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Do you want to be like them or different?
10 Live like the few. Some will always upgrade their cars, live in overpriced and oversized homes, use their savings to travel, max out their credit cards, and wear the latest fashion, but fund all of this with debt; this is the typical lifestyle. You don’t have to live like this, though. People have made fun of my car, clothes, and minimalistic lifestyle for years, but I still have yet to change a damn thing. I don’t give a flying f*ck what people who are in debt have to say about my lifestyle because I don’t want to live like them. At a certain point, you learn that materials do nothing for you and that doing what everyone else does can be highly unproductive to your financial position. Who Are You, Really? And What Can You Afford? My best friend sent me this quote today. Though it’s about self-identity, I find it directly related to how you manage your finances. “The greatest fear people have is that of being themselves. They want to be 50 Cent or someone else. They do what everyone else does, even if it doesn’t fit where and who they are. But you get nowhere that way; your energy is weak, and no one pays attention to you. You’re running away from the one thing you own – what makes you different. I lost that fear. And once I felt the power that I had by showing the world I didn’t care about being like other people, I could never go back.” – 50 Cent This is a great quote about being yourself, but it’s also a great quote regarding your finances. People assume they have to live a certain way to get approval and increase their likability, but all this ends up doing is leading them into a life of debt and emptiness. If you cared less about what people think of you, how would you dress, what car would you drive, what home would you live in, what trips would you take, how might your life look different? Impressing People Is A Dead End I know a guy that was flat-out broke. He ended up maxing out credit cards, taking out loans, and even committing credit card fraud because he wanted to impress the women he dated and the people surrounding him. He does enjoy the finer things of life, but that’s not what his bank account could offer him at the moment, which meant he needed to take productive action instead of using a dangerous tool such as debt to fund his lavish lifestyle. Instead of conveying who he really was to the world, which was a man of modest means (a current status that could be changed), he presented someone he wasn’t and ended up paying a high price for it. Most of the people he was trying to impress are no longer in his life, are in debt themselves, and didn’t add much value to his life. The financial binge he went on left him more broke, empty, and emotionally broken.
This content is for informational purposes only — not professional advice. Consult a qualified professional before making any major decisions.
This content is for informational purposes only — not professional advice. Consult a qualified professional before making any major decisions.