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Can Money Buy Happiness?

Can money buy happiness? If you asked me that question prior to mid 2009 when I was at the peak phase of my corporate lifestyle, I’d be able to give an answer that’s hard to refute. I’ve been up to my ears in debt since 2006 (yes, still am but not for much longer) and when you spend the best days of your life killing yourself going to work and taking overtimes so you can make ends meet, an influx of money would definitely deliver happiness. Back then I knew for sure that if I had the money to pay off my debt, I’d feel much happier than I was so don’t be telling me that money can’t buy happiness. Yet there’s been leagues upon leagues of people who made it big and became rich, both past and present and they all said the same thing in unison – money can’t buy happiness. So what’s the deal? Why do all those people who lived miserable lives when they were flat broke say that money can’t buy happiness now that they can afford anything their heart desire? Do they know something we who have not reached that level yet don’t know?

This was something I was having hard time accepting. How can money not buy happiness? Have all those people who say that money can’t buy happiness forgot what it was like being poor? And then I started paying more attention to people around me. Especially people with clear signs of affluence – those driving $200k cars, business owners, large entrepreneurs, et cetera. There is hardly anything they can’t afford to buy, yet you look at their faces and they look miserable. They walk around with their Blackberries at the ready because they must be available 24/7 to solve problems. Other people’s problems.

It has quickly become clearer than the sky that money truly can’t buy happiness. Being flat broke is no happiness either, but being rich doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be happy. It will allow you to solve your debt problem or whatever other financial problem you may be currently facing, but it comes with problems of its own. Being rich, just as being poor are the two extremes on the opposite sides of the same spectrum. Happiness lies somewhere in between.

I’m sure you have one of those neighbors yourself. He drives brand new Lexus with leather upholstery and all available extras. Sound system he had installed can be heard from three blocks away. He goes on a five week vacation three times a year yet each time you see him, he looks grumpy. He gets about 5 phonecalls every 30 minutes and always seems to be in a rush to go somewhere. He has all the money in the world, so why is he not happy?

It is because pursuit of money is akin to chasing your own tail. At one point in your life when you are flat broke you see money as the only solution to your problems. You start killing yourself working long hours, your life becomes all about elbowing your way up to the top and work becomes your life. You eventually reach the point at which you are promoted to a position which pays enough to quickly pay off your debt. But as you got consumed by the corporate lifestyle, the only goal you had in your life was to make X amount of dollars and now that this X was reached, you simply set yourself with a new goal and increase the value of said X. The pursuit of money continues.

At this point your bank account is nice and thick and you quit work to start your own company so you can make even more money. The temptation of driving that new Lexus in leather with navigation system is irresistible. The more money you make, the more you want to make. You are on the sure way to working until you die. You have been asking yourself all the wrong questions and because of that it’s not clear in your mind what it is that fulfils you. So you fulfil yourself with work because it provides you with the sense of purpose. You are financially secure, but you continue working to feel productive. Is there any way you are gonna tell anyone that money can buy happiness now that you have all the money in the world?

That being said, if I were to choose between being broke and being rich, I choose being rich. However, when asking whether you’d rather be rich and sick or poor and healthy, I choose rich and healthy. Never compromise your happiness. Happy person is an enthusiastic person. Happiness boosts energy and creativity. As a result, happiness can buy you money. If you set yourself up to living an enjoyable, fulfilling life, your mind will be clear to come up with fresh ideas for financial freedom and instead of wondering whether money can buy happiness, you will find out that happiness could lead you to money.

The Best Day of Your Life

I came to realize that the key to abundant life is to have the best day of your life every day. The best day of your life is the day you will never forget. If it instantly pops in your mind, then you know that truly was the best day of your life, if it doesn’t, if you have to think about it, then perhaps you have yet to have the best day of your life. If that’s the case, ask yourself this instead: “What was the best day of my life so far?”

I noticed that when I shared my intentions to quit work so I can travel with my friends, they mostly nodded in agreement and wished me the best of luck in my future endeavours, but the way they said it implied that they thought I must have gone insane. I was so excited about my future and so adamant about leaving work to travel that they have collectively showed support but their body language suggested otherwise. Their doubts were put to an end when I made a point by asking them to tell me what the best day of their life was.

Not surprisingly, the answers to the “the best day of your life” question usually revolve around particular experiences not related to workplace or possessions. It could have been when you went swimming with sharks, it could have been when you got a chance to hang out with your favorite band back stage, it could have been when you had your first parachute jump from a plane, it could have been… fill in the blank. People have the best days of their lives – days they will never forget when they are on a vacation or in their time off work engaging in their hobbies or spending time with the loved ones. This formula could be looked at from the opposite angle and we’d come to conclusion that safest way to ensure that today will NOT be the best day of your life is by going to work.

