Akin to losing weight, losing debt involves a shift in perspective, a realignment of sorts, a reconciliation of the past failures to the successes of the future, azit t’were.
But.
The major problem, of course, is the one who must make the changes.
We all are our own worst enemy.
Edelman posits an interesting question, one every single person reading this will get wrong.
Ready?
Here it is …
How much money did John D. Rockefeller leave behind when he died in 1937?
Take a moment. No internet research necessary. You know this.
Ready?
All of it. He left behind 100% of his money at the time of his death.
Edelman says this: where money is concerned, dollars are irrelevant. It is the percentages that matter.
Throughout a person’s life, s/he will have 100 percent of his/her money. That’s it. That’s all.
So … spend it wisely. Think 100 percent in terms of 100 pennies. Then count down from there …
Death is cheap. Taxes gonna cost. At a rough rate of 33 percent, or 33 pennies.
Oops. That’s 67 percent / 67 pennies for everything else. Food, clothing, shelter, healthcare & purpose.
Shelter / housing / residence is expensive, likely the largest cost …
… after taxes, a’cours [gub’mint sez gimme mah muhnee]
Say … 30 percent / 30 pennies. 100 percent of 100 pennies is now down to 37 percent / 37 pennies, for food, clothing, healthcare and purpose.
One good thing? Quality clothes usually last. Costs more up front but long term def worth it. Problem?
Affording better quality in the first place. Aaannnddd here comes priorities.
The greatest area of flexibility in a SPENDING PLAN is food. Kids make that harder but if only feeding/watering self then simplifies costs. Still doable if elected to breed, tho’. Living in bulk, and Costco is BFF.
Rice, beans, chopped chicken, shredded pork, tuna fish … and don’t get started on a garden … oh ho no, don’t do that. Food grown?!? In windowsills and balconies and backyards? My goodness me, that sounds almost like a solution.
Sidebar digress … have heard more than a few stories about folks trying to cut food costs with communal gardens … buuuuuhhttt seems like as soon as successful gub’mint must put a stop to that.
Story #1: big, empty abandoned lot located in mid-sized, large-ish urban area. Full of trash, dump magnet. Neighbors/residents decide to clean it up/out, invested personal time/funds, eventually start a community garden, only costs were initial seeds/plants and time volunteered. Became so successful that local stores began losing business; folks stopped buying fresh fruits&veggies cos they could grow their own.
See where this is going?
Local gub’mint shut it down, ripped out all the food, threw up a fence and some signs, claimed the ground/soil was contaminated, you goan now.
Story #2: young college guy had a school project, looking for some extra credit. Started a garden, grew a bunch of food, donated it to the cafeteria school, food banks, homeless shelters, the like. Got so successful that local businesses began losing money.
See where this is going?
Gub’mint told the kid that he had to get a catering license to provide the food as he was … aaaaaannnnddd that selfsame gub’mint also said he couldn’t get a catering license for what he did cos it wasn’t catering.
Wat.
Always comes down to money. Always. And the love of it. Oops.
Anyhoo, should never stop the individual from providing some of the basics tho’ … tomatoes, herbs, onions, lettuces, cukes … some root veggies like potatoes, carrots / turnips is nasty / garlic (ummm, garlic), yams, radisheseses … maybe if got the space a few fruit trees … apples, lemons, oranges and such. Can get messy cos GOD made those plants mighty bountiful but hey … got some neighbors and a box, free food for everyone. Done.
OK so whatever anyhoo down to 37 percent / 37 pennies, for food, clothing, healthcare and purpose.
Edelman suggests 18 percent / 18 pennies on food, on average, but methinks that depends more on personal circumstances, so would shoot for 12 percent / 12 pennies to 15 percent / 15 pennies on food, which – on the high end – leaves 22 percent / 22 pennies for clothing, healthcare and purpose.
Clothes are easy. Just don’t buy any. There. Done. Solved.
Or maybe not. The suggestion is 7 percent / 7 pennies, but honestly? Haven’t bought real clothes in years. Occasional socks. Maybe underwear. Since theKid? Oh, wait … theKid needs clothes. theKid grows and grows and grows, so … say 7 percent / 7 pennies. Clothes for theKid.
Got 15 percent / 15 pennies left for healthcare and purpose.
Read an interesting article many moons ago about how health insurance got tied to employment after WWII … labor shortages with the war coupled with FDR’s freeze on wages (to stifle employer competition for workers by raising pay) made companies offer other incentives to attract labor – enter employer-sponsored health insurance. And the fact that the IRS made those expenditures exempt from tax helped A LOT so now American workers are trapped in jobs due to the fear of losing coverage for healthcare.
Greedy deeds, done dirt cheap.
So if health insurance = job, then likely comes out of pay. 0 percent / 0 pennies.
If not then likely uninsured. Gub’mint programs, such as they are, might be best bet.
Again, 0 percent / 0 pennies.
Still have 15 pennies for purpose, which is nice. Covers transportation, travel, vacays, hobbies, books, movies, concerts, consoles/controllers/games, monster trucks, … you know, all the fun stuff that makes life worth the bother. Not talk about retirement cuz full truth? Death is cheaper. More to come.
The ultimate message? Make those 100 pennies, that 100 percent of income received during the worklife … matter. Think about each penny before tossing one nonchalantly into the fountain of $7 coffee, $22 sandwiches, and $700 shoes.
Cos once spent, that’s it. For life.