Excuses

I noticed I was getting some hits from a blog called Creating the Perfect Faith, so I went and checked it out. All in all it isn't a bad read and you should probably all spend a couple of minutes there. (even if she does have Dog Ate My Finances on her blogroll)

In a post called *Sigh* Once Again Money is Tight Faith quotes some advice I gave, specifically the part about saving 10% of one's income for long term growth. I maintain that becoming wealthy is really that simple. Faith takes exception to this advice a bit. To quote her:

"And yeah, fundamentally he's right, it doesn't matter as long as you save
10%. He has a point. But the other part of that puzzle is that you have to be
able to live within the remaining 90%, and pay off the debt you've incurred if
you haven't in the past been able to live within that 90%. I HAVE to pay at
least $450 every month because while I was in graduate school I couldn't/didn't
live within my 100%.

In an imaginary world that I currently don't live in, if I did not have to
pay for the "mistakes" of my past then I would most definitely be able to live
very comfortably within 90% of my income.

So, really, the frugality, the meal planning, no-drive days, coupon
clipping, ect isn't just because of an insane obsession - it is to HELP us who
haven't in the past lived within our means find a way to do so."

I read that, and the whole thing just kind of sounds like whining.

Now I don't want to subject Faith to the usual treatment of something I don't agree with because I like her. Unlike the shit I usually make fun of, Faith is neither a dumbass or terrible person. (And besides, she left a great comment on the previous post) I'm not about to give her a free pass or anything, but I just can't submit her to Dog Ate My Finances treatment.

The fact is that, like many others, Faith has several areas in her life she could cut back on if she was serious about saving. She could get rid of her dog. She could find a boyfriend that didn't cost her so much every weekend. She could have not taken a trip to San Diego or gotten laser hair removal.

I'm not seriously suggesting that she do the things I told her to. I'm sure she loves her dog and she should keep him. But at what point do you make the decision to cut back? Do you skip this year's holiday? Do you eat ramen noodles all the time? Where's the line? You have to draw it somewhere.

This next part is important, so I'll put it in capital letters and bold it:

IF YOU'RE SERIOUS ABOUT BECOMING WEALTHY, THEN YOU'LL FIND THE WAY TO SAVE EVERY MONTH. IF YOU'RE NOT, THEN YOU AREN'T SERIOUS ABOUT IT.

I didn't get a car until I was almost 24. You know why? Cause I was serious about being rich.

I'm not saying you're a bad person if you're not making those types of decisions. And if your goals are different than mine, then I wish you luck. But you cannot say that you're serious about building wealth and then make decisions that give a giant middle finger to that goal.

If you're serious about any goal, then excuses don't get in your way. No matter what you do in life, excuses can prevent you from reaching your goals.

Want to go to school? It's expensive, you might not graduate and you're probably going to have to move.

Want to switch jobs? The economy is the shits, stupid. There's no guarantee the next job is going to be better.

Blah, blah, blah. At the end of the day, excuses are just bullshit we tell ourselves to justify why we don't do things that are hard. They really have no power on us unless we let them.