This has turned out to be a week of innovative financial thinking in the Mad Money Monster household. Mr. MMM and I even nailed down a more
The Original Tiny House
solid financial forecast for our cash. Yes! Last week I told you the detailed story of how I grew up and discovered the underlying reason for my fascination with the tiny house movement. I realized that growing up in the original tiny house, spurred my fascination with the current, trendy movement. If you missed it, I strongly suggest you check it out. Aside from the above mentioned accomplishments, we have also been busy not buying things and finding additional motivation to Just Keep Swimming.
Thoughtful Walk
Gorgeous Trees On An Early Morning Walk
Each day I try to get out and about for a long neighborhood walk. I try to go very early in the morning so I can have the world all to myself. Glorious. Just glorious. Most of the time, this works beautifully. This morning I was out the door around 6:30am. This is one of the frugal habits I picked up when I was trying to replace costly habits with free ones. It stuck, and is now a cleansing, meditative exercise for me. Sometimes, however, I want to be motivated. When the mood strikes, I fire (no pun intended 😉 up a podcast or YouTube video to keep me motivated and on the FIRE path. This morning I was listening to a few clips of advice from John Bogle (Founder and Former CEO of The Vanguard Group). This inevitably led to other finance-focused suggestions. One such suggestion was an hour-long (perfect for my walk!) Q&A session with Warren Buffet and high school students. Wow, did I ever get lucky, or what?! I hit play as fast as I could get my glove off, and away I went. No, I don’t have a sleek pair of tech gloves. 🙁
I Won
The Lottery!
Cha-ching!
Cha-ching! Yep, according to Buffet, I won the ovarian lottery. HA! Just in case you were wondering, this single claim is enough to warrant watching/listening to this clip. Back to the ovarian lottery… Per Buffet, I was fortunate enough to have been born into a country where it is not difficult to unleash your financial potential through various opportunities (true), and, I was fortunate to have been born with a decent I.Q. (I’d like to think so :). Therefore, aside from not being born into an already wealthy family, I won the lottery just by being born! It’s true, we all take things for granted. Perspective.
I’m paraphrasing Buffet’s words here, but there were quite a few memorable moments while listening to this motivational Q&A to America’s youth. Below is the best compilation my memory could produce, 12 hours post said walk:
According to Buffet, despite his billions, he is mostly the same as everyone else. See below.
-We all eat the same food and at the same places. Hopefully, it’s at Dairy Queen.
-My house is warm in the winter and cool in the summer; I suspect your house is too.
-I wouldn’t be happier in a larger home. I’d be less happy.*
I highly recommend watching it (or listening to it), here. It was a talk he gave to high school students in 1999. Note: It doesn’t sound dated. And, it’s fantastic food for thought for any age.
So, tell me, who motivates you to save and invest? Who motivates you to challenge the status quo school of thought? Who motivated you to get on this path?
Mad Money Cat Striking A Handsome Pose
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8 Comments
Great morning ritual. I’d like to develop one myself next before going to work that doesn’t always mean more work! I’m reading The Millionaire Next Door and it has definitely inspired me to persist in our frugal ways to reach FI. Good read so far!
Yeah, I find that walking before work gives my day a different feeling. I loved The Millionaire Next Door. I actually bought that one on CD and listened to it years ago when I had my long commute. That was one of my big motivators!
Who motivates me? This PF community, of course! Seriously, reading about how you people are saving, investing, paying off debt, etc motivates me to believe that I can do the same!
Admittedly, I pulled out the Big Guns naming Warren Buffet 🙂 I get most of my motivation from the PF community, as well. I love reading different stories about how other people are blazing their own FIRE path!
What keeps me motivated, unfortunately, is sheer need. We’ve spent this year saving for a medical expense that’ll cost $25k next year. So we don’t get to work toward too many long-term goals until that’s over and done with.
But once that’s dealt with, I’m hoping that just basic goals — like being able to work part-time as I get older (because of fun expenses like the one above, we got a late start saving for retirement and I doubt we’ll ever be able to retire fully) and things like that.
Necessity is the mother of invention 🙂 Although I definitely know the feeling of knowing what you should do and not having the funds to do it. I was in that position for quite a few years as a single parent. It sounds like you have a great plan! Keep moving forward and you’ll be amazed!
Mad Money Cat looks just like my cat “Lover” (yes, that’s her real name … my daughter named her at about age 4).
Warren Buffet’s comments don’t surprise me at all. My wife and I will actually be crossing into the $1M mark within the next few years and honestly we are hardly any different than when we met in college. Money is a tool and nothing else. When people start to identify who they are by how much money they have, they start down a very dangerous road.
Awe. Lover sounds fabulous 🙂 I couldn’t agree with you more. The only thing I imagine being different is having more freedom. I can’t imagine we will spend much more than we do now. It just isn’t our style. Congrats on your accomplishments!
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8 Comments
Great morning ritual. I’d like to develop one myself next before going to work that doesn’t always mean more work! I’m reading The Millionaire Next Door and it has definitely inspired me to persist in our frugal ways to reach FI. Good read so far!
Yeah, I find that walking before work gives my day a different feeling. I loved The Millionaire Next Door. I actually bought that one on CD and listened to it years ago when I had my long commute. That was one of my big motivators!
Who motivates me? This PF community, of course! Seriously, reading about how you people are saving, investing, paying off debt, etc motivates me to believe that I can do the same!
Admittedly, I pulled out the Big Guns naming Warren Buffet 🙂 I get most of my motivation from the PF community, as well. I love reading different stories about how other people are blazing their own FIRE path!
What keeps me motivated, unfortunately, is sheer need. We’ve spent this year saving for a medical expense that’ll cost $25k next year. So we don’t get to work toward too many long-term goals until that’s over and done with.
But once that’s dealt with, I’m hoping that just basic goals — like being able to work part-time as I get older (because of fun expenses like the one above, we got a late start saving for retirement and I doubt we’ll ever be able to retire fully) and things like that.
So… I guess my motivation is nervous energy?
Necessity is the mother of invention 🙂 Although I definitely know the feeling of knowing what you should do and not having the funds to do it. I was in that position for quite a few years as a single parent. It sounds like you have a great plan! Keep moving forward and you’ll be amazed!
Mad Money Cat looks just like my cat “Lover” (yes, that’s her real name … my daughter named her at about age 4).
Warren Buffet’s comments don’t surprise me at all. My wife and I will actually be crossing into the $1M mark within the next few years and honestly we are hardly any different than when we met in college. Money is a tool and nothing else. When people start to identify who they are by how much money they have, they start down a very dangerous road.
Awe. Lover sounds fabulous 🙂 I couldn’t agree with you more. The only thing I imagine being different is having more freedom. I can’t imagine we will spend much more than we do now. It just isn’t our style. Congrats on your accomplishments!