Desdinova
Master Don Juan
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2004
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This post isn't exactly about financial success. If anything, it's more about the success of saving money. In my opinion, saving money is pretty close in line to being financially successful. Instead of working to put money in the bank, you're working to keep money in the bank. The methods I use to keep money in the bank actually take less work than putting money into it. However, I also do small things that will put money into the bank as well. It may not be much money, but when you combine it with saving money, it's easy to see it multiply.
First of all, let me tell you that I'm not an entrepreneur. I've made some small attempts at becoming one, and in my 30s I've decided that it's not for me. I'm much happier to keep working at the job I currently have, and you'll see why in a bit.
Before I get into detail, let me tell you about my parents' views on what success is. I had to completely discard the example that my parents set and venture out on my own to find it.
My father's view of success is to have lots of money. His primary goal throughout his life was to win the lottery. He has stuffed tons and tons of money into lottery booths and VLTs to try and increase his chances of winning millions. In the meantime, he's probably wasted a million dollars during his lifetime trying to win a million. He's 70 years old now, and still trying to win the lottery. I think about all the money he wasted on the lottery, and it makes me sad to think he could've put it toward something much more useful.
Another thing my father has tried a few times is to become an entrepreneur. One of his biggest projects consumed a lot of money, time and space. I was just a child at the time, so I had no fvcking clue how his business was going to be successful. Now that I'm older, I realized that my dad's biggest problem was that he didn't go out and sell his product. He was also too stubborn to hire someone as a salesman. He could have got things under way by paying someone commission to sell his product. In the end, his product and idea were completely scrapped.
Now my mother's view of success is greatly different. She joined a religious cult, so her idea of success (at least for me) was to work my way up in the ranks of the religion and become a top salesman of their literature. I didn't like that idea because I'm a lousy salesman, and I didn't enjoy attending the extremely boring religious meetings.
My father did something that was both good and bad for me. He saw that I had some really good potential with repairing electronics at a young age, so he encouraged me to pursue it. I was pretty good at it and made some decent money as a teenager repairing people's tape recorders and VCRs. My dad encouraged me to remain living with him and have a home business doing electronic repair. I didn't like that idea and did not pursue it.
I eventually did get a job repairing electronics for a small company. The pay was okay, and they sent me to college to get some official papers for my job. However, electronic repair was a dying industry, and after 8 years or so, I realized that I needed to find new work if I were to remain employed. Electronics had become so cheap that it was more cost-efficient to throw it away and buy new as opposed to getting things repaired.
At the time I realized my industry was dying, gas prices were also going up drastically. My paycheck was barely enough to make ends meet, so I decided that I was going to pursue a job where I could get my gas paid to and from work, and use my experience to drive around the city repairing things. And that's the exact type of job I found, NO REGRETS.
I got a job in a currently-demanding industry... Health Care. It was a perfect decision, and I really do enjoy the work most of the time. Now think about why this is a good field to get into... The baby boomers are getting older, more crippled, and there will be an increasing demand for more health care. The down side is since I live in Canada and have health care covered, it's going to really suck the money out of the taxpayer's pockets. But it's not my problem to fix and there's no concrete decision on how to fix it as of yet, so I'm not going to worry about it for the time being. The fact is, my job is pretty damn secure and a piece of that tax money ends up in my bank account every second week.
The perks of my job save me money. They pay my gas for the day and when I'm on call, I was able to get cheaper insurance on my own personal vehicle, they give me a cell phone, and (until they scrapped it) sent me out of town to do work where my meals and hotel room were paid for. I have more holidays than at my previous job, and when I'm done my work for the day, I can go home (even if I've only worked for two hours). The fact that I have more time for myself is probably the best part of the job. I genuinely enjoy my "me" time, and the more I can get, the happier I am.
One of the hidden perks with my job is the ability to make extra money. I end up with a fair amount of scrap metal at my job. I can either toss it into the scrap bin at work, or take it in myself and get cash for it. When collecting scrap metal, you have to figure out what's worth your time and effort, and what isn't. Steel isn't worth my time and effort because the payout is lousy. Aluminium is where it's at for me, and I come across a LOT of it. My last truck load gave me over $200 in cash. That's cash I barely had to work for. I just had to put it aside, let it collect, and then take a morning and haul it in. It's maybe an hour of work. Remember, the more "me" time, the better!
