It's Only Money

One of my favorite “way back then” tales I tell about starting my adult life in San Francisco has to do with money. Back in 1974, I was volunteering at a hippy free school doing some music classes. I went twice a week to work with three high-school students and taking the bus round trip. At one point, I got up the nerve to ask if I could get reimbursed for the bus fare. In this consensus-based community way of making decisions (no administrator), they had to hold a meeting to consider my request. At the end, they gave me the good news—they would pay the Muni bus fare. At the time, it cost 25 cents per ride, so my reimbursement, which required a proposal, a meeting and a discussion was—$1 per week!

 

At the time, I was living with my sister and brother-in-law in a lovely apartment on Downey Street in the Upper Haight, with two bedrooms, living room, kitchen and a gorgeous view of Golden Gate Park extending all the way to the ocean. The rent? $125 a month split three ways. I was teaching piano lessons once a week and accompanying my sister’s modern dance class twice a week, both for $3.00 per hour. I also was on food stamps and we ate macrobiotically, meaning mostly brown rice and vegetables. Occasionally, I treated myself to Uncle Gaylord’s ice cream cones. $.20 each. When I went back East to visit my family, I hitchhiked across the country. Different times. 

 

When I stumbled into a job at The San Francisco School that didn’t exist before someone donated Orff instruments and the school decided they needed to hire someone who knew what to do with them (longer story here), I remember going into the office of the administrator and her asking me what salary I proposed. It was May, they hired me for September and hadn’t accounted for it yet in their budget. My answer? “Whatever you want. I’m sure it will be more than I’ve ever earned before.” And at $4,000 a year, it was!

 

After my wife had taught there for four years (she was the first art teacher) and I for three, we decided to take a leave of absence and travel around the world for a year. And we did. Our budget? $6,000 for the two of us! For a year! And we did it. When we returned to school and had kids, our salaries were increasing year by year, but so were expenses— rents, food, gas, etc. For the next five to ten years, there were times when we ran out of money before the month ended and had to get an advance on our next month’s salaries. Since they were 9-month salaries back then, you could collect Unemployment over the summer.

 

All of this taught me some lifelong sense of frugality that has never left me. While I have no choice but pay the bill for $4000 (my first year’s salary!) our recent leak in the roof cost to get fixed, I still balk against going to restaurants that charge way too much for food I can cook as well at home. I’m always looking for “deals” when it comes to air travel or gas prices, will go the extra mile to go the store that has oatmilk for $4.99 instead of $6.99. 

 

At the same time, now that I’m more comfortable financially, I need to remember that “you can’t take it with you” and am opening up to just relaxing a bit more with the mantra “It’s only money.” I’ve been waiting for five more students to sign up for my Jazz Course to bring my Pentatonics Jazz Band and finally decided, “Hell with that! I love being with these guys, the course will benefit, they’re excited about coming back to New Orleans and I can take it off my salary.” I’ve long wanted my grandkids to come to Ghana with me for the Orff-Afrique Course and now am determined that they will next summer. A good chance to use all those miles I’ve been hoarding to pay their plane flights. And speaking of Ghana, I got the idea with my friend Kofi that I can take on the project of fundraising to build a basketball court for his Nunya Academy School. And then thought maybe I’d just pay for it myself. Why not?

 

Even in this new mindset of more casual generosity, that lifelong frugal voice still sits on my shoulder. I’m having a hard time deciding to get the $350 ticket to go see Jacob Collier this Fall. Anyone want to treat me? :-) Come on, it’s only money!