were mostly to visit family around the world, including weddings and funerals. I can't say I overindulged in anything. I was very cautious with my money and with my social energy. I had one or two friends at a time, but they were through work. I didn't go clubbing or pubbing like the other women my age. I was very responsible.

If anything those overindulging young people are likely regretting their actions, and wondering how they can catch up with those of us who made careful choices and didn't waste money.

I'm willing to bet it depends at least partially on who's in their inner circle.

If their friends all were careful and had investments pay off you're probably right.

But some people play the game right and still suffer financial catastrophes due to circumstances beyond their control. If you're surrounded by people who aren't any further ahead and had less interesting experiences along the way it might be easy to be grateful you used the money while you had it even if you burned through it. You might have nothing to show but memories but your buddies don't even got those.

Food....no, experiences....yes.