It’s a Monday late noon, and I am sitting in a café that myself, my mentor, and my son used to frequent together. I hadn’t stepped in it since the beginning of the year, and when I did, it was only for a brief while to get food to take home. However, as the kid and I were walking back from the market, we found ourselves stopping in front of it and looking at the menu.
Right away, we both knew that their bacon cheeseburger sounded good and that we had to try it, even though I have been diligently tracking every dollar that I spent this month, and it has been quite useful. Still, even with the grocery budget depleted and everything already accounted for, we allowed ourselves to dip into our buffer and allocate $35 for this outing, which came out to about $33 with a 15% tip.
We made each of our orders a meal that came with chips and a drink. I chose Orange Fanta, he chose Root Beer. I chose baked cheddar and sour cream Ruffles, and he chose Fritos chili cheese chips. The bacon burger was great, but it was huge and messy. I did not think this through. I had brought my laptop, which I am writing on now, and a book, Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements. Still, as I sat eating, I couldn’t help but feel like I was honoring my mentor, dear friend, and more as I chose the very same spot we sat in going over my application and essay to get into the University of Washington.
Whenever we did lunch, she never let me pay, ever, no matter the cost, and usually our lunch would come out to about the high 20s or 30s. She wanted us to get whatever we wanted, sometimes even more, because she wanted to make sure we ate well. So this time I spent that amount on making each order a meal, and as I tapped my card, it felt not only like I was paying homage to her but also to the establishment that is family-owned, and the owners are a very kind couple and are always so delightful.
Always remember this: when you exchange cash from your hands or through your hands with a swipe, you are exchanging some of your future wealth with someone else for a service or good they sell. Sometimes it’s a trade-off that is worth it; other times, it is not. Consumer debt is one of those things where it is rarely ever worth it. You’re now a slave to building someone else’s wealth when you could have been funding your own life with a bit of delayed gratification.
As I sit here, Christmas music is playing, the kid is sitting next to me working on his laptop, and we are watching people come and go, walk by, while taking in some of the city landscape in front of us. I won’t lie and say the thought of building wealth didn’t cross my mind as it often does, but in this particular case, it’s about having more days like these with the kid and partner.
It’s sitting in cafés and spaces like these reading financial books, eating a sandwich (instead of a messy burger where ketchup and mayo are dripping, I had to ask for extra napkins for the both of us), and it consists of being able to have these days no matter the time of the year or time of day, because we have put so much of our surplus into cash-generating assets that we bought back some of our time and freedom to spend it how we choose with each other. After all, as I sat here, I was thinking we only have one life, we only live once in the life we have now, so use it wisely. Don’t be afraid to go after the very things you desire for yourself and family, as in this case it’s often wealth for me, you, and others who read this blog.
Saturday night, I helped a friend set up her first official investment account, and she bought her first two shares in the market today. A while back, I spoke to someone at our local library. We have had brief interactions before while she helped my son with the new 3D printer. She was sitting down on her break, and we started talking about university (she is a UW Seattle alumni), job prospects, nonprofit work, federal and city funding, and the conversation naturally turned to retirement and finance.
Long story short, she told me the next time I see her, she would have gone over her retirement account with a plan. Well, months passed, and I asked her if she went over it, and she did and now has a plan but wants to pay off her car first. Still, it made me happy because she still did it, said what she was going to do, and did it.
I recently told a friend of mine that it’s hard watching some people crash and burn when you know they don’t have to. As someone who was seriously considering medical school, I was prepared for the hard part of losing patients for the kind of doctor I wanted to become, which comes from my experience with a sick child and losing both parents, but I never considered that I would have to prepare myself the same way in finance.
But it was a lesson worth learning, and so when I see people around me and in my life taking initiative or making a change because of my conversations with them, it fills me with joy. The same kind that I would have had if I became a doctor and changed lives in that capacity. The only difference is that I am focused on financial health rather than physical health, and instead of patients, I will be working with clients in the future.
The Broke College Student 
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