I decided to check out The Ramsey Show today. No particular reason; Iād heard about it many times before, but it was always pitched as this America-centric podcast that wouldnāt really matter too much to me, but this time I decided to take a look.
Itās really nothing special, compared to everything else you find on the internet nowadays concerning finance. Save your money, donāt get into debt, how to get out of debt, yada yada. Itās good, itās solid. The one thing thatās picking at me is the whole religious undertone. I have no idea where Mr. Ramsey came from, his background his story, whatever, but he talks about religion a lot. Itās about spirituality, what church you go to, talking to your pastor.
Iām not religious. Now, I donāt think thereās anything wrong with religionāas a matter of fact, Iād argue that if religion gets people out of debt and into a better financial situation, thatās a good thingābut I do think itās rather weird that he focuses on that so much. Maybe I just got a weird batch of videos, I donāt know.
Religion is very strong, itās an incredible tool, really, but I think itās wholly unnecessary. I have no religion and I can save, I can keep my head in the game. I donāt need a god or a church. I need family, yes, a community, people I can look up to and talk to and discuss this with. I see the value in organized religion as a vehicle for social interaction, but it comes with so much baggage that, to me, it seems bloated. Moreover, itās dangerous. Sure, it comes with good things, but it comes with a lot of other philosophies that go way beyond finances. I definitely wouldnāt prescribe religion as a cure or aid for debt, but Mr. Ramsey seems to be rather convinced itās at least a viable option.
I know Iām talking about this from a very detached perspective. Truth be told, I donāt really get religious people. I understand them, on a technical level, but not on a practical level. I guess, on one hand, I do get why he would mention it so often: heās religious. He believes in a religion and he believes sharing that religion is his duty and itās good, so he does it. Might I add, heās not being particularly obnoxious or anything, itās not offensive by any means, just noticeable.
Determination is essential to financial freedom. I mean, you really have to take a good look at your finances to make the call that you canāt afford this or that, or that you donāt want to afford this or that because your priorities lay elsewhere.
My parents, my mother in particular, was adamant that I rent an apartment, or at the very least a larger room. She even offered to cover my rent! Isnāt that ridiculous? She offered me hundreds of euro monthly for me to rent an apartment. Look, I love my mum, but what the fuck. I told her no, on two fronts: I wasnāt going to rent a bigger (more expensive) place myself, and I didnāt want her help. I donāt mind small things, she sometimes pays for my travels, for example, but my rent? I appreciate it, of course, and it would speed up this whole thing, but Iāve already taken so much from my parents that I just canāt stand to keep doing it. I have money, so they donāt need to be burdened any more.
This feels so silly. Of course I know they would be happy to pay for me. I really live a privileged life, donāt I? It just doesnāt sit right with me, though. A few days ago, actually, I talked to my parents about buying that rice cooker. By the way, Iām still considering that purchase. Iām pretty sure my dad was offering to buy it for me, he just didnāt want to say it. As a matter of fact, he told me I didnāt need to change the paying information on Amazon. He said it just like that. In the immediate, I didnāt realize that thatās what he was implyingāthat he was willing to pay for meāso I just said something like āoh thanks, thatās convenient, Iāll just send you the money after then.ā Reasonable, right? No need to change payment information or anything, I use his card and then send him a payment with the price. Makes things simpler. But he was so obviously unhappy to hear that! He didnāt say anything, but I could tell he didnāt want me to send him money. I think itās similar to how Iām feeling towards them. Iām so thankful for everything theyāve given me, everyday Iām thankful, and so I just canāt bare to rely on them so much. I donāt want him to pay for my fucking rice cooker, heās already paid for so many grains of rice for me why the fuck would he pay for the cooker too?! He probably feels that, as my father, itās his responsibility to pay for my necessities. Sure, Iām all grown up and earning my money, but itās just a rice cooker, itās to improve my life, and so he has no problem forking over ā¬20. And what, he needs his son to pay for ā¬20?! He doesnāt need that! I get it, I get it.
Itās great to have parents that care so much. I was tearing up writing that, by the way.
I think thatās what I need to keep this up. My parents are a reminder of what can be achieved. They have no debt, two homes, two healthy children, one of which is starting his education and the other whoās making money. Theyāre even starting to make some small investments now, thanks to my influence. My mum cashed out on about ā¬400 in 3 months. Thatās a sixth of the minimum national salary. Iām not sure if she has enough saved up to actually just make the minimum national salary of the interest but sheās not far off. Seeing this, I stay motivated to save.