Life is supposed to be enjoyable and one should strive to gear towards enjoyment if it isn’t. Even if your past experiences make it seem as though the Lucky Fairy took a day off when you were born, you have all it takes to set yourself free from the shackles of employment. You only have so many days to live on this planet – doesn’t it make perfect sense that if at the end of the day you don’t feel like this was one phenomenal day with exiting new experiences and unforgettable adventures, that you have just wasted one of the limited number of days available to you doing something that doesn’t bring you enjoyment?

It matters not whether you are employed or your own boss. If you have to go to work because some potentially important client is expecting something or something otherwise essential requires your attention, then you are enslaved by your own work and your life is dictated by it. You don’t do what you want to do, you do what you must do. What would you rather be doing right now? Ask yourself that. If there is absolutely nothing you can think of that would bring you any more excitement that going to your workplace to deal with today’s workload and clients, then perhaps you are one of those cases who find spending their days at work more fulfilling than anything else.

Today should be a best day of your life, because you are getting ready to do something that you can’t wait to engage in. You are so excited you can hardly contain yourself, your adrenaline is through the roof and every cell of your body is in ecstasy. If you do not feel this way, then ask yourself what you would rather be doing right now. Think over the fact that your journey on this planet will come to an end whether you like it or not. You don’t know when, but it’s as clear as the sky that you only have so many days before it’s over. Every day at the end of which you don’t feel like this was the best day of your life should be a signal that the path you are currently following in life may not be the best for you. All of the unaccomplished things that will pass before your eyes as your life comes to an end will have been unaccomplished because you spend the time, time you have only limited supply of, chasing false dreams.

A false dream could be that house that’s in a good neighborhood and is currently for a good price. You put yourself in lifelong debt that will keep you enslaved at work, but you believe it’s a step up on your path through life. House, just as anything material is a possession. Just as it is with all material possessions, there will always be a chance to have a replacement. But you will never be able to get the time you have wasted chasing it back. Every second is there only once in your life. Once spent, it will never ever be back. The best days of your life will not be associated with possessions your have acquired. Just as employment or entrepreneurship will not make your day the best day of your life, acquisition of possessions provides false sense of achievement that’s supposed to enhance your life, but it just distracts you from what you really want .

Human psyche is an astounding thing and sellers of things know that. Advertisements are specifically crafted to mess with your mind and make you buy it. They make you believe you need that latest DVD player with Blue Ray technology because that’s the way of the world right now. I used to fall for it myself and ended up with so much stuff it was sickening. My life was about spending the best days of my life at work so I can buy these things and with each new purchase, I felt like I was moving further with my life. Was I in for rude awakening!

I quit chasing false dreams and instead of doing what I have to do today, I do what I want to do today. I understand that it’s not all about money. What would be the use of being a millionaire if the business that is making me rich requires me to attend to it every day to a point that I don’t even have time to unwind and enjoy myself. Think about the best day of your life. Think about what you should do tomorrow to make tomorrow another best day of your life. Make every day count. It’s your life and you only have so much time.

Asking the Right Questions

Being able to ask yourself the right questions is a skill. Unless right questions are asked, choosing the right course for the future can be tricky. I’ve realized that questions such as What Do You Really Want in Life? are wrong questions to ask because the “Want” part in it suggests ownership. That’s why so many people respond to it with wrong answers without even realizing it. It’s very common to get “Lots of Money” as answers to questions starting with “What do you want?” yet money is nothing more than what they see as a vehicle to what they truly want. Let’s forget the “What do you want?” and start asking the right questions:

  • What excites you?
  • What makes you happy?
  • What makes you feel alive?
  • What should happen in your day to consider it the best day of your life?

When you start asking yourself questions like the ones above, then you are asking the right questions. And unless you start asking yourself the right questions, you’re not gonna get the right answers and without right answers, how are you supposed to decide what’s really good for you? There are different things that make different people feel like their lives are fulfilling. For me it’s travel, the ability to explore beautiful places around the world, meeting new people of different ethnic backgrounds – when I get my breath taken away by being exposed to the beauty of a place I haven’t been to before, that’s when I feel alive. Find out what makes you feel alive and then you can start re-arranging your life to achieve your goals. It all starts with you asking the right questions. Afterall, what’s the point of running if you’re facing the wrong way?

It’s your decisions that determine your destiny, not your goals. Goals are nothing without action. But without right course of action, wrong goals could be achieved. Ask yourself the right questions, so you can make the right decisions and believe in your ability to achieve it. As a response to your will and beliefs, the universe will conspire to make it happen. You don’t get to choose when you’re going to die, or how. But you can decide how you’re going to live. Now!

“If you had one shot, one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted, one moment, would you capture it, or just let it slip…”
— Eminem

What Do You Really Want in Life?

