The CIA Wants Your Money

On our road to debt freedom, one thing we must watch out for is the C. I. A.

Nope, that's not the Central Intelligence agency, rather Convenience, Indulgence and Appearance. This is an analogy that I learned from John Cummuta, and I think it so perfectly illustrates our bad spending habits. These 3 areas are the very things we must change, if we are build our savings so that we can enjoy life.

Convenience - While convenience items may save us time, they are robbing us blind. It doesn't matter if it is a frozen dinner, eating out (including fast food) or the kid we have mowing our lawn. They are taking the money right out of our pocket. Anytime we pay someone else to do something that we are capable of doing ourselves, is doing nothing but making ourselves poorer. Which means less money to enjoy life.

Indulgence - An indulgence should be treated as just that - a treat! You can't be running off to the mall because you had a tough week, or buying expensive treats at the most expensive stores. These things will only make you feel good for a short time, then the reality will set in. "The long-term price of indulgence is deprivation."

Appearance - I have repeatedly said that trying to "keep u with the Joneses" is downright stupid. If people around you don't like you, because you don't have the latest "cool" thing, then who needs them. You will be better off financially in the long run. It may seem that they are living the "good life" now, but in the long run they will be still be trying to pay it off and you will be ahead.

For example that by the time your neighbor pays off that plasma screen TV that they paid for with credit, they could have bought 2 (or more). If you are wise with your money and save up and buy yours with cash, you will be able to buy something they don't have, enjoy a longer vacation or even (why would you need to) buy a 2nd plasma screen.

Simply put, you will only make a finite amount of money in your lifetime, if you give away to much of it in your early and middle years, then you won't have enough during what is suppose to be your golden years.