Unbrokable*: 50 Reasons Why Being Broke in Spite of Hard Working

 

 

Prologue

 

1. Drinking and Smoking

2. Having Too Many Children

3. Getting into Debt Too Easily

4. Not Using Systems Already Paid For

5. Double Spending Lifestyle

6. Living in an Expensive Area

7. Social Media Addiction

8. Being an Asshole

9. Making Yourself Undesirable

10. Marrying a Spouse without Income 

    11.  Auto Addiction

12. Pointlessly Expensive Educations

 

13. Not Imitating a Billionaire

 

14. Too Religious

 

15. Gullible

 

16. Not Getting up Early

 

17.  Keeping a TV

 

18. Having a Bad Reputation

 

19.  Smart Phone Addiction

 

20. Travel too Expensive Way

 

21.  Having Too Many Pets

 

22.  No Preparation

 

23.  Eating Too Much

 

24.  Approaching too Many Women

 

25.  Not Living Long Enough

 

26.  Not having your Own Solid Mind

 

27.  Reckless Character

 

28.  Preventable Medical Problems

 

29.  Unnecessary Legal Problems

 

30.  Talking Too Much

 

31.  Expensive Hobbies

 

32.  Not Doing Things Yourself

 

33.  Not Working Fairly

 

34.  Quitting a Job Too Easily

 

35.  Stuck in a Low Paying Job

 

36.  Being Overly Jealous

 

37.  Living in too Big or Old Houses

 

38.  No Side Income 

 

39.  Lack of Financial Knowledge

 

40.  Not Trying New Things

 

41.  Too interested in Politics

 

42.  Messy Environments

 

43.  Lack of Alone Time

 

44.  Not Simplifying

 

45.  Being Impulsive

 

46.  Not Being  a Good Spouse or Parent 

 

47.  Pressure to Spend Money

 

48.  No Plan in Advance

 

49.  Too Obsessed with Money

 

50.  Not Recognizing Money Drain

 

Epilogue

Quotes by Brad

 

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5 

 

Double Spending Lifestyle

 

If you have too much time with too little money, 

something may be wrong.

-Brad Kong

 

In the previous chapter, we discussed some public systems we have already paid for, but do not use.  Let me talk about a double spending lifestyle in general.  Let me give you some examples.

 

     I live only 1 mile from our library.   I always go there by walking and it takes about 20 minutes.   But, I notice that some people go to the library by car, go to the gym by car, spend money on gym membership and do walking exercises there.   It is triple spending for the same walking exercise.

 

     A lot of people go to work by car and do jogging exercises after work.   Why don’t they just run to work, so they can save some money on gas?   Why do they have that much time to do extra jogging after work?   I have been pretty busy for life, so I will never understand them.

 

     Luckily, I witnessed some smart guys do their passionate hobbies at work as well.   When I was in downtown Chicago last summer, I saw some construction near Willis tower.   Actually, it was a new building expansion of the tower. For about one hour, I observed how new building frames are connected.   

 

     What struck me was the guy trying to connect two iron beams.   He had impressive muscles like a bodybuilder.   He might be into bodybuilding and his job will give him plenty of things to lift.   I guess he can pursue his passion without spending extra money at the gym.

    

     The dishwasher job at the nursing home had been pretty hard for me.  The place was only 1.2 mile from my home and it took about 25 minutes to get there by walking.  I did it for a weekend part time job mostly for 5 years out of 7.  

 

     After getting the medical coder license, I was wondering if I should keep the job or not.   “Well, I can still keep it and consider it as weekend gym exercise.   Only difference is I get paid and get free meals.”   

 

     It is true that I lost a lot of weight and have become more muscular than ever.   I was obese and diabetic.   I had walked to work all the time for 7 years to intensify my exercise.   Some people spend money for the result.  But, some people get paid for the same result.

 

    It was hard for me to wake up early in the morning for that job sometimes.   I thought that it would be the same if I had to exercise in the gym for 8 hours a day during weekends.   You can skip the gym easily, but you cannot skip the work, so it had been a better coach in a sense.

 

         During the 7 years of employment, there had been cold and snowy days.   “Well, some people go to Mount Everest after spending a fortune.   Let me consider that I am doing some outdoor adventure in Colorado.”  Twenty five minutes adventure to work was over quickly.

 

     When I was in college, there was a Ukrainian girl who had worked at the DisneyWorld in Florida for a summer.  She was a little bit broke as a student.  I assume she wanted to have a vacation there, but could not really afford it.   It was smart that she worked there, got paid and enjoyed vacation for three months.  I think similar things happen in cruise lines, too.   If you do not want to spend money, you can work there, too. 

 

     To write this type of book, you can hire people and pay them to listen to their stories.   Upton Sinclair did it for his graphic novel, “Jