BigBangWeary
Recycles dryer sheets
I apologize if this has been discussed here before, but has anyone else come to believe that achieving FIRE is something like 20-30% knowledge and research, and about 70-80% behaviour and willpower? Many of my colleagues are comfortably making six figure plus salaries, but at the end of the month I hear them complaining about not having enough. One could assume that they are socking it away into investments or real estate, but after numerous coffee room chats, and after work cocktails, I have come to realize that the vast majority of my co-workers are putting shockingly little towards either.
I would say that most of my closest workmates know that my wife and I are serious about investing and saving, and they are always surprised by how much we spend on groceries per month, or the fact that I bring in my own lunches, or that I monitor how much I spend on alcohol per month, etc. At times, I feel like an alien species that must really be living in a different world.
Occasionally, I get asked about investing by these same people and what they should do, but when I start talking about paying yourself first, etc. the automatic response is, “Oh, we don’t have much to spare for that.” Really??! I work in the same job, live in the same country, and pretty much socialize, travel, and entertain in the same way you do. We just don’t buy every new device that comes on the market, we shop for value, plan our shopping in advance, and we track our expenses. As far as I can tell, that’s the difference.
I am starting to really believe that unless you can change your attitude, all the information in the world will pretty much be wasted on someone who cannot be consistent when it comes to their behaviour. Would you agree?
I would say that most of my closest workmates know that my wife and I are serious about investing and saving, and they are always surprised by how much we spend on groceries per month, or the fact that I bring in my own lunches, or that I monitor how much I spend on alcohol per month, etc. At times, I feel like an alien species that must really be living in a different world.
Occasionally, I get asked about investing by these same people and what they should do, but when I start talking about paying yourself first, etc. the automatic response is, “Oh, we don’t have much to spare for that.” Really??! I work in the same job, live in the same country, and pretty much socialize, travel, and entertain in the same way you do. We just don’t buy every new device that comes on the market, we shop for value, plan our shopping in advance, and we track our expenses. As far as I can tell, that’s the difference.
I am starting to really believe that unless you can change your attitude, all the information in the world will pretty much be wasted on someone who cannot be consistent when it comes to their behaviour. Would you agree?