HALF A MILLIONAIRE

Summer has arrived, and everyone wants to take a vacation. I would like to share with you a conversation that I had with a friend at work.

My friend: Are you planning to take your family anywhere this summer?

Me: No. We are going to enjoy our summer right here at home. We have a two-year-old, so we don’t want to travel.

My friend: Common, man! Why are you so cheap? You make all this money. You have to spend it to have a good time with your family.

Me: I know what you mean. But, seriously, it is not about money.

My friend: Liar! Life is always about money. You have been working 60 hours plus a week for what? It is all about money, man.

Me: I am not saying that money is unimportant. We just don’t feel like going on a vacation at this time because we are having a great time at home.

My friend: What do you do at home? I don’t care what you do at home. It is not the same as going on a vacation. You don’t have to worry about life. You enjoy your time. You just relax, man.

Me: We go to the mall. Our daughter loves the merry-go-around carousel. I ride with her. We eat junk foods and just hang out. At home, we play in our backyard, looking at bugs and ants. She likes to draw pictures with her chalk. We just do the simple things that everyone does. It’s fun.

My friend: Common! You can do those things everyday. You need to show them a different world.

Me: You have been the one who asks all the questions. Now, it is my turn. When you are on vacation, you are happy for that one week, right? I am at home and happy. So, is there a difference between your happiness and mine? When your vacation is over, what are you going to do? Mine is never over because everyday is already a vacation for me. Why do I need to go on a vacation when I am already on a vacation?

My friend: You are weird! You make all that money for what? You will die, eventually. Why don’t you use it to buy your family some good time?

Me: I am glad that you have brought up the concept of death. Let me expand it a little more: When you are on your vacation, happy and all. But, technically, you are still dying. I am at home and, like you, I am dying because as every second passes by, you and I, both, get closer to death. So, taking a vacation or staying at home is irrelevant, right? As long as, we all “live” (or “die”) a happy life.

My friend: I don’t get it, man. You have weird ways of looking at things. I think you are just cheap.

Me: Let’s stop here. Again, it is not about money.

I did not want to continue our conversation because I felt that he had the intention to humiliate or anger me. We are still talking to each other because I was never mad at him for calling me, “cheap”. I call myself, “cheap”. And, I am proud of it. Sometimes, my wife calls me, “cheap”. But, my wife has started to understand my “weird” thinking. She knows that I am not cheap because if it is the right thing, I do not hesitate to spend. She calls me “cheap” because she just wants to tease me.

I just wanted to illustrate one point: In life, I do what I want. I refuse to follow the norm. I define happiness on my own terms. I did ask my wife if she would like to take our daughter away for a few days, and her answer was “no” because, like me, she thought that we have had a lot of fun at home. Why seek happiness in a distant place when it can be found at home?

A farmer lost a white mare, so he put on a sad face wherever he went. His neighbors comforted him with nice comments when he complained about his bad luck. A few months passed by, and the man seemed to have forgotten about his misfortune. Amazingly, one morning, while feeding his cattle, he heard horses neighing. He quickly ran to the front gate, and his white mare was standing next to a black stallion. Apparently, the lost horse had brought home a boyfriend. The farmer felt blessed, so he shared his fortune with his neighbors. Some were happy for him, but a few of them were jealous. His son loved the black stallion and begged him for it. The happy father gave his only son the black stallion and instructed him to take good care of the animal. One afternoon, neighbors knocked on the farmer’s door and told him that his son had broken a leg because he fell off the black stallion. The farmer became sad and started to complain about the misfortune that the black stallion had brought to his family. A few years later, a war broke out in the region, and the farmer’s son was exempt from the draft because he had a broken leg. The farmer was joyful, so he shared the good news to everyone.

The above story teaches us a few financial lessons. For example, when one invests in the stock market, one must have the determination to cut losses and move on. Learn from mistakes, but don’t dwell on them. Do not complain about one’s misfortune, but do something to change the situation. Do not tell your neighbors everything about your life because some can become jealous.

