Why Fear Being Broke?

Disclaimer: This letter is from the point of view of a 23 year old about to graduate university with no job lined up, no debt, and no family or other responsibilities. He has ~$15k and ~$1000/mo via digital marketing work to play with. Please proceed.

Hey Friend,

Today’s letter is about fear. I hope it will leave you feeling a little lighter and less afraid of something you might be worried about, consciously or not: Running out of money.

Let’s get into it.

Why Am I So Afraid of Running Out of Money?

I’m spending a lot of money over the next 4 months to have a baller summer and make life-long memories. My “savings” at the end of it will likely be minimal, and this is freaking me out.

But why?

That seems like a ridiculous question, given assumptions that I (and I’m assuming others) have.

It almost goes without saying that you should have money. Culture constantly reinforces the idea that money is the center of anything resembling success.

Now, it’s easy to push back on the claim that money doesn’t buy happiness via material objects. I’ve done that for a long time.

But what about savings? What is its purpose? Why bother having excess at all?

Freedom? Peace of mind?

That’s the idea of an emergency fund. A bundle of cash to cover all your bills for a set amount of time (e.g. 6 months). To survive even if shit goes sideways.

But what if your monthly bills are next to $0?

What if you can move somewhere like here and spend $17 per MONTH on rent, maybe $100-200 on groceries, for a total monthly bill of ~$150?

Or move in with a family member for a month or two? Or live/work on a farm for free? Or, like multiple of my friends and family are doing, a van?

Possible objections to these ideas:

• “That’d be embarrassing.”

• “What about my career?”

• “What about my social life?”

Notice none of these complaints are resisting something “fatal” (even Mexico isn’t THAT dangerous!).

They’re resisting discomfort.

Our minds make them feel like the same thing unconsciously. But let’s be real: It’s next to impossible for you or me to actually die from poverty in the developed world.

Which means that any fear I have of spending all of my money is fear of discomfort and only that.

What We Should Actually Fear

It seems clear that a lack of money is not what we should fear, then. Instead, there’s one big “devil” to avoid: Monthly payments.

There are few things that’ll steal your freedom away faster than signing a contract to give someone money every month.

Now your objections become valid. You truly can’t do what you want anymore. This is what you’re ACTUALLY paying when you sign that payment plan for that new, sexy BMW.

It’s not just the money. It’s options.

As long as you don’t have any contracts, running out of money is not that big of a deal.

Worst case, you lay low for a couple months to figure out the next steps and come back stronger than ever, having faced the ultimate fear and discovered its innocuous nature.

This frees you to make decisions for reasons other than money, which, in the long run, will probably make you more money (especially if you have an entrepreneurial nature like me).

The Moral of the Story

So is that the answer? That there’s no reason to save money as long as you don’t have bills?

Obviously, there’s more to the story, and I hope you forgive my overlooking of all the other valid reasons, but my message (mainly to myself) is this: Don’t be so afraid of running out of money.

If there is EVER a time to NOT prioritize money, it is when we are young, and learning to live without its prioritization will probably help us in countless ways we don’t realize:

• We’ll do more of what we actually enjoy that can lead to a more fulfilling career long-term.

• We’ll be more generous.

• And, perhaps most importantly, we won’t be living in subtle but incessant fear.

So there you go. My however-many-paragraph self-justification to spend my money on amazing experiences and throw “proper financial management” out the window.

Will I come to regret it? Perhaps. But I’m willing to bet that I won’t. Because in a way, I’m betting on myself.

And if there’s one person that I can ensure won’t let me down, it’s me.

That’s it!

Hope you enjoyed this edition of Letter to a Friend, Friend. I’m wrapping up my last 4 weeks in Japan before a summer of traveling, thus the money reflections.

I hope my ramblings got you thinking a bit. :)

Until next time!

Much love,
Ryan

P.S. Again, no new content this week. Still taking some time to think about things and see where I want to take it (along with enjoying Japan!).

HOWEVER, here is a podcast I really enjoyed on finding happiness/a good life in our technological era. It had a lot of powerful points and convinced me that if we want to live a full life, then getting in control of how we use technology is one of the most important things we can do.

Check it out if you want something handpicked by me (although it was actually sent to me by a friend, thanks Tom!)