Welcome back to the Rambling Mind Newsletter.
This post is 1727 words, an 8 min read. Enjoy!
You have been lied to.
Society tells you Freedom is in doing whatever you want, whenever you want, however, you want, with whomever you want.
This is A LIE.
To experience true freedom, you need to have guardrails.
If you have ever driven in or through the city of Atlanta, you have experienced the difference between TRUE FREEDOM and PERCEIVED FREEDOM.
In this city, people choose to do whatever they want when they drive. The rules of the road are nothing more than suggestions to people. The results of people driving in such a manner are the following:
Atlanta is #8 in the country in terms of traffic with an average of 37 hours of delay experience each year and 15 gallons of gas wasted. This is with Atlanta having fewer people than other cities on the list
Atlanta is #23 in the US for the number of accidents in a year. If you drive in Atlanta, there is a 50% chance you will be in an accident
In 2020 (when we were locked in our homes), there were 330,000 accidents in the city of Atlanta alone.
Georgia ranks as the fourth deadliest driving state, with 1,664 deaths out of 1,522 accidents. With about 90% of those accidents being around or in the Atlanta metro area
Georgia has the fourth highest insurance premium in the nation because someone has to pay for all these accidents.
This causes the costs of everything else to be higher
I could keep ranting and raving but
There is a cost to choosing to live life through the lenses of PERCEIVED FREEDOMS. It is much larger than we can ever imagine. This affects all aspects of our life but especially our finances.
The beauty of living with guardrails or rules and choosing to experience TRUE FREEDOM, is you get to determine what you want life to be like. You get to be in control of your decisions and actions. You are proactive with life rather than reactive to life. You live life how you choose to live life not how it has been prescribed to you.
A few years ago, I took time to come up with My Money Rules. These rules have evolved and will evolve more based on my life and as I learn more. These rules are not a one-size-fits-all pick-up from Walmart. This is a custom-tailored suit for this current moment of my life. So use it as a guideline to create your own money rules. It has helped me and hopefully will help you make decisions and live a TRULY FREE life.
Give
This is so important to me that I created a slogan for it and you see it on every single post
GENEROSITY > greed
This rule means I will give away at least 10-15% of my income every year base case to support my local church but also charities that I love and believe in
It also means that when I have the ability to I will help people who need it. This caused me to create a savings account to meet this need
This is how I feel fulfilled in my life
Not all advice is good and not all good advice is good for me
Your parents, friends, family members, teachers, co-workers, classmates, doorman, random gym person, influencer, actor, Google, Facebook, etc. are all trying to get you to do something
Some of those things are great but it doesn't mean it is meant for you
This leads to one of my favorite quotes by Sun Tzu:
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."
I must continue to learn, grow, and know more about myself than other people or an algorithm know me. So I know what advice to act on and what advice to ignore.
Live on Less Than I Make
Lifestyle Creep sneaks up on all of us, I must be attentive to what I have chosen to become a regular part of my life
Always review to make sure I have not added unnecessary expenses to live a life that I care nothing for
There is a level of lifestyle creep that is good but I have to be mindful and aware of what is being added to my life
Save and Invest at least 25-30% of My Income
This is a commitment to Future Kelechi that he and his family will be taken care of
This must be automated through direct deposits or automatic withdrawals.
Remove me from the process as much as possible
Always have 3 months of income as an Emergency Fund in CASH while Single. When married this must be at least 6 months of Income.
The best time to put out a fire is before it starts
Life will always happen the best defense we can have against the unpredictability of life is an emergency fund
As the Bible says, "Money solves a multitude of problems." Ecclesiastes 10:19
No consumer debt aka Credit Cards, Car Loans, Wedding Loans, etc.
For any large purchase, I must have the cash for it before I make the purchase
Cars, Engagement Rings, Dream Vacations, Wedding
There is beauty in Delayed Gratification.
Spend what I have only when I have it
I will use loans to maximize my money but I will always have the ability to pay it all off whenever I want to
For homes, have the ability to put 20% down on a home even if I do not necessarily do it
Debt is a burden and I do not like burdens. It is a robbing my future self to satisfy my current need or desire
Invest in Me
This is probably the hardest one for me to abide by.
Sometimes this means, don't cheap out but spend the money on a quality product that will last A LONG TIME i.e. shoes, beds, pillows, electronics, tools, etc.
SO HARD FOR ME
Because, unlike the others, sometimes the results here are not always tangible
Investing in myself means growing Mentally, Spiritually, Emotionally, Physically, and Financially
Praying, Meditating, Exercising, Eating Well, Learning
Falling in Love, Building Relationships
It does not always come with a monetary cost but it might be a time cost. Examples
Listening to a podcast about how to build a business could be free but it costs time to gain the knowledge
Spending time to build a new relationship may cost nothing but it costs time
Sometimes your efforts result in nothing. But the pursuit in itself is the reward. Which is hard to accept in a world driven by metrics and quantifiable results
Run toward the Fear
Face difficult challenges head-on as you are afraid scared and shaking.
As my brother once told me, "On the other side of fear is everything you have ever hoped for"
Have the hard conversations
The longer we avoid the hard things, the worse it becomes.
If there is a problem, deal with it as it appears. Do not wait until it rots and becomes worse to give it the attention that is needed.
Numbers Never Lie but they never tell the whole truth
There are things that will not make the most financial sense i.e. me buying a house last year. However, it makes sense for the life that I want to live
It is important to always run the numbers to understand what you are getting into but then make the best decision for your life.
Remember, I am creating the life I want to live, which means doing things that I love, for those I love, with those I love.
Marry the Right Person For ME
As much as we might like to ignore it or run from it, money is a large part of marriage and relationships.
I must align with my wife on our lifestyle and finances.
We will come from different backgrounds with different beliefs.
We must both be willing to put in the work to create our own beliefs as a family
We are a TEAM.
Meaning if it ain't working, I am not going to force it.
I am trying to be like an NCAA Basketball Highly Ranked Freshman.
Marry Once, and DONE
Contentment
Determine what is ENOUGH
Stop moving the Goal Post
What would the truest form of happiness be for my life and what is required to have it?
This might mean short-term finding ways to increase income for long-term satisfaction
More money is not always the answer long term because it comes with a cost that I am not willing to pay
Have FUN but Don't Eff It Up
Do whatever you want but count the costs
Do not let life pass you by because you are too focused on the future
But never sacrifice long-term success for short-term comfort.
The one thing I want you to notice with all my rules is the fact that it allows me to say YES to what I want more often than not. Because it is in alignment with how I want to live life. Some people might see these rules and say this is so restrictive but I DON'T CARE. These are for me to get joy and fulfillment out of life on this floating space rock we call Earth.
Remember, these have been designed and tailored for my life. You have to determine what are the things that make you unique. Your interests, the lifestyle you want, and your abilities, are the things that will help you determine your money rules.
Also remember, these are not set in stone and can be adjusted as your life evolves and you learn more. Meaning it is okay to make mistakes or to fail. Actually, failing and making mistakes is the best part of the process.
The only mistake you can really make is to do NOTHING!
GENEROSITY > greed
✌🏾
Recommended Reads
Jack Raines on Why Investing is Hard. It has nothing to do with the actual investments you make
Nick Maggiulli on The Number One determinant of Wealth. It is not income