Personally, I once acted like the farmer. It was raining cats and dogs, and I decided to drive home after a long day because I did not live very far from work. Unfortunately, my car dipped in a pool of water on the road, and the engine was dead. I quickly escaped as the water rushed in from the engine compartment. It was dark, and I was soaked. I spent a few hours working with Geico to report the claim and to direct him to where he should tow my brand-new car. I was very angry, so I cursed at my stupidity for leaving work in the rain. I blamed every single drop of rain in the sky. Financially, I knew I was in trouble because I still owed money on the car. A month later, the insurance company gave me a check for about $10,000. It was a total loss. I had to finance $24,000 to buy the car in the beginning. I had sent in my car payments for more than two years, so I owed about $12,000. The estimated value of my car at the moment of the accident was about $22,000 because the traveled milage was about 30,000 miles. I knew that I had lost money, but the situation was not so bad. I told the sky that I was sorry for having pointed “the finger” at it. I had to find a way to take advantage of the situation. What should I do with the money?

I spent several days contemplating the problem. I decided that I would not buy an expensive car, and my first choice was Honda Civic because it would burn less gas and was known for durability. I went for a brand-new Civic because a used one was only a couple of thousands cheaper. I paid about $14,000 for it because I bought it from an online fleet. I financed the entire amount at 3%. For my previous car, I had to pay $450 per month, but for the new one my monthly payment was just above $300. I saved about $150 per month, and I had a vehicle to move around. I was elated.

I did think about using the entire ten thousand dollars to pay for the new car, but I felt that I needed to invest it in something. And, I did. I used it as a downpayment for my first rental property. I bought a small, but brand-new house located in an expanding city where there are two large universities and new business developments. It generates about $200 per month when it is occupied. However, because the renting market has become very competitive, I am just making even in the past several years. Although it brings in $2400 per year when rented out, a few months of vacancy will drain all of the profit. My plan is to hold on to it for about ten years, and then I will sell it. Sometimes, I thought if I had made a mistake by investing in real estate when at the time I did not know much about the industry. I have learned so much since then, but this current financial crisis has taught me the most valuable lesson of all, “don’t be too greedy”. I felt lucky because I bought the house in an area where the housing market had bottomed. The price could not go lower than what I paid for.

Regardless, I feel that I have become a smarter investor, who researches before investing. I feel that I am able to take any monetary loss because I have found the source of happiness, which is hidden within life itself. We all carry boulders of burden in life. The secret is to identify and to let go, and life will become more simple and beautiful. When one is truly happy, a million or half-a-million, it does not matter anymore. For the game at hand, my target is $500,000.

Having a monthly budget is very crucial because it keeps one’s spending habit in check. The monthly expenses listed in the below table are very much constant. The areas that we can cut back are cell phone, cable, internet and home phone. Our family’s cell phone plan is the cheapest one. We need our home phone for international calls. We do follow our favorite shows on television. We use the internet for everything. In the future, we will probably cancel our landline phone because we can use the internet to communicate with our friends and family abroad. However, sometimes it is more convenient to phone someone directly than to wait for each other to get online. Therefore, we are still undecided about the issue.

It is totally true that a budget can help one see and understand one’s monthly expenses. However, I would like to direct this topic toward one’s internal self. It is all about focusing on the right areas of life. For me, my health is my first priority because I love life, so I exercise to strengthen my body and mind. A strong spirit keeps mental diseases away and guides one toward true happiness. When one is truly happy from the inside, materialism vanishes. Therefore, the risk of overspending decreases. It is like driving a car. A first-time driver always meticulously follows the lanes on the road because he wants his car to be perfectly in the middle of the two white lines. However, for an experienced driver, he is able to navigate freely and safely on the road without focusing on the white lines. Personally, I believe that keeping a monthly budget is important because it gives a summary of one’s expenses and prevents one from overspending. The numbers in my budget are my white lines, and I am an experienced driver.

A friend tells me that money is the most important thing in life, and he just wants to concentrate on making money because without it he cannot support his life. I agree with him that we all need to have money to support our lives, but it does not have to be first on our list. Life is a number line that starts with birth and ends with death. Along it, one will have to make the right choices to be truly happy. My goal is to be half-a-millionaire.