‘I can’t afford it’ – a common and well understood phrase that clearly ties a rejection to reasons regarding finances. Its counterpart, ‘I can afford it’ is a little more complicated. I offer my thoughts on what a number of hypothetical people mean when they say it. 1) The Hopeless I am able to get someone to give me the item in exchange for nothing but a promise to make future payments with interest. I am borrowing the full value and, if I did the math, I would not see a clear path to me being able to actually make the full payments. If I did the math I would probably also see that I will end up paying much more than the listed cost of the item. Most likely they will be reclaiming the item shortly and I will have wasted any money I gave them up to that point. 2) The Naive Optimist I am
I’ve long wrestled mentally with the idea of ‘normal’ and what it means to to fit that definition. To be a part of the middle section of the bell curve. To be one with the masses. I don’t think anyone in my acquaintance would describe me as wholly normal, but when facing decisions I often ask myself if I want to move closer to it or away. Should I reject or embrace the long tail? There is a part of my history where this dilemma surfaced itself in shallow ways. In college I stopped liking bands once they became popular enough to sell out shows at my favorite local venues. It became a matter of principle rather than just musical tastes. But, is liking only obscure bands solely a point of elitism? Or is there in fact value to that thought process? Even if the band and music did not change,
All of today’s normal things were once yesterday’s strange things. And there was very likely a group of people that rejected those things at first. Not all of today’s strange things will become tomorrow’s normal things, but certainly some of them will. So consider carefully which strange things you reject.
Lately I’ve been exploring a philosophy where I consider everything I own as being for sale at any given time. At a high price, that is probably true for all of us. But at a reasonable price it should be too. I’ve begun to distance myself from things – valuing them for the purpose they serve in the present rather than some tie to the past or (unrealistic) hope for the future. As my interests shift, my true value of an item does too and eventually it gets below market rate. The thought of selling items I might want later was a barrier at first, but I’ve chipped away at it as I’ve realized how easy it is to acquire a near exact item later if need be. With this philosophy I am able to float through life more freely – less tied down by material weight. I am able to live more in the moment, owning
The idea that spending money to buy experiences rather than ‘stuff’ has been gaining mainstream momentum in America. People are realizing that there is more marginal benefit to their happiness when they allocate their dollars towards experiences (travel, entertainment, classes, adventures, etc.) rather than material goods. This is of course because most of us (certainly those I see sharing the above opinions) have surpassed the basic material needs of food & shelter. The physical goods purchased after that point have diminishing returns – at a certain point the clutter may even cause new purchases to create negative returns. I’ve been thinking on the topic of allocating money towards happiness and wanted to share my thoughts. I agree fully that experiences are a better use of money than stuff – but I see these as the first two steps of a spectrum. A spectrum that I have been able to track a bit further, though I’m not certain
One thing I continually try to do in my career is to work myself out of a job. My goal is to move things into a state where I could step away and all of my projects would keep running. That usually means that I am then free to take on other, more challenging tasks. That is how I grow. I do this by: automating the monotonous parts building tools so others can help themselves instead of needing me delegating items where eager owners arise putting lightweight process in place to keep me out of day to day dropping anything that isn’t adding value In reality, this isn’t always easy. There are challenges that don’t go down without a fight, processes that don’t get adopted, fires that pop up and my own ego that ties me to things that should have long ago been abandoned or delegated. Vacations are a forcing function. Especially truly
Last weekend I went backpacking in the Emigrant Wilderness where I became acutely aware of how opposed to rest I have been lately. On Thursday at 5PM the lake pictured below changed from a peaceful reflection pool to something reminiscent of a horror movie as swarms of mosquitoes descended. Our entire group hopped into our tents, the only protection from their bites. Without technology to distract me, I lay there counting the mosquitoes on the ceiling. I got up to 100 before I fell asleep, not to awake for four hours. I’m not much of a napper. I’ve probably taken a dozen in my adult life and my mom might defend that I only took slightly more as a child. Nonetheless I crashed for a few hours in the evening without trouble. Why could I sleep so easy? I certainly have an excuse to be tired. Lately I’ve been doing a lot. I
I’ve been reading a lot of minimalist inspired writing this year. I fancy myself an aspiring minimalist and recovering consumer. I enjoy hearing different perspectives and can usually find nuggets that I can apply to my own developing minimalist philosophy. As I’ve been reading, I’ve noticed that although there are many common minimalist principles there are a few distinct differences in the philosophies. I have begun to classify them in my mind as five different schools of minimalism. The Five Schools of Minimalism Each of the schools is driven by a root motivation that the philosophy places ultimate importance on. These five motivations are the following: saving money, protecting the environment, freeing oneself from oppression, living conveniently through simplicity, and sacrificing for others. Before I describe the schools, I would like to caveat what I mean by minimalism. In general I am referring to those that are consciously and explicitly
I’ve been thinking lately about generational patterns. Likely due to the fact that I’m expecting my first child soon. There are many patterns passed down through generations; discipline, community, political, hobby, religious, etc. The following are my early thoughts about economic patterns I’ve started to abstract into classes. Generation Type A – Sacrificial Foundation This generation sacrifices itself for the next generation. Typically exemplified by a strong work ethic, frugal spending habits and perseverance. A single foundation member can change the course of a family. Often entrepreneurs and self employed. Other times working multiple jobs. Many were not able to pursue higher education or a professional track career but instead have found blue collar positions. They are able to find upward economic mobility through working hard, long hours. There are the taxi drivers, contractors, masons, corner shop owners, garbage men and laborers of the world. Immigrants often exemplify the foundation
I found out today that a number of stores are starting their holiday sales on Thursday. This upset me quite a bit. Why am I upset? First and foremost because 6PM on Thursday Thanksgiving dinner. Stores that are open at that time not only tempt people away from cherished family time, but keep their employees away from it as well. Second, the concept of Thanksgiving is to reflect and be thankful for the blessings we’ve received the previous year. The attitude behind Black Friday shopping is the exact opposite of being grateful. It is an attitude of selfishness an excess. Even where gift giving is the reason – though I doubt a majority of it is – no gift is greater than time spent. Finally, the focus on shopping puts a strain on many that aren’t in a position to bear that load. Spending is an important part of a