When faced with the “what do you really want in life” question, I’ve come to realize that our minds are so affected by mass-media controlled society, that we provide ourselves with wrong answers. Oftentimes where you are faced with the same question, the answer you come up with does not reflect what you really want in life, it reflects what you think will lead you to what you really want in life. Let me give you an example:

I was at my cousin’s wedding and got engaged in meaningful conversation with young gentleman whose outlooks on life were remarkably sophisticated for someone in their early twenties. I’ve asked him what his goals were in life and the answer was ambiguously plain. He said he wanted to be rich so he can comfortably provide for himself. So I asked him how much money he would like to make to feel comfortable. His answer was $100,000 a year. I asked him what he would do with the money if he was making $100k a year? He said if he was making at least $100,000 a year, he would be rich enough to travel abroad and explore three new countries each year.

Once he said that, my brain instantly scanned through the records of my life during the past 6 months and I have been faced with an astonishing revelation. I responded with: “Wait a second. Did you know that in the last 6 months, I travelled to three foreign countries myself? One of them was Iceland, one of the most expensive countries in the world, another one was Cuba where everything is government controlled and prices for tourists are hardly negotiable making it one of the most expensive destinations in the Caribbean and last one was the Dominican Republic where I went through insane adventures every day, including the whale watching, climbing of 27 waterfalls, performing live on stage with local celebrity called Luiggy Luiggy – plain and simple living it up to the fullest every day. On top of these three foreign destinations, within the same period I visited the Canadian Rocky Mountains 3 times, each time at a different location and I made an unforgettable trip to Toronto. Does this sound like the type of lifestyle you would like to be able to have but need $100,000 a year to afford?”

His affirmative stare made me continue with the same breath: “You know what the funniest thing about this is? I did all this and I make one third of what you believe you need to make in order to be able to afford this. And even funnier thing is that it didn’t cost that much either. I was able to finance each of those trips from the leftover money after I had paid for my rent, commuting, day to day expenses and whatever else my body desired during that time.”

This is it. When faced with “what do you really want in life” question, people often respond with wishes of being rich, because they believe that’s the key to the lifestyle they desire. So they basically offer wrong answer because while the answer is “money”, it’s not actually money they want. It’s certain lifestyle they want, but they believe money is the key to that lifestyle so they answer with “money”.

That’s what I used to think too. I always wanted to travel around the world and had a whole list of “must visit before I die” places which seemed so distant because I believed it was impossible to visit them unless I had money. I was telling this lie to myself for near a decade until I eventually decided to take action and once I did, I visited some of my favorite destinations, some of them known as world’s most expensive places and I did it on the cheap without a sweat.

Here are the facts:

  • You believe it is money you want but it’s not. It may be a really nice car you want to be driving, it may be a sail on a yacht across the Pacific you want to take, or maybe you want to learn Muay Thai under direction of a martial arts master in Thailand. These are things what you REALLY want. You only answer “money”, because you believe money will give you the opportunity to engage in your dream activities.
  • You may be surprised that with just a little bit of thoughtful planning, most of the activities which you believe take a lot of money, can actually be done on the cheap. I wanted to visit Iceland my whole life but was putting it off because I realized that it’s a very expensive country and I’d need a lot of money in order to be able to survive there. Yet I spend unforgettable 10 days in the country, rented a car to drive around the island, climbed glaciers, walked behind a waterfall, swam in a cave, visited bubbling mud fields and even had a great night out with local girls in Husavik on Friday night whom I met 5 minutes prior. We partied whole night and went dolphin watching the following day. All this for less that I would be willing to admit.

You have probably asked yourself the “what do you want in life” question several times throughout your life and have probably seen the answer in money as well. Now ask yourself: “What do you REALLY want in life?” and focus on final wishes, not on what could lead you to it. As you explore further, you will find out that you don’t have to be rich to have the lifestyle you desire. I am not rich, nowhere near. Yet I’ve been travelling all over the world and have many more places to go to – and it costs me less than $1000 a month. You don’t need to be rich, you only need enough to get the lifestyle you desire. And this will set you free from slavery of work and put you in the way of life where every day is an adventure you will never forget.

If You Always Do What You’ve Always Done…

I realize that grasping the concept of leaving work so one can travel (or otherwise engage in whatever your dream activity is) is not easy. There is always that little bit of doubt at the back of your head. That little bit of uncertainty that pokes you like a splinter underneath the skin. Work is this only thing that provides some hope for the future, right? One should be glad if they still have work to go to. Yet I’m preaching here about early retirement and quitting work to travel. How can this possibly work for an average person?

