Just the other day I was driving down the road, when I happened to notice to a brand new running path off in the distance.
The path cut in and out of a wooded area and as a I approached it I saw a brand new bridge that carried the trail over a pretty small creek. I am not exactly sure why, but I found myself saying,
“Damn, that is a really nice bridge.”
Don’t ask why I noticed the bridge (I have this weird obsession of being amazed by architecture)….but this nice looking bridge had my mind churning.
Here I am driving in my paid-off car, (Kia Rio mind you) on a nice highway and next to me is an asphalt running trail that I would venture to guess is nicer than most roads in some impoverished/underdeveloped countries. All of this led me to ask this question:
99 1st World (Money) Problems
What are “1st World Money” Problems you can think of?
— Josh (@moneylifewax) May 22, 2019
1. My starting salary out of college is only $50,000
2. I only got approved for up to $300,000 for my 1st home purchase.
3. Today at work… I had to eat my chicken cordon bleu with a spoon.
4. 1st World Problem at Work:
5. Pumpkin spice lattes season at Starbucks is almost too long now…! #overit
6. My Facebook app keeps crashing and I have to uninstall it.
7. The dishwasher at home isn’t cleaning the dishes very well.
8. Our dog walker just asked for an extra $1 per walk… SMH.
9. All my free Tinder dates are so booooring.
10. Hashtag, 1st world problems:
11. My 401K dropped last month and I’m 27…hit the panic button.
12. My roommate keeps using all the hot water before I wake up (at 10am).
13. Apple’s new iPhone X is over-hyped, it's not that good.
14. This cashback on my new credit card is only 2%.
15. My eating out budget is only $100 each month.
16. Oh yeah..? Well my eating out budget my wife has me on is only $75.
17. The taxes on my back door roth IRA are killing be bruh.
18. I really hope my pay raise doesn’t put me into the next tax bracket.
19. How many years worth of expenses should I keep in cash in case of a market downturn during my early retirement?
20. Every time I fly to Europe, the WiFi is slow and I get sick
Related (Funny Money) Content:
21. I cant believe that company wants $40 a week to cut our grass
22. At work the other day they got delivery… and it was Papa Johns
23. I had to renew my custom license plates and it was $5 extra
24. Ugh, my Lexus requires premium gas.
25. Well my truck’s oil changes are $85 and I’m not getting underneath it to do it!
26. How do you balance 401k contributions and debt reduction?
27. I'm worried about where I can spend the cryptocurrency I'm accumulating
28. My kids sports are killing my savings rate! Up to $600 a month for 3 kids!!
29. Ughhhh I didn’t want whip cream!
30. The airline ran out of 1st class seats, I hope there are no babies in coach.
31. Someone took my parking spot at work, can you believe that?
32. Chipotle was all out of carnitas the other day, SMH!
33. Speaking of Chipotle, weren’t the burritos like $7? Now they’re $7.50.
34. I can’t believe you have to tip the pizza delivery driver.
35. I need to make more side hustle money because I only contributed $500 to my Roth instead of all $6,000 for the year
36. IRS audited me because they don’t believe I made 10k selling panties
37. Trump’s tax cuts is hurting how much I can claim in mortgage interest this year.
38. Computers and their 1st world problems:
39. I have to spend $500 to get $150 in credit card rewards…. how dumb.
40. If I can’t lay down on the plane, it’s just not even worth it !
41. The Wifi on the bus to NYC was glitchy!
42. My side hustle only brought in $500 last month.
43. The salad at the new bistro down the street had too much goat cheese in it.
44. All of my co-workers eat out and I'm here eating a basic salad with no goat cheese.
45. I told everyone on the internet I want to pay off my student loans and some of them disagreed with me :(.
50. Fudge, I asked for no tomatoes on this burger!
51. OMG, every-time I get on Facebook someone has something they want me to buy. #annoyed.
52. Ruth's Chris baked potatoes are $7 a` la carte.
53. This Tempur-Pedic mattress isn't as good as they advertised.
54. Why is the gym always so crowded after work?
55. When I was at Cava the other day – the lettuce didn't look so good.
56. NETFLIX just took down my favorite show from the 90's.
57. Can you believe there was a line at the Apple store??
58. My WiFi sucks right now…. Ughhh.
59.Chocolate almond milk isn’t that good.
