Surviving The Crunch

A friend of mine read this editorial before I posted it and said “well heck, any darn fool should be able to figure that out” … unfortunately, like most, he too is up to his ears in credit card debt, a big house note, and has a job that could end tomorrow … oh yes, and he has only enough savings to survive about 90 days. I remember those days all too well and I remember 15 years ago when I promised myself I was going to get out from under, no matter what it took.

And now, with the condo sold, no credit card debt what so ever and enough cash on hand to survive for nearly 10 years without touching any of my investments … I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Of course, I’m a renter again and looking for a house, but this time I’ll pay cash and on my budget still be able to survive jobless for four years. The job I’m in is fairly stable, for the time being, but I’ll save like crazy to rebuild up my reserves at the same time.

I must say, it’s certainly a lot different than they hay day my father grew old in. Of course, near the end he too was struggling a bit, but he knew he’d have enough to get him to the end and have some to leave the rest of us too. I looked back and tried to figure out exactly when I became a “saver”. It’s hard to say exactly, but I think it was when I realized that my credit card interest payment was more than my utility bills. Now, when I come to think of it, it actually was the time I was able to convince myself to actually save for something I wanted rather than charge it. In the long run, it turned out to be something I really didn’t need and ended up not buying it. That set the wheels in motion. I started noticing how many things I thought I wanted because of all the hype and packaging, but when I got down to it, I just didn’t need them and was better off for not having bought them.

Last time around, when I really needed a new car, I could pay cash and did. There’s a certain reward in watching a salesman’s face when they realize that despite the old jeans and T-shirt, you don’t need his loan application and it really stuns them when you DEMAND another $1,000 off because you are paying cash. Wow … the power of the consumer. It isn’t dead, we just let it slip away. You can only imagine the last real estate “professional” that hear me say this was a cash deal so they better get their seller in the right frame of mind or I’m going to another house….

Yeah, you certainly don’t have to be rich, in fact the old man left me a very important piece of advice that has certainly come true. He’d say “boy, if you want to be rich it’s not about how much you make, but about how little you spend”. Yep Pop, you were right again and I especially miss you and all that great advice …….