The very first and very important thing to realize is that I do not say one should quit work. Quitting work is simply what I did and the reasons behind my thinking are described in this journal/blog. One should live their life to the fullest and should do things they want to do. When your life is fulfilling, enjoyable and exciting, when you lay in bed at the end of the day and feel like saying: “What an awesome day it was today, I truly had hell of a time…” then you are likely doing it right. Remember, you only have limited time to spend on this Earth. Sooner or later, your time will be up and your journey on this planet will end. It is possible to have virtually unlimited supply of everything else, but never of time. You will not be here for unlimited length of time and you will not be able-bodied during all of your time here. It only makes sense that you use as much of it for things you enjoy as possible.

You know the ages old saying that “If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you always got“. And you will always feel what you always felt. You yourself have to be the change you want to see in your own life. It starts with you, because it’s your life. Sometimes the change may seem intimidating, because it requires one to step away from the safety of their homes, or take a step to the side from well established path that goes straight ahead and everyone walks on it. Change bears risks with it, because it can go either way, but hey… If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you always got.

I applied the “If You Always Do What You’ve Always Done…” principle to myself. I had a good job that’s pretty hard to get and is a clear keeper. I was making enough money to get by and occasionally go for a few with my buddies. I was able to buy myself latest fashion, go see latest movies or indulge in a massage. It seemed like a fairly steady life yet deep inside I felt that there must be more to life than this. However, this feeling did not surface until I resumed traveling. I was faced with the ultimate challenge:

  • Continue going to work. I have a steady and secure job that pays all my bills and leaves me some extra. If there is better life than this, I will never experience it, because all I will have known is work. There will be no surprises in my life as I know exactly what tomorrow brings – yet another day at work. But at the same time I know I am taken care of and don’t have much to worry about.

OR

  • Take the risk and quit work. I don’t know where this path leads, as it could go both up and down. My life will be one daring adventure and every day will be different. I don’t know the odds, but I will do what I believe in my heart I was meant to do.

I was content where I was at the moment, but I still believed that there was more to life and that I deserved it. I knew that in order to personally mature and feel better about my life as a whole, I’d need to change the way I do things, change the way I make decisions, change the way I live life. It’s pretty simple – If you keep your foot on first base, you will never steal second. And if you always do what you’ve always done, you will always have what you always got. What I got was just enough to get me by. I was a ship in safe harbor. But as John A. Shedd said – this is not what ships are for.

A risk of failure accompanies every change. But if you look at all the great achievers this world has known, you will notice similar pattern in their lives – they have all achieved great things by taking risks. By trying something different. By deviating from predetermined path followed my majority. You can either be safe and good, or you can take a chance and be great. It’s the way to knowing the world and knowing yourself. One does not discover new oceans without losing sight of the shore as one does not find out how far they can go unless they risk going too far.

Wayne Gretzky once said: “You’ll always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Yes, change requires risk-taking and risk-taking is ultimately prone to failure. If it wasn’t, they wouldn’t call it risk-taking, would they? However, even if you ultimately fail but you do it pursuing your dreams, you will have lived a much more fulfilling life than those who have put their dreams on a shelf for fear of failure.

Time – Your Most Precious Commodity

Throughout my life so far it’s always seemed as though I’ve never had enough time to do the things I am supposed to do, let alone things I want to do? The dreaded “wasting my life away” quote was at the back of my head as I was sitting in my cubicle browsing through pictures of people photographing themselves having the time of their lives at places I’ve never been to. All I could do at the time was say “maybe one of these days” to myself. After all, I have to go to work every day which leaves me with little time for traveling and money is tight so I’ll just have to bite the bullet and hope something comes my way. It didn’t.

Actually, it did but in a whole different form than I would have imagined. As part of my spiritual awakening I started to see things differently and realized how precious a commodity time is. It was already clear to me that spending the best years of my life working so one day when I retire I can enjoy myself made no sense, but when I realized the value of time, things took whole new turn. “Maybe” must be replaced with “May Be”.

I had tens of thousands of dollars worth of stuff sitting in my livingroom and I’ve dumped it all in the bin. I have primarily done it to liberate myself from chains these possessions kept me in, but as I was done, a realization of one far more important aspect of this act came to me. By dumping all these in the bin, I have also saved myself a lot of time. The other option was to list all these items for sale on classified ads sites. Had I followed this option, I may have added few nice bucks in my pocket but at what cost?

I’d have to take each item, take picture of it, get pictures ready for use on the net, write up a reasonable description of the item otherwise it may not attract attention of potential buyers and go through steps of publishing it on the websites. Subsequently, I’d have to deal with potential buyers who would be hitting me up with supplemental questions about each item and requests to drop the price (aka negotiations). I’d be spending my evenings responding to emails, bouncing them back and forth in hopes that someone will bite.