Whenever I share my passion with saving with the uninitiated, I get the same comment: donāt forget to live. First of all, uh, duh?! Obviously. I know people are just looking out for me, and I really do appreciate it, but it does get a little obnoxious. Iām someone that thinks things through, especially the big things. Itās not that I donāt make mistakes or miscalculate, but forgetting to live would be a major miss. The miss of a lifetime, one might wager. This month (and by month I mean salary) I bought over ā¬120 worth of stuff. Really just 2 things, the backpack and the shoes, but still thatās quite a decent chunk of change. Had I invested that money, I would be up significantly right about now. But I value the things I bought, and I intend to keep valuing them, so I consider it money well spent.
I checked the maths today and I think Iām safe. I had about ā¬100 to spend and I sent ā¬120 instead, pushing it, but Iām pretty sure Iām safely in the green. And by green I mean above the cushion in my checking account that Iād rather not dip under for whatever reason. So many arbitrary numbersā¦ Silly, again, but I prefer to have that. For peace of mind.
And weāre back to religion. I do still have these rituals, these barriers and points of contact that I keep perfectly lined up for no reason other than peace of mind. Itās psychological. Rituals are useful, but praying isnāt. Praying is a ritual, and rituals are useful. Thatās where it ends, as far as I see it.
I cleaned my room and did my laundry this weekend. It was nice. I also ate dry ramen for the first time, I think. Just boil the ramen, drain the water, and then add the seasoning. Two packets cost me 90c. Not bad, not bad. I also bought just over a ā¬1 of fruit today, plums. I didnāt eat them all today, so maybe Iāll just have them for dinner tomorrow and save there. Not that I need to, mind you, the plums were well within my budget. They were under, actually, but itās just a nice thing that happened. Iām also eating lots of oranges. Thereās a tree in the garden of the house Iām renting at, very convenient.
Lunch tomorrow seems delicious. I saved 2 meals from last week because I didnāt have lunch at the canteen. I wonder about my weight. I look in the mirror sometimes and itās clear Iāve made progress, but itās hard to tell if Iām making progress. My arms are surprisingly muscular, actually. I noticed that today, or maybe last night, not sure.
Something else is that Iām just itching to update my net worth. I have a little sheet on GDrive where I keep my finances lined up, but I told myself it was silly to update it everyday or even every month. I meanā¦ That would add to the obsession, itās stupid. I donāt need to focus so much on this. My limit was 6 months. Maybe thatās too long, to be fair. Quarterly might be better, I donāt know. But I said 6 months, so 6 months it is! Only in December, damn itā¦
Iām curious, though. I saw this thing some time ago, I donāt remember where or what they called it, but the idea was basically judging what the hypothetical max is that I could maybe save and then seeing how much I did save. It should help keep things in perspective, how much life really costs, and also keeping my greed in check. Comparing to these rich people out here getting paid a fortune in a dayā¦ Thatās just bad.
Iām looking forward to it.
Iāve been looking at shoes and shirts and pants. I really think I found my style. I hope to slowly build my wardrobe to fit it. Iāll end up selling a bunch of shirts, I reckon. Vinted stardom, here I come! I started a Pinterest board. I plan to save 5 pins for each category of thing I want to wear in the future. Hopefully, I can look back on it to guide my purchases.
Also, tomorrow Iāll get a reply from the Slowly thing. Cool app, hopefully itās interesting. Iāll get it mid-afternoon, I believe.
Overall, feeling decently good. Iām not rich yet, and my income is low, but slowly and surely Iām getting closer to my goals.
Speaking of that, I saw this post on Reddit about what the lean FIRE number should be. Right now, people said 500k was reasonable. That sounds a little crazy, but I donāt know. If I had 500k today, I probably would retire, actually. The thing is, really, I donāt! I have barely anything at all. When Iām 50, I can expect 500k to be 1.25M. Crazyā¦ 500k today should yield some 1.5k/month, which is actually more than I have per month! Way more. I could travel lots, so much. At my current pace, I can expect to hit 500k in 20 years. In that time, 500k will be 1M. It feels like wealth is running away from me, itās nuts!
Still, this isnāt particularly upsetting. Itās OK, and I really do think that Iāll find ways to enjoy life on less as time goes on. Maybe Iām being naĆÆve, maybe dangerously so, but who knows. Thereās this other experiment I like to do. If I get a decent job after I graduate that letās me save a little more per month, I can shorten this timeline so much. Not to mention, all this is being calculated with a notably high inflation rate of 3.5%. More realistically, I can get this done. I really think so.
Iām still thinking about Vietnam quite a bit.