Another thing I haul in is rechargeable batteries. I get lots of them, and they usually fetch about $300 a tonne. Again, an hour of work, and I come out with $300. Did I mention that all the "extra" money I make goes into a savings account? I generally try to use my "work" money to pay for the bills and food.
First of all, let me tell you that I'm not an entrepreneur. I've made some small attempts at becoming one, and in my 30s I've decided that it's not for me. I'm much happier to keep working at the job I currently have, and you'll see why in a bit.
Before I get into detail, let me tell you about my parents' views on what success is. I had to completely discard the example that my parents set and venture out on my own to find it.
My father's view of success is to have lots of money. His primary goal throughout his life was to win the lottery. He has stuffed tons and tons of money into lottery booths and VLTs to try and increase his chances of winning millions. In the meantime, he's probably wasted a million dollars during his lifetime trying to win a million. He's 70 years old now, and still trying to win the lottery. I think about all the money he wasted on the lottery, and it makes me sad to think he could've put it toward something much more useful.
Another thing my father has tried a few times is to become an entrepreneur. One of his biggest projects consumed a lot of money, time and space. I was just a child at the time, so I had no fvcking clue how his business was going to be successful. Now that I'm older, I realized that my dad's biggest problem was that he didn't go out and sell his product. He was also too stubborn to hire someone as a salesman. He could have got things under way by paying someone commission to sell his product. In the end, his product and idea were completely scrapped.
Now my mother's view of success is greatly different. She joined a religious cult, so her idea of success (at least for me) was to work my way up in the ranks of the religion and become a top salesman of their literature. I didn't like that idea because I'm a lousy salesman, and I didn't enjoy attending the extremely boring religious meetings.
My father did something that was both good and bad for me. He saw that I had some really good potential with repairing electronics at a young age, so he encouraged me to pursue it. I was pretty good at it and made some decent money as a teenager repairing people's tape recorders and VCRs. My dad encouraged me to remain living with him and have a home business doing electronic repair. I didn't like that idea and did not pursue it.
I eventually did get a job repairing electronics for a small company. The pay was okay, and they sent me to college to get some official papers for my job. However, electronic repair was a dying industry, and after 8 years or so, I realized that I needed to find new work if I were to remain employed. Electronics had become so cheap that it was more cost-efficient to throw it away and buy new as opposed to getting things repaired.
At the time I realized my industry was dying, gas prices were also going up drastically. My paycheck was barely enough to make ends meet, so I decided that I was going to pursue a job where I could get my gas paid to and from work, and use my experience to drive around the city repairing things. And that's the exact type of job I found, NO REGRETS.
I got a job in a currently-demanding industry... Health Care. It was a perfect decision, and I really do enjoy the work most of the time. Now think about why this is a good field to get into... The baby boomers are getting older, more crippled, and there will be an increasing demand for more health care. The down side is since I live in Canada and have health care covered, it's going to really suck the money out of the taxpayer's pockets. But it's not my problem to fix and there's no concrete decision on how to fix it as of yet, so I'm not going to worry about it for the time being. The fact is, my job is pretty damn secure and a piece of that tax money ends up in my bank account every second week.
The perks of my job save me money. They pay my gas for the day and when I'm on call, I was able to get cheaper insurance on my own personal vehicle, they give me a cell phone, and (until they scrapped it) sent me out of town to do work where my meals and hotel room were paid for. I have more holidays than at my previous job, and when I'm done my work for the day, I can go home (even if I've only worked for two hours). The fact that I have more time for myself is probably the best part of the job. I genuinely enjoy my "me" time, and the more I can get, the happier I am.
One of the hidden perks with my job is the ability to make extra money. I end up with a fair amount of scrap metal at my job. I can either toss it into the scrap bin at work, or take it in myself and get cash for it. When collecting scrap metal, you have to figure out what's worth your time and effort, and what isn't. Steel isn't worth my time and effort because the payout is lousy. Aluminium is where it's at for me, and I come across a LOT of it. My last truck load gave me over $200 in cash. That's cash I barely had to work for. I just had to put it aside, let it collect, and then take a morning and haul it in. It's maybe an hour of work. Remember, the more "me" time, the better!
Another thing I haul in is rechargeable batteries. I get lots of them, and they usually fetch about $300 a tonne. Again, an hour of work, and I come out with $300. Did I mention that all the "extra" money I make goes into a savings account? I generally try to use my "work" money to pay for the bills and food.
I'd be lying if I didn't say I had a "scrapping" bug. 
