What do I really want? Respect or a new car.
Recently I have been thinking about buying a new car. I am currently driving a Mitsubishi Lancer, and I have been for a year, give or take a couple of weeks. In theory, it does what it is supposed to. It gets me from one destination to another. It has never broken down, nor have I ever had any issues with the engine. That said, it looks like it has been in a head-on collision. The front bumper is almost dragging along the floor, there is a crack on the windscreen, and it definitely needs to be taken to the panel beaters.
When I brought this car, I was scrapping for pennies. I was not on the doll, I was studying full-time, and I was unemployed for 3-and-a-half months before the purchase, as I was recovering from a freak netball accident (A story for another time). To make things worse, over the almost 4-month period in which I was crippled, my Nissan X-Trail, my first car, started to give out. In a leap of faith, I drove the X-Trail home, praying it had enough life to make the three-hour commute. By a miracle, it made it. I left it parked across the road from mums house for a couple of days until the wreckers came and towed it away. I received a $200 return, a pleasant surprise, nonetheless. I waved goodbye, grinning, knowing I had received the better end of the transaction.
Furthermore, I had to borrow a loan from my grandparents to afford the purchase in the first place (Thanks nan and pop!). I wanted to take the smallest amount of money possible. Because If there was one place I did not want to be, it was sitting on a mountain of debt. So, here I was, hunting for the cheapest possible car on the market, which could still take me from A to B without any mechanical issues.
Anyway, my point is, now I have a reasonable amount of savings, I could spend a couple of grand and get all this fixed and have, what looks like, a brand-new car. After all, it has only got 170,000km on the clock. However, in perspective, the more I think about buying a new car, or fixing my own, the more unnecessary it seems. Everything I need is close. I live within walking distance of the supermarket, the gym, and work. The furthest location I need to travel to is university, which is only a 15-minute cycle, 5 minutes longer than driving, excluding searching for a park. Therefore, I have concluded the wiser decision would be to invest my savings in a half-decent bike. I would save money on fuel and parking, I'd have a smaller carbon footprint, and I'd actually save time.
You are probably thinking, “how on earth would investing in a bike save time?” Here’s how: Every time after lifting weights, I burn 150 calories doing some form of cardiovascular activity, which takes 10-15 minutes, depending on how hard I want to push myself. If I were to stop doing this and ride to university and back instead, I would kill two birds with one stone. I am still raising my heart rate, plus I am not losing valuable time in traffic.
So, let’s do the math. I have to be on campus three times a week, let’s say it takes roughly 15 minutes for both modes of transport, car, and bicycle, to reach the destination. So, if I were to cycle there and back, that is 90 minutes of cardio out of the way, plus a bonus 90 minutes to play with per week, as now I do not have to worry about squeezing in my 10 to 15 minutes of cardio at the end of my workout.
On the other hand, you can only ride your bicycle so far. In some circumstances, like visiting my family down south or swimming at the beach, the car is necessary. However, I only go home a maximum of once a month, and I only go to the beach roughly three times a week. Therefore, realistically I could get by only using my car thirteen times a month. And what is the point of having a nice car if I am planning on using it as little as possible? Luckily for me, there is free parking on my street, so I have no worries about where to park when I am not driving, and I don't mind parking on the road either. I guess the silver lining of having a beaten vehicle is that you do not have to contemplate the chances of a criminal breaking into it.
However, despite what I have written. I am still considering purchasing a new car. I want people to think I am an admirable person. I want to park right in front of an employer's office when I go for a job interview, and I want to pick up my date without worrying about how she will react to the dings, and the tint peeling of the bonnet.
That said, in perspective, I do not need a new car to be able to do any of these things, I am still free to do them, the car is just a safety blanket. So, after this mental deconstruction of my values, I have concluded I want the feeling which comes with a new car, not the new car itself. What I really want is respect. Morgan Housel, author of the 'Psychology of Money,' puts it best, “When you see someone driving a nice car, you probably don’t think’ “Wow, that person is cool.” Instead, you think, “Wow, if I had that car people would think I’m cool.”
The point is, you don’t need to be dripped from head to toe in expensive clothing or drive a Porsche to be respected. What you need to do is work hard, be kind, acknowledge other opinions, regardless of if you agree with them, apologise when an apology is due, and prove you hold ethical principles. Just to name a few.
Therefore, I might hold back on buying a new car after all.
A quote I’ve been pondering…
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming genuinely interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” ~ Dale Carnegie
There is nothing more true than this quote. Making friends is about being friendly, it’s not about being cooler than everybody else.
To be interested in everybody, regardless of status makes you friends, whereas being interested in nobody other than yourself and how well you’re doing, makes you lonely. In my opinion of course.
For example, a small thing which ticks-me-off is not RSVPing to an event. I am no saint; I am guilty of occasionally being one of these people, and for that, I am sorry, but please do not sit in the unresponsive column of people who could not be bothered clicking 'going,' or 'can't go,' regardless of the fact the host has asked you to. Just respond, there is no harm in doing so. You are making someone's life easier to organise, and the next time you see the person, they won’t be holding a subtle grudge.
A song I’ve been listening to…
the BLACK Seminole. Lil Yachty.
Lil Yachty goes to the dark side of the moon.
I was not expecting this. At the gym, I find the genre of music I regularly listen to is either punk rock or rap. So when I saw Yachty had released a new album, I thought to give it ago. However, shortly after pressing play, I realised this was neither of these genres. This song, in particular, is more of a new age, psychedelic-rock attempt to re-create Pink Floyds The Great Gig in the Sky. That said, it is great. It has made me excited for future projects. I am all for Yachty's transition and never knew he had the potential to make such a left turn in his musical career. Check it out!
Someone I find inspiring as of late…
Mr. Money Moustache.
Here is a link to his site.
Only if I'd known about Mr. Money Moustache earlier. I'd be rich, ripped, and righteous.
After graduating with an engineering degree, Mr. Moustache worked a standard graduate-level job in the tech industry. Ten years passed then he retired when he and his wife decided to start a family at the age of thirty.
There is no argument that an engineer’s wage is higher than the average, however, for most, it is still not high enough to retire at such a young age. Although, as it turns out, by spending 50% less and investing the surplus in low-cost index funds (Less risk), it is, according to Mr. Moustache himself.
Here’s a link that explains how to invest in index funds.
So on, inspired by Mr. Moustache, I looked further into my expenses. I realised I was spending excessive and unnecessary amounts on silly things like coffee, university parking, and fuel. Since discovering the blog, I have both, made a much more sophisticated budgeting plan, and have a greater sum of weekly savings. Thanks, Mr. Moustache!
Here is an excerpt from an article he wrote…
“When you wriggle yourself into the narrow nook of luxury, your perspective on the world, and your ability to survive and thrive in it, also constricts dramatically. Like any drug, it can be fun to indulge in occasionally. But to seek to constantly maximize luxury in all areas of your life to the limits of what you can afford? Pure insanity. Just as it would be insane for me to say, “Since I can afford it, I need to start taking drugs for as many of my waking hours as possible. Alternating shots of espresso and fine scotch all day, with hits from the bong every hour on the hour.”