Fortune Cookie Finance

Yesterday a fortune cookie gave me financial advice. I went out to lunch with a customer at a Chinese restaurant. When the meal was done I claimed my fortune cookie and here is what it said:

“Perhaps you’ve been focusing too much on saving”

I also found out that my lucky numbers are 15, 10, 16, 28, 35 and 36. Hmmm.
I don’t know how I feel about getting financial advice from a baked good, but I think that good advice is something you want to use, no matter where you get it. Have I been focusing too much on saving? It’s possible. I am a personal finance blogger, after all, and if I were too focused on saving that probably would not come as a shock to many. But how can I tell if the criticism is true?

Let’s start by examining the facts. My wife and I save about 17% of our gross income. We don’t go crazy spending huge amounts of money, but I don’t feel like we are depriving ourselves of anything. If I have a burning desire to buy something, I buy it. OK, there is one big ticket item that I have consciously decided to not purchase and have had some second thoughts about, but overall I feel good about our consumption to saving ratio.

Could the sage cookie be referring to the fact that I spend too much time thinking about money? That’s a good question. I read a lot of personal finance blogs, financial books, and investing articles, but does that mean that I am obsessive about the subject and may be missing out on some bigger things? I don’t know, but I enjoy personal finance. It’s sort of a hobby of mine. I don’t think that my hobby is taking away from my enjoyment and focus on the big things in life.

Could the all-knowing cookie be referring to the fact that I have been hoarding my frequent flyer miles and not spending them on an awesome vacation in Maui? Maybe that’s it. A cookie can’t be wrong can it? I think its time for a big vacation purchased free of charge by massive spending of hard earned United frequent flyer miles. Now, if I could only find someone to take care of the kids for a week while the wife and I head towards the sunset.

Late Breaking Addition: Little Miss Money Bags left a comment saying that English Major got the very same fortune cookie. Fortune cookie companies everywhere have decided to branch out into financial services, apparently. Financial advisers beware!