60. The Uber driver was 36 seconds late the other night, I’m using Lyft from now on.
61. Those pesky iPhones, hashtag 1st World Problems:
62. Google needs to seriously update their Google Maps App, it rerouted me again!
63. I paid $76 for this haircut and I don’t look like Jennifer Anniston
64. Well I cut my own hair to save money every month & my electric clippers are dirty.
65. The ads on my Pandora radio are killing me, but I'm not paying $9 a month.
66. Speaking of ads, I can't believe all the ads I see when I logon to my budget on Mint.
67. The PTSO at school gave us a baked potato bar… what the hell is that?
68. At 9PM on a Tuesday: The Wegmans hot bar was a little weak tonight…
69. My new cell phone doesn’t hold a charge longer then 5 hours…WTF!
70. I am sorta getting sick of eating out at the same places every day for lunch.
71. My Tweet only got 57 likes and it was a really good personal finance tip.
72. Being the team mom is more work then I thought it would be.
73. I swear the vents at work never seem to get the air temperature right.
74. Trying to eat a healthy lunch and peeling this orange has made my fingers sticky.
75. I majored in 13th century literature and I can't get a job…. WHAT THE HECK!
76. Whenever my friends want to go to a brewery there are just too many to choose from!
77. When I use my Apple TV, I hate having to enter my Wifi password again and choosing each individual letter/number… it takes FOREVER.
78. There’s no good openings to buy more money with on my stock charts!
79. My iPhone won’t enable Face ID with headphones sunglasses and cap on.
80. Driving to work late…. slow drivers in the left lane….. MOVE!
81. The dorm room food was so awful. The only thing worth eating was the Panera bagels each morning.
82. The wait at this new restaurant is ridiculous.
83. The line to get my emissions done took over an hour.
84. My insurance policy jumped because my 17 year old hit a fire hydrant.
85. Spam e-mail takes up 5 minutes of my life every day!
86. I had to add another row to my Word table… so annoying.
87. My credit card is maxed out… I need my dad to increase the spending limit.
88. The cleaning lady didn't do a good job last time, should we call another service?
89. I keep misplacing my AirPods case.
90. At work the other day, who ever sliced the bagels made the bottom half to thin.
91. Google search doesn't bring up that many 1st world problems.
92. My co-workers chew so loudly.
93. I got there 3 minutes after closing and they wouldn't let me in!
94. Why does my auto-text keep correcting my I to i.
95. Amazon's stock has flattened out… I am getting worried.
96. I learned to count to 96 before the second grade.
97. I am having trouble coming up with 99 1st world problems to even write about.
98. When I was 10 years old….we had to use dial up internet.
99. 1st world problems is such a 2012 thing.
My 1st World (Money) Problems Takeaway:
Once I came across a stat that said most developing countries waste just as much food as 1st world countries. Like me, you're probably saying, “No way that isn't possible.”
However, it is… but because of different reasons.
Developed and industrialized countries waste food due to excess. You know the old “My eyes were bigger than my stomach when I added the extra fries to my plate,” or “The sour cream was moldy so I tossed it.”
Yet in developing countries, due to infrastructure issues like roads and bridges, most of the food gets “Wasted” in the process of making it and distributing it.
According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization,
Industrialized and developing countries dissipate roughly the same quantities of food — respectively 670 and 630 million tonnes.
As I make light of some of the funnier things people say and complain about (By referencing 1st world problems as it relates to money), it is important to remind ourselves life isn't so bad.
During my drive the other day I made a mental note that the next time I catch myself complaining about a pothole in the road or how a running trail isn't paved to get over it.
Instead of complaining that my WiFi is acting up or if we don't hit our goals as it pertains to paying down our student loans each month to be grateful we went to college and have WiFi in the first place!
As many problems as we think we might have, realize that if you make over $10,000 a year you're in the top 50% worldwide.
So next time, when you're Starbucks is a little cold and you didn't ask for whip, remember to be grateful and appreciative of what you do have!!!
Question: What are you grateful for and what are the best 1st World Problems I forgot?
P.S. Big thank you to the wonderful Personal Finance world on Twitter for all the help! Big shout out to Michael at Wealth of Geeks (#36), Dr. Breathe Easy Finance, The Profit Dare, Money & Bills Blog, and many more. I'm sorry if I missed you, shoot me a message 🙂
Josh writes about ways to make money, pay off debt, and improve yourself. After paying off $200,000 in student loans with his wife in less than four years, Josh started Money Life Wax and has been featured on Forbes, Business Insider, Huffington Post and more! In addition to being a life-long entrepreneur, Josh and his wife enjoy spending time with their chocolate lab named Morgan, working out, helping others with their debt and recommend using Personal Capital to track your finances.