If I got lucky and found a buyer willing to shell out for these second hand things with expired warranty previously owned by a person they don’t know, I’d have to let it go for a price that’s way below reasonable value, because that’s how it goes with classified ad sales. So yes, in theory, I’d eventually make some money on it, but amount of time I’d have to invest into it could grow exponentially. Postings and repostings of ads that didn’t attract any bites, continuous questions from enquiring minds who’ll be trying to lowball me ad nauseum… would time invested really be worth it?

Bingo – that was the million dollar question. If it’s money you want, perhaps one would be better off spending this time focusing on something that could bring more in. As I was digging deeper into it, I came to realize the real value of time. Yes, time is your most precious commodity, because there is no money in the world that could buy it. Those things I had dumped – if such need arises, I can buy any of those back. But time – that’s one thing you can never buy back. Nothing in this world is more precious than time.

Time is so precious, everything revolves around it. Every regret you have is directly or indirectly affiliated with time. If you lose someone you love, you will be devastated. It’s after they are gone that you realize that so many things were left unsaid, so many undone. And now they will remain unsaid and undone forever. And it’s all because you have not spent as much time as you should have with that person. Perhaps it’s because you spent your days going to work and after work you were too tired. Perhaps it’s because you spent last two weeks re-visiting that car dealership and spent every evening there trying to get that new SUV for $10,000 less than advertised. To make or save money, you spent your time – the most precious commodity you have – by doing everything, except from what truly matters to you.

You are not the only one who makes this very mistake. I spent near a decade of my life – the best years of my life – going to work every day, working for money so I can exchange it for things that I then had to store in boxes and haul them around each time I moved. I did not do things I wanted to do and it went on for near 10 years. I will never be able to get those 10 years back. I can get back any of the items I threw in garbage as described above, but my years I spent going to work are irrevocably gone. During those years I haven’t done anything I really want to do. I simply went to work every day with a vision, that one day, sometime in the future I will retire and then I will be able to do what I want to do. As this premise became clearly ridiculous, I realized the value of time and started acting accordingly.

Keep this in mind – time is your most precious commodity. This day, this particular day on which you are reading this post will be there only once in your lifetime. Seize it. Seize the day! Wise people have been telling us that for millennia and I can’t believe it took me this long to realize it. There is a world of infinite possibilities out there. Live your dreams now, not in 20 or 30 years. Time does not discriminate. There are 1,440 minutes in a week and every single person out there gets this exact amount. It’s how you choose to use those minutes that makes the difference between those who live life to the fullest and those who don’t.

Working Until Retirement Make No Sense – Here is Why

The idea of spending the best years of your life going to work makes no sense. Work is a form of slavery with the only difference being that slaves were provided for, whereas workers must provide for themselves. If you are at work as you are reading this, ask yourself: “What would you rather be doing right now?” When I asked myself this very question sitting in the cubicle of my fine government job, I imagined myself climbing on top of the Kaieteur Falls in Guyana to feel the power of this mass of water plunging into the abyss below my feet as I look over the edge of the crevasse. The obvious question that followed was: “So why are you not there? Why are you sitting in the cubicle? What are you waiting for? If you keep waiting, soon you won’t be well enough to make it up there.”

The thing is, as I resumed traveling, the days while I was on the road felt so fulfilling, it gave me the sense of purpose. After I have returned to my cubicle, that purpose was gone, but desire to come back to it was red hot. To keep the spark alive, I travelled and travelled and travelled, visiting three foreign countries and two exciting places in my homeland within a span of a few months. I spent my evenings exploring the world from my computer chair putting a list of next places to visit together in my head. And the more I was digging into it, the more I felt like each day I spent at work is a day wasted. I felt like I should be doing something exciting because that’s what makes my life feel fulfilling but spending the best part of each day at work wasn’t it.

The scenario of enslaving yourself by going to work during the best years of your life in order to save money so overtime, once you have reached retirement you can take it and fulfill your lifetime wishes makes no sense. There is simply something terribly wrong with that equation: first of all, you may not even live long enough to reach retirement. If that happens to be the case, then all you will have known your whole life is work. You will not have gotten a chance to enjoy yourself because your life has ended before you reached retirement. Secondly, even if you are one of few who live long enough to reach retirement, by the time you get there, you will not be physically or otherwise fit to do all the exciting thing this life has to offer.

It’s a long way to retirement. Anything can happen during those endless years. You could get involved in an accident that will negatively affect your mobility. Or you could develop bad disease that will in some way limit your ability to enjoy life to the fullest. Taking all that into account – don’t you feel the same way I feel? I mean, what sense does it make to spend the best years of your life, years while you are still able bodied – going to work, wearing yourself out performing your job duties – so one day, in the future, when you retire you could start enjoying yourself?

You don’t know what tomorrow brings. The time to enjoy yourself is now. Seize the day as it will never come back.

