Teaching Oneself Not To Want More

 NOT TO WANT MORE IS UNAMERICAN...

NOT TO BE GREEDY IS UNAMERICAN...

Yes...  it is hard to believe that someone living in the US of A does not feel this way (see above)...  but, let me assure you that I do and have felt this way for a long, long time.

My first job after college, I really did not care about making more than I needed to pay my bills and take a couple of week long vacations and a few extra presents for the Holidays and Birthdays; but, as my daughter increased in her age, I found myself wanting more so that I could give more to her...

That desire for GREED and WANTING MORE stayed with me until I was in my 40's and moved from the Piedmont of North Carolina to the Valley of East Tennessee and began to witness first hand that wanting more was not all that it was cracked up to be...  and so, I gradually started cutting back and becoming debt free.  My first selections were quitting smoking and drinking alcohol.

While it may seem quite obvious to you, it was not yet to me that wanting less allowed me to earn less and not be pressured to moving up the ranks so that I could move up the ladder and increase my income...  although, there were still things that I thought I wanted or needed so money became a necessary evil.

UNTIL...  at the age of 60, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and shortly thereafter had a serious heart attack due to heart arteries being blocked 100%, 90%, and 90% and reduced my ejection fraction to right around 20...  now...  many of you may not realize how serious it was...  but, let me share what the Cardiologist told me...  if I had not been so damn healthy and my heart created separate little blood vessels to bypass on their own the bad ones, I would not be alive today to tell my story.

FINALLY...  GREED and WANTING MORE was absolutely no longer important...

I did not need 

• a new car every 5 years
• a bigger house
• a vacation home
• trips to Europe or Cruises
• new clothes or shoes
• concerts, sports events, or movies
• a whole lot of food from the grocery
• at the most expensive times

It did not matter what my neighbors did or the things that my friends purchased to make their lives more meaningful nor did it matter what my siblings had or were able to give to their families...  things are nothing more than things...  and, after a few months of use, all these things just sit around and gather dust.

At 73 years of age, I find just how little out of life that I really need to be content and satisfy my happiness.

1. I need my faith
2. I need healthy 5 small meals a day
3. I need my modest debt free home
4. I need only reliable transportation
5. I need enough income or savings to pay my must have bills
6. I need access to the internet
7. I need a laptop computer
8. I don't need but have a cell phone

FINANCIAL PLANNING Part IV

Ideas to Save Money...

When buying a newer car:

• Don't buy a brand new one
• Look for a year old car (can save $10-$15,000)
• a leased vehicle
• leased by a company not an individual
• low mileage
• Once this car is pay off, save the payment money
• Use saved payment money to buy new leased vehicle

Upgrade your present home every 3-5 years:

• Purchase a $50,000 home (2020 - age 25)
• Only renovate bathroom/kitchen
• Sell for $75,000 (2025 - age 30)
• Shelter capital gains money from taxes
• Buy 2nd home for $100,000 
• Only renovate bathroom/kitchen
• Sell for $150,000 (2030 - age 35)
• Shelter capital gains money from taxes
• Buy 3rd home for $200,000
• Only renovate bathroom/kitchen
• Sell for $250,000 (2035 - age 40)
• Shelter capital gains money from taxes
• Buy 4th home for $300,000
• Only renovate bathroom/kitchen
• Sell for $350,000 (2040 - age 45)
• Shelter capital gains money from taxes
• Buy 5th home for $400,000
• Only renovate bathroom/kitchen
• Sell for $450,000 (2045 - age 50)
• Shelter capital gains money from taxes
• Buy 6th home for $500,000
• Only renovate bathroom/kitchen
• Sell for $550,000 (2050 - age 55)
• Shelter capital gains money from taxes
• Buy 7th home for $600,000
• Only renovate bathroom/kitchen
• Sell for $650,000 (2055 - age 60)
• Shelter capital gains money from taxes
• Buy 8th home for $700,000
• Only renovate bathroom/kitchen
• Sell for $750,000 (2060 - age 65)
• Shelter capital gains money from taxes
• Buy 9th home for $800,000
• Only renovate bathroom/kitchen
• Sell for $850,000 (2065 - age 70)
• Claim ONE TIME exemption from IRS on Capital Gains and purchase a less expensive home
• Pay off mortgage debt
• Save about $250,000 to $500,000

NOTES:

1. This concept assumes that the economy is continuing to grow
2. This concept assumes that each year you will receive wage increases
3. This concept assumes that you purchase a house that is in good physical condition
4. This concept assumes that you use common sense when renovating
5. This concept assumes that you take good care of your home
6. This concept assumes that you don't mind moving every 5 years
7. This concept assumes that you select homes in viable communities

Just Relaxing a bit...

About 12-15 years ago, after my wife and I paid off our mortgage on the house, we decided to renovate the outside of our house in case we did not have enough money to afford to go on a vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC which is where we both like to go in the summers.
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Our first order-of-business was to install an above ground about 24-26 feet in diameter, then build a deck around the pool big enough for me to completely walk around to clean and wide enough to add a 12 foot by 12 foot gazebo along with a 5-person hot tub next to the wall of the house since the pool proper was about 10-12 feet away from the house. 

During those 12-15 years, we have had to do nothing to our pool or pump (except add a new motor) but our hot tub (a Hot Springs Prodigy) has required maintenance twice at a cost of about 1/2 of what we paid for it.  Part of the problem is that we were using powders to clean the tub and that was causing problems even though powders is what the seller recommended we use.  Once we switched to liquid, our only issues has been replacing the heating elements. 

A month ago, our hot tub stopped heating the water and we called the technicians expecting a $2,000 bill and decided that we would use our COVID-19 stimulus money from the Government but it was just a bad switch in the electrical box which cost us substantially less except for the huge labor fee.

My wife sits under the gazebo most every day in the summer when it is not raining or lays in a lounge chair soaking up the sun and if she gets too hot, cools off in the pool.  I use the pool on a daily basis but have to wear long sleeves because of my Melanoma and the sun, but what I do is walk around the circumference of the pool for exercise.

As far as the hot tub is concerned, I use it at least every other night all year long, remaining in the 104 degree water for about 30 minutes each time.  The jets are pre programmed to only last 15 minutes for health reasons.

Our investment in our backyard was the best money we every spent and those monies did not come from salary or savings but from consulting fees that I earned on-the-side as a second job.  If I had remained in NC, my skill set would have been a dime-a-dozen and no consulting would have ever come my way, but in TN I was unique and consulting gigs were easy to acquire.