After 15 years of silence, Monopoly has re-emerged and infected me with it’s awesomeness.

The first couple weeks playing it again was a nice stroll down memory lane, but $50 and 30+ hours later I’m starting to wonder where this is all going. (I even played for 45 minutes before (and during) the start of work this morning. WTF?)

Yeah $50 freakin’ dollers…I actually downloaded the game ONLINE for $30, THEN bought the physical game off of eBay for another $10, AND had the common sense to pay another $4.99/mo. so that I can play via cell phone! Back in the day it would’ve made sense, and was preferable over the other trouble I could have been getting into, but now that I’m nearing 30? Hah! Staying up till 3am to try and beat the computer’s a$$ is not nearly as sexy…

On the plus side, I’ve been having a helluva great time, and Monopoly has allowed me to brush up on some of my businessy skills – all of which can be applied in the “real world” when it comes to finance:

1. Having a game plan is key. Monopoly, like money management, is a game of skill. Sure you can get lucky and randomly buy property and build hotels and what not, but you’ve gotta have a game plan in action to survive in the end.
2. You have to learn how to bargain. Life doesn’t always plop the goodies on the table, sometimes you have to work for it. This means finding the right people or places who have what you want, and then giving them something of value in return. And it’s not always going to equal out in the end, usually one side gains some sort of an advantage over the other.
3. You’ve gotta have patience. Not all your plans are going to work right away. If they’re GOOD plans, however, it’s just a matter of time until the ball gets rolling and you start seeing that success.

Only time will tell whether or not I transform into a psycho “gamer” or not, but at least I’m utilizing my brain ;) And I’m not the only one talking about monopoly these days – Free Money Finance recently explored his own set of money lessons learned from Monopoly, and BillShrink just came out with an even newer version of the game: “Recession Monopoly”! Haha…And what ever happened to that Monopoly Movie that was supposed to come out?

Whatever the future holds, there are always lessons to be learned from our experiences. And sometimes, it costs us a little money.