Leasing of Smart Car that Failed

As the car I have owned was crapping out on me, I started looking around for a replacement. Shoving money into an old piece of junk just seemed like a complete and utter waste. My old car was a 1997 model, meaning that it was 10 year old. I have just passed 200k on it so the value was not there by any stretch of imagination. If I wanted to sell it, I would get at best a couple hundred bucks.

Troubles with that car started about a year prior. None of the troubles were major, the car was still running as engine and transmission were in decent condition, but the computer was busted and was feeding the engine with way more gas than it needed. Heating was busted too so warming the cabin up in winter was entirely impossible (which also meant it was impossible to defreeze the windshield for driving in cold weather).

I threw $500 into thorough maintenance and none of the issues were resolved. BTW, if you want to waste $500 for nothing, bring your car to Vegreville Auto and Body Shop. They have this great ability to charge you $500 and give you the car with same issue it had before bringing it in. When I brought mine in, I told the owner that it was eating too much gas, way more than it used to and it didn’t heat up. So he ran it through thorough maintenance, replacing all fluids and parts such as sparks, cleaning it up and doing whatever else there is to do to hike the price up to over $500 only to find out later than none of it helped. I was seriously unimpressed. I have clearly stated what the issues were and that this is why I’m bringing it in. I would not have put the car through this crap had I known it was not gonna deliver the result. What’s the point of spending half a grand for something that doesn’t solve your problem?

So after $500 investment that didn’t solve nothing, I still had a car with problems and a value lower than the maintenance ticket I had picked up. The car kept draining my wallet on gas as it used almost $1 worth of gas per 1km driven. This was insane, but it got even worse in winter when I couldn’t see where I was driving through and couldn’t even hold the steering wheel it was so cold. I realized that my time driving this car is up. So I started looking around at other options.

I needed to buy a new car. I’ve never had much luck buying used and given how bad financing options for used vehicles are compared to new, one would end up paying the same monthly premium for three year old piece of junk, as he would for the new one, because of interest rates. New cars have financing with interest rates as low as 0% – can’t get there with used. That means that unless you’re intending to pay for your used car by cash in full, you’re better off picking up a new one.

I didn’t have money to pay off my car at once, so financing was the only way for me. Having been deeply submerged within corporate lifestyle, I knew all about finances and what to do with it. I started to think the same way rich people do and realized that the best way to a new car was by leasing one, instead of financing. There are several reasons for that:

  • Lower monthly payments than with financing
  • After the lease term is over, you don’t end up with an obsolete piece of junk you’ll have to sell under value to get rid of it
  • What you lease, you don’t own and what you don’t own cannot be taken away from you when you get sued. This may not be an issue if you live outside of North America, but for us here it truly is serious. You don’t have to try hard. You just happen to be at the wrong place in the wrong time and you get sued. Lawyers are especially trained to run you to the ground and when you’re down, they will take the heaviest kick at you. The more you own, the more they take from you. Hence owning large ticket items is a dangerous game. Rich people know that – you always want to control it, never own it. Leasing allows you to do just that

Being absolutely clear that I wanted to lease a car, the only question was to find which one. One of the options was to go for Suzuki SX4 as they are the sexiest and the best value for money cars around these days. They come standard with everything you need for a price other makers can’t match. Plus Suzuki cars are made directly in Japan, not just the company being Japanese. You are getting Japan made quality with SX4. Unfortunately at the time Suzuki didn’t have any interesting leasing rates available.

Another option was to go for Acura CSX. These cars have super sexy interior and represent one of the best long term investments. Overall cost of running in relation to what you are getting is incredibly favourable. Not to mention attractive leasing rates that put monthly installments for this $30k worth of car to a level you would get with $25k worth of cars from other makers. You would basically be paying the same amount each month, but be driving a $30k Acura, instead of a 25k something else. Quite a no brainer.

My favourite of all was however Smart Car. Lease rates historically some of the worst in the industry, value for money questionable, however Smart Cars are the $hit. I had two big problems with my current car – massive gas usage and pathetic cabin heating. Smart car solved both of them with charm. Mileage on Smart Cars is unsurpassed and given the size of it, there is way less space to heat up in winter so the cabin would get warmer faster than in any other car. Furthermore, I really like the look of Smart Cars and they are Mercedes made – solid strong, reliable, and backed by lots of warranty.

I went to check both Suzuki SX4 and Acura CSX but Smart Car was my personal favourite. No other car could offer what Smart Cars can so after very little deciding, I was certain that I want to lease a Smart Car.

Off I went to a dealership, spoke with really awesome sales person and after never ending negotiations to get the lowest possible price, we have agreed on monthly installments I was comfortable with. The papers got signed and moved on to the management for approval.

I got a phonecall from the finance department of said Smart Car dealership that my financing was approved by the bank (my credit is actually pretty decent) and I’m ready to line up my insurance for my new car and come pick it up. I was excited like you wouldn’t believe. I saw myself plowing through the streets of Edmonton on my brand new Smart Car like a pimp. No longer would I over pay on gas, no longer would I freeze my bum in winter. All of my car related problems would be gone.

