First of all, I apologize for not writing that often; I know Aminul was irritated by my absence. I got caught up with the video project which was first supposed to be a simple music video. But then it was changed with having a small skit before the music video to a mini drama, and now the video itself is now a natok (drama in Bangla). Also, I made a move of my blog from an independent hosting service back to Wordpress.com because I plan to study abroad and so I can’t pay for hosting on a monthly basis while I’m away. I don’t want to lose all the content which I’ve written so I want to keep my work stored away on WP’s reliable servers.
Most of us want to be filthy rich and buy big mansions, expensive cars, have world-class vacations, but is it all worth it? I don’t really think it’s worth having so much even if one has the money to have all that. With current world economy, especially in the US, money is tight right now. Most Americans spent money when they had none with credit and hardly saved any money. Banks gave loans to buy houses to people, who didn’t have a decent income to pay for the loan, and now those loans are in default and the borrowers can’t pay and their credit reports are damaged, along with big losses by the banks. People who lived a simple life and didn’t get themselves into that mess don’t have to worry much.
I’ll go further in details in living a simple life later in this post but first I wanted to point out that I messed up with credit cards. I had credit cards in college and spent like an idiot and suffered for it. I learned that paying with just cash is the best. I learned that not having much and living simple is better than living with so much assets.
There is a saying, with more money comes more problems; however, that’s not always the case. It’s more like with more spending comes more problems. I remember I had a significant amount of debt, and I kept on spending even with the debt and it created more and more problems for me. I learned that it’s better to live below one’s means. For example if you have the money to buy a $500,000 house, don’t buy it. Instead, buy $200,000 house because it’s better and safer to have extra money around. Just because you have the money to spend doesn’t mean that you should spend it. Another example would be buying a car; what’s wrong with buying an economy class Toyota Camry over a luxury Lexus ES300? Absolutely nothing, because driving luxury cars is mostly about showing off. Luxury cars come with so much trouble if anything happens because everything is automatic, along with expensive maintenance.
The purpose of this post is not to refrain from living a comfortable life; I mean it’s ok to have luxury materials but don’t over do it. Most Americans over did it by spending beyond their means of affordability and now the American economy is suffering along with the economies of other rich countries.
What should you do with that extra money?
Well if you don’t want to be a shopaholic then save as much as you can. You never know when you need money for emergencies. You can save it either for unexpected emergencies or perhaps for a nice vacation, nice car, etc.
Living a simple life keeps one’s mind out of tension. With so much spending comes so many bills; no one has time to deal with all that. Taking 10 minutes to check up and pay off two bills is better than taking 1 hour of checking and paying off 10 different bills.
Another example would be, instead of buying a blueray player, stay with a high-definition player. You don’t have to buy the latest electronic devices on the market just because it’s new. When DVD players first came out in the late 90s, they were up to $600 or more, now you can get a DVD player for around $30 at Wal-Mart. Nowadays blueray players are well over $500, and some people will spend a fortune buying the player plus all the movie discs.
Hakuna Matata!
That’s what Timon says in the Lion King, which means have no worries for the rest of your days. I’m advocating that saying partially because you’re always going to have worries; however, if you live a simple life you’ll have less worries.
Sunny Personal Development credit, life, money, Personal Development, simplicity, spending
