Wisdom Challenge: Day 10

The blessing of Yahovah makes one rich,
And He adds no sorrow with it.

Proverbs 10:22 (NKJV)

My First Taste of Riches

I left the Navy about $20,000 in the hole.

Half of it was what I owed on the car; the other half was the consequence of financing my riotous living with credit cards and cash advances.

In the midst of my partying, I never stopped to consider that I’d have to pay it back; and that realization hit me hard in 2017.

I got a job at Boeing that year, and one night during a 12-hour shift, I decided to finally read a book that was given me by an officer in my division shortly before I officially separated.

That book was the Slight Edge— I read it cover to cover and it changed my life. Shortly after I discovered Dave Ramsey and became obsessed. I started grinding– working upwards of 70 hours a week. I had no life, but managed to pay off the credit cards and most of the vehicle before starting community college in 2018.

This is also the time when I stopped drinking more or less, and had my ‘conversion experience.’ That meant reading the Bible again and actually trying my darndest to do what it says this time.

This is when when I started making a lot of money.

Between scholarships, military benefits, a chill job, and free housing, I was able to payoff all my debt and stack a bit of cash on the side.

Life was by no means perfect, but money was not one of my problems.

3 Things That Will Keep You Broke

I’ve learned a lot about money throughout the different phases of my life, but these lessons are focused on what kept me in a poor financial situation when I was in the Navy.

Spending to cope is just a bandaid.

There’s a thrill that comes from buying things, especially expensive things. It seems like the more expensive it is, the bigger the dopamine hit. Maybe it’s even that you like to flex when you go out; buying everyone drinks because you like the validation that comes with it.

Remember: nothing outside of yourself will bring you peace. Even if you bought everything you ever wanted, you’ll still have to look at yourself in the mirror so you might as well just deal with that.

Pleasure and substances will drain you.

Whether it’s alcohol, drugs, cam girls, or nicotine; having a dependence on external pleasures is going to wreck your finances. We all know those people who complain about not having any money, yet they spend $300 a month on weed or going out to the bars every weekend.

If you have some bad habit, I dare you to look at your bank accounts and add up how much money (or time) you spent on that habit. You may be surprised, but awareness of a problem is the first step to solving it.

He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; He who loves wine and oil will not be rich.

Proverbs 21:17 (NKJV)

Money that’s unaccounted for vanishes.

Have you ever played peek-a-boo with a kid or watched how they might cover their face to hide thinking that it makes them invisible? That’s always funny right, because we know that’s just not how it works.

Actually… that’s exactly how it works with money. If you don’t keep track of it; if you don’t check your accounts or know where your money is going, it will disappear.

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This post was a little longer than usual, but I hope it gives you a few things to think about when it comes to finances.

I plan to write a part two that will focus more on things I learned about money from when I was making a lot. Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss out on that.

Catch you on the next one– Ciao!

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