I had a college friend, not a really close friend but we keep in touch over Facebook. I got a call from him last week asking for a Rs. 20,000 loan for a few months at whatever interest rate I wanted. He works at one of big IT companies in India. I always used to see him posting pictures of his cars, gadgets & foreign vacations.
I was shocked by the petty sum he asked for. I asked him if anything was wrong. He said he was looking to switch the job because his expenses have grown & his salary is insufficient to meet them. Honestly, he was drawing a decent amount of salary, more than sufficient to provide for a good lifestyle.
However, he got into a lifestyle that was impossible to manage unless he got a huge hike on salary. Not only that, most of the stuff he had was bought on EMIs through different credit card companies.
We tend to judge wealth by what we see, because that’s the information we have in front of us. We can’t see people’s bank accounts or portfolio statements. So we rely on outward appearances to gauge financial success. But the truth is that wealth is what you don’t see!
Now-a-days, material appearance like cars, smart watches, expensive mobile phones are most important things only after Oxygen. We immediately assume someone to be rich just by looking at his appearance.
There is no faster way to FEEL RICH than to spend lots of money on really nice things. But the way to BE RICH is to spend the money you have, and to not spend the money you don’t have.
We all make money to satisfy our desires. Nobody should lecture you on how to spend your money. You’ve earned it & you have all the right to spend it. However, you must ensure adequate provision for maintenance of stuff that you buy. Also you must ensure having adequate funds to not have any impact on your basic lifestyle.
Human desires are unlimited. We want to live a life that we see others living on social media. What we don’t see is the unpaid credit card bills, impossible to maintain lifestyle costs, social pressure to look rich.
Being rich gives you options. Feeling rich makes you vulnerable.
Being rich gives you peace. Feeling rich gives you anxiety.
Being rich is having shares, mutual funds, bank balance.
Feeling rich is having cars, watches, air pods.
“If you spend money on things, you will end up with things & not the money”
Moral of the story:
Keep a tab on your expenses to ensure they are at a controllable level. Rate of increase in income should be higher than rate of increase in expenses, not the other way around. Read that again.
Personal finance is really PERSONAL. What suits others may not suit you. Confused about where to invest your money?
Book a consultation call with me (paid service) to get your queries answered
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