Someone asked me recently to, "name three things about my personal character I feel were or are pivotal and positive attributes in my life and why," and because I thought it was an excellent question I answered with candour...and then asked the same question in return.
One response was my work ethic which from a very young age has been strong; it's something that has enabled me to do difficult things, help people who may not have been able to help themselves, protect and serve, and among other things create a financial and life-position with which I'm comfortable.
Nothing landed on a silver platter for me, I worked for everything and gave a lot of myself in the process, went without for the greater and future gain and generally just worked hard.
I'm not sure what others would feel, but I'm content with that and the effort has been rewarded in monetary and satisfaction terms. Life isn't just about money though and a lot of the rewards have come differently although - let's be honest here - money is important in this society
So, I've worked hard for my current financial position but it's not the only element I've employed in respect of financial security. Financial security is as much about investment and hard work as it is about knowing when and when not to spend money. I've made many such decisions and around how to make money and, the things I have, work better for me for longer. This has saved money and those savings have been put back into investments and general (needed not wanted) living costs which paid dividends.
Back in late 2016 I decided to put a solar array on one of my houses and despite the outlay figured (based on a lot of research and calculation) it would work out well on a long-term basis in saving money which I'd be able to drop into investments and get working in better ways for me. That's exactly what happened.
I got it done and was excited to see what I saved in electricity bills over the years to come; now I can look back over several and see the solid gains.
Below is seven full years of energy usage and production on that house/solar array from 2030 back to 2017 left to right. I've left out 2016 and 2024 as they're not full years.
It shows imported, exported, produced, consumed and net exported electricity data for the twelve months of each year and while it may not mean much to the casual observer in terms of cost savings it's significant considering that it reduces my electricity bills as I get paid for the electricity the solar system exports back to the grid.
From day one I decided to put the money I saved on each quarterly bill into an investment I'd started specifically for it. Each quarter that investment grows by about $375, the money I save on my electricity bill due to my solar array, and just that monetary injection sits at around $10,125 (AUD) since October 2016 and it's much higher because the investment has gained in value through compounding interest. Sure, I had to outlay several thousand dollars to get the solar array set up but I'm several thousand dollars in front now...That's several thousand dollars of free money.
I've not had to work hard for that money, all I've done is shift it around from here and there and it's not been at all difficult, the sun gave it to me. #sunnymoney
I love my sunny money and have since had solar arrays installed on my other houses which are also working just as well, all are feeding into their own investment 'bucket'. This is helped along by changing how power is used in the households, less usage at night and more in the daytime when the solar power is available (thanks sun), and again that's not been a difficult thing to do.
I don't shy away from hard work because I know its value to me and others; I have a reward for effort ethos and respect others who have the same. My work ethic doesn't just relate to physical work though, it applies to all of my life and it's as much about ownership and responsibility, discipline and a desire to be more self-reliant which is why I work so hard at all of the elements which make up my life, focus on the right decisions even if those inhibit me somewhat in the present and also to living life as best I can now while planning ahead. It's worked for me my entire life and I'm in the position I hold now because of it.
My solar arrays are one way in which I've worked towards my future, a short term loss for the greater gain in the future; thanks to ownership and responsibility in respect of investing the savings and the discipline to do it things are on a nice trajectory. It's an ethos that has worked well, hard work, and with the other personal characteristics I have I'm left thinking that it's working out nicely.
"name three things about your personal character you feel were or are pivotal and positive attributes in your life and why,"
I wonder what your answer might be if you were asked that question?
If you're interested in responding please go ahead, or maybe you want to comment on my sunny money or whatever else you like, the choice is yours to do so or to not, and I'll respond commensurate to your comment.
Design and create your ideal life, tomorrow isn't promised - galenkp
[Original and AI free]
Image(s) in this post are my own
