Breaking Another Taboo
Friday, January 14, 2011 at 8:14AM In most societies there are a few subjects that are not too easily raised. TABOOS. For example, speaking about our sexual preference/activities/habits people might feel slightly unpleasant, maybe embarrassed, and in some cultures it's prohibited altogether. You can say the same about many subjects: death, body attributes (mainly its weight and its secretions...), mental dis-eases and many many more.
Taboos are changing throughout different cultures and throughout time. And usually it's a good thing when we as individuals and as a whole society realise that secrets are holding us back, and talking about subjects that were once considered "unspoken of" is generally moving us forward into freedom.
One taboo that many western world countries are holding quite strong is the subject of personal income.
Most of the people I know are still reluctant to share how much money they're earning and they would also feel uncomfortable when listening to someone else who is sharing this information with them. I used to work as a payroll officer for quite a few years, and it was always the biggest kept secret in the company: no one should ever know how much their colleagues are getting paid. Not to mention their boss, or the CEO...!
I wonder why? There's some shame around "not earning enough" and also about "earning too much". I guess I'm afraid I'll be judged: if I'm not earning "enough" then I'm inadequate as an adult. If I'm earning "too much" then I should be doing something "better" with my money than what I'm doing with it now.
Well! I'm in for breaking this taboo straight away. This is how much I'm earning -
For my day job, I work about 20 hours a week for $18.50 per hour, after taxes I'm getting around $AUD344 per week.
Then I have the monthly Raw Cafe which sometimes I lose money in, sometimes I break even, sometimes I earn a little money... Last week I actually earned ~$AUD100 (it is only an estimate - however a pretty good one).
That's how much money I earn... Now as to to what I spend it on... That's a whole different story!
If you feel like breaking this taboo, try sharing how much you earn and see how it feels like. Good? Bad? Indifferent? And maybe share your experience in a comment!
Reader Comments (2)
After taxes, I'm making 1265 AUD a month.
It's not enough for my taste, and as you know, I'm working on it :)
I earn $25 an hour. I usually work at least 35 hours - sometimes up to 46 on the rare occasion. So my average weekly pay packet is $750 after tax. $3000 a month that disappears on me without me noticing! (Well, at least half of that goes to car & rent)