People who live far below their means enjoy a freedom that people busy upgrading their lifestyles can’t fathom.
— Naval Ravikant (American entrepreneur, investor and co-founder, chairman, former CEO of AngelList. He has invested early-stage in over 200 companies including Uber, Twitter, Wish.com, Poshmark, Postmates, Thumbtack, Notion, SnapLogic, Opendoor, Clubhouse, Stack Overflow, Bolt, Open DNS, Yammer and Clearview AI. Ravikant is a Fellow of the Edmond Hillary Fellowship, and, as a podcaster, shares advice on pursuing health, wealth and happiness).
I had never considered living below my means. My father was a teacher and my mother never worked, so resources were almost entirely spent on necessities. There were no trips to Hawaii or Disneyland. We were one of the few houses on the block without a pool. Instead, our entire backyard was a vegetable garden. I can appreciate the fresh fruits, veggies and herbs now, but as a youngster, I found it embarrassing. While our neighbours were splashing in their pools, my brother, sister and I were picking beans and weeding the mammoth gargen. Ugh. We also had affordable vehicle(s) and always ate at home. We went out for dinner once in a blue moon, typically at the White Spot. So once I graduated from college and landed a sweet pharmaceutical gig, I couldn’t wait to fly off to Hawaii and California and eat out as much as possible. I also moved into a building with an outdoor pool. Fast forward almost 20 years, and higher profile jobs with more pay, I was living the good life. Then the 2008 financial crisis hit and I had to halt all spending. I felt pretty hard done by, as I slid back to where I began, having to allocate all resources to essentials only. It took a good 7 years to recover from the financial fallout, and in that time, I had to learn how to fill my life with low cost activities, such as going out for coffee, swimming in the ocean, going to matinees etc. I finally landed a well paying role again, with lots of perks (free car, internet, phone, lunches and dinners etc), and was able to pay off debts and resume a decent level of financial freedom. Thing is, I’ve never again had the appetite to spend what I earn. When you’re faced with a long lasting rainy day, the PTSD is pretty intense. Fast forward another 15 years and I continue to be happily entrenched in living below my means. I save for vacations, dinners out and a few new garments, but that’s about it. I pre-pay my credit cards, so I have zero debts and I enjoy watching my investments grow each month. It’s quite the 180 for me. I highly recommend it. Just sayin’ :) Hugs and good luck. XO
Blessings,
Chatgirl
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