The delivery date was set for a few days later and the last thing I needed was to get myself insurance for this new automobile so I can go and drive. I phoned Morgex – car insurance company with whom I’ve been for almost 5 years to tell them that I have a new car so we get the paperwork all done. I called up my agent and told her all about my new car and she quoted me how much it’s gonna cost me. My smile froze that very instant.

I was looking at an annual hike for car insurance from under a grand I have been paying for my current car to over three grand for this new one. I thought this was a bad joke. I was like – you have got to be kidding me. But no, she wasn’t. Apparently this is what I would have to pay if I were to drive a new car. The fact that I have never had a single ticket somehow meant nothing. The fact that I have never had a single insurance claim (never been in an accident) also meant nothing. $3k+ a year to have my new Smart Car insured. WTF?

I have decided it was time to look for other insurance companies if one who’s been solely collecting from me and never spent a penny doesn’t appreciate my business well enough to give me a decent quote. I spent days upon days calling around and shopping my personal information to get quotes. They all were above $3k mark. I was seriously losing faith in humanity. I had to postpone delivery date for my automobile as I have not had the insurance lined up. It was frustrating.

On a few occasions I was held up. I would phone the company, provide details to get a quote and the quote would be reasonable. So we go through hassle of giving away all of my personal details, faxing one sheet after another back and forth only to have the actual quote I would actually pay come up in the end and look higher than all previous quotes.

From that point on, if I called for a quote and they couldn’t give me not even a ball park without asking for personal information, I would not bother going ahead with it. Frustration was growing, delivery date was getting postponed and I was growing more and more weary of dealing with insurance companies. The dream of owning a Smart Car went from basically real into distant.

The thing was – my leasing payments for owning a Smart Car were just a tad over $300 a month. With insurance quotes I was getting, I would also have to pay the same amount just to have my Smart Car insured. That doubled my monthly cost for owning this car and it simply made little sense to me. This extra $300+ a month was just insurance. There was no gas, oil change or anything of value in it. It was just money out the window and into the pockets of what are known as the most rip-off-happy companies in all of Canada.

This bull crapping of car insurance companies frustrated me to the point that I have decided to slam my fist on the desk and say “Enough!” I’ve had enough of this crap. They all wanted to rip me off, now they ain’t gonna get a penny off of me. I have responded in kind and went to buy myself a quality mountain bike I could use every day for all of my commutes as well as day to day errands.

I got back to Morgex and cancelled insurance on my old car. I have also not renewed the registration on it so the car no longer had legal papers. The inability to drive it didn’t bother me – I had a bike now that got me around everywhere I needed to go. I was saving up big time and did something for environment and my health. I felt happy about the way it played out. They all wanted to get me but I didn’t let them. I did what was best for me and I’ve never been happier about the choice. Biking is a lot of fun and it’s good for your heart. But the knowledge that neither Morgex nor any other rip off car insurance company gets my money was priceless. That itself was worth the hassle.

So my attempt at leasing Smart Car failed, but something good came out of it in the end anyway. What I did not realize back then but do now, was that failing to lease a car left me free to get my life sorted out. Had I successfully leased and picked up the car, I would be stuck with the leasing, unable to leave my corporate lifestyle behind to liberate myself entirely. Some higher power was standing by me and did not allow me to lock myself in this madness that keeps you prisoner of your own will. It took me almost two years to realize but all that matters is that I did not take the leasing. I had it cancelled, financing approval rolled back and turned myself into a free person without ongoing obligation that would never allow me to live as free man. I thank the divine power that saved me from what could have been the biggest mistake of my last few years.

Liberation from Possessions

As recent travel re-ignited my barely burning spark of excitement, it was burning again, but still missing good fuel to burst into full flame. This fuel came in vast supply after I got rid of most of my possessions. I have not felt that liberated for years. Taking stuff that I owned and dumping it in the garbage bin was hands down one of the most liberating things in my life and definitely the most liberating since I got submerged in the corporate lifestyle.

I was so frustrated with my “Life in Boxes” situation, that I really wanted to settle in a stable place and live there so I can unbox and have access to all of my stuff for the first time in two years. The reason for my last move was the noise made by people living above me. I went to check my new place and it was in a quiet apartment building. I also liked the fact that the apartment building was for adults only. This meant there would be no screaming kids or obnoxious teenagers yelling in the hallways. Everything was suggesting that this was the place. I could not wait to move out of the noisy basement suite and when the day came, I rented an SUV and spent a long weekend moving to my new two bedroom apartment.

