I have mentally struggled with this situation for many years. My family was extremely frugal. So frugal in fact that my mom did the majority of shopping at Goodwill and had an advanced method of switching the tags so she could get better pricing. She would even purchase the clothes and then take those tags off and put them on a different pair of clothes we out grew. This was clearly dishonest and I have never stooped this this level myself. If you aren't from the United States Goodwill is a second hand store. It is like going to a garage / yard sale that is inside. All Goodwill stores smell the same way for some reason. Kind of like a couch that has been left in a shed since 1972.
I'm not complaining I'm just stating the facts. This frugal nature has rubbed off on me as well and I rarely buy new clothes. We did have certain things that were nice and the best part about growing up where I did is that we had privacy and 36 acres of land. I did a lot of work for farmers growing up and was able to purchase dirt bikes, four wheelers, snowmobiles, and an ultralight aircraft. Honestly I had a lucky childhood in a lot of ways.
Making Payments
By the time I was born my parents already had the property paid off and also had a rental house which was the next property over paid off. They did this by just being super frugal and pinching every penny. They also never made payments on vehicles. I remember having a girlfriend in high school that had car payments to make and all her family members cars had loans on them too. That was really weird to me.
I have continued this trend of NOT making car payments by driving a 2001 Pontiac. It isn't worth much at this point but it runs well and it doesn't cost me much to operate. I don't have a problem with this but once in awhile it kind of gets to me when people almost act like I'm some scrub because I drive an older car. Then you realize they have a 6 year note on their car.
Don't get me wrong......I sort of get it. It would be fun to drive a new car and all that. I just don't want payments on stuff.
I FUCKING hate the fact that I don't have my house paid off yet. I almost have it paid off but still just putting in the sacrifice month after month. I have a 15 year note and have really been chipping away at the principle but it is like the struggle never ends. I feel like I should have had it paid off by now. But then again it is just me over here.
Ultimately sometimes I wonder if the struggle is worth it and if I shouldn't just have a 30 year note and make car payments for 7 years and have rented furniture and live the No Equity Life Style.
The Conundrom
We can die any second. We will often hear about people in their 20's dying in their sleep. Or some random car accident takes out a whole family. Sometimes I just want to sell out of everything and travel the world and ball out of control.
Don't get me wrong my life is pretty cool but it could be out of control if I liquidated this property and then applied some leverage and just went rock star status. The struggle is real. I keep thinking in the back of my mind that if I can become "Bitty Rich" that all my problems will be solved! Below is the car I want to get if this happens.
What do you think Steemit? Have you also dealt with the mental burden of putting in the sacrifice vs just living a no equity life style and living it up?
Credits: The car is a Vaydor. There are only about 20 of these in the world and it is was designed by Matt McEntegart in the Tampa, Florida area. Visit their website at http://vaydorexotics.com/ to find out more information. If you have seen Suicide Squad that is the car that the Joker is driving!