The moving was killing me already. It was a tough job and screwed over my entire long weekend again. Not to mention the cost of SUV rental and extreme amount of headache one puts themselves through moving. So when I was eventually moved, I felt the relief upon my skin, still shaking from the pains of recent move. I went to enjoy my first night in my new apartment, set myself a bed up, laid my tired head and body down, closed my eyes and went to have a peaceful night after months of extreme headache due to stomping roommates. What happened next was the biggest nightmare of my life.

I was tired as all hell and really needed a rest. I lay down and at that moment the people who lived in the apartment above me came home from a long weekend out. The noise they made was far worse than what I was getting from my previous roommates. What’s even worse, these people never quit. I was so tired I’d fall asleep standing. My eyes were so heavy I’d need pliers to open my lids up, yet the noise kept me awake whole night. I turned into a zombie and all of my faith in humanity was gone. I left one place to escape this stomping noise, went through extreme hassle of moving and worked day and night to move in three days only to come to the same and worse. I was ready to kill someone.

I basically realized that I can’t stay here. This noise was overbearing and there was too much of it. The following day I wrote up a letter introducing myself to the neighbours who lived above me and explained how hard it was for me last night with the noise they were making and how they didn’t quit whole night and asked them for consideration so we can all live soundly.

I dropped the letter off under their door and few minutes later someone knocks on my door. I open the door and there’s this absolutely gorgeous Asian girl standing there with my letter. I didn’t know what to say she was so gorgeous. I stuttered some incoherent crap and she left letting me know that her family faces the same issue as me as neighbours above them also make noise. I was devastated. I was defeated. I was broken, ready to quit on life. I moved six times in last two years. Because of that I was not able to unpack the stuff from my boxes because what’s the point of unpacking if I have to spend a week putting it back inside the boxes to allow for another move. And now after two years I thought I had found the place where I would be able to stay for a long time, so I could unpack my boxes and enjoy the items inside, but people living above me destroyed this hope in one night. My attempt to resolve it in a diplomatic way failed and I was left with nothing but tears in my eyes.

What happened next, however, was the most liberating feeling I felt since the beginning of my corporate lifestyle. I looked at the boxes which I have just moved in and said to myself – that’s it! I’m done moving it. I put a basket next to each box and went through stuff. Anything that I did not have in my hand in last two years went in the basket which I then dumped into the garbage bin outside. Anything I did not see an immediate need for went in the garbage. I didn’t care how expensive it was. I’ve dumped electronics, I’ve dumped jewelry, I’ve dumped merchandise I had for sale in my shop – I’ve simply dumped three quarters of my possessions without second thought.

After it was all dumped, I looked at the apartment which was before stuffed with boxes and now reasonably empty and felt an indescribable feeling of liberation. I felt as though a major burden I was crumbling under for years was taken off my shoulders. I felt like I could breathe again. I have liberated myself from possessions and it made me feel happier than I have felt in years.

My reasoning behind dumping everything was that it would not be worth the time trying to sell it. I imagined myself taking picture of each item I have, then posting classified ads about it. Some people would respond with loads of questions I would have to answer to give myself a chance to sell. Most would not go ahead with the purchase so I would spend a lot of time dealing with potential buyers who will not buy in the end. And what would I get? I’d end up selling way below reasonable value. So I’d be giving everything away anyway. When I took all that into account, I came to conclusion that amount of time it would cost me to post an ad and deal with potential buyers and amount of money I’d be able to recover per item would not be worth it. If I invested this time into something sensible, I could actually make decent money so why waste it in a stressful way? It just made no sense so dumpster it was. No second guessing – straight to the bin. If I look at my acting back then through the eyes of now, I feel extremely proud of myself. I now understand the value of time and how precious it is. I am glad I made it a priority over a couple of bucks these days and weeks of work I’d have to put towards potential sale would bring. Even before my awakening this undisputable understanding of my true self was there.

This whole dumping of possessions was kind of funny because I filled the whole giant bin outside in one day. I had to wait till dump trucks came to empty it and then I filled it again all by myself. I realized that other tenants in the apartment building would get angry with me for not being able to fit any of their actual home garbage in, so I waited each day until late at night to dump my possessions. Nobody saw who filled the dumpster so nobody knew whom to blame. I have filled it up like that several times. Dumptruck doesn’t come every day so my doing was responsible for crippling the garbage disposal abilities of all people who lived in the apartment.

This took place at the beginning of April 2009. It was before I went to Iceland, it was before I realized what corporate lifestyle did to me and decided to turn my life around. This liberation from possessions took place because I have had enough of moving my junk around and never even using it. Little did I know at the time that this small act would set me on my merry way to a better life. Yes, I still had the noise to deal with, but the thought of moving was not nearly as scary anymore. And now that I was free from most of my possessions, it has also become clear that when I turned my back on a leased car, it was the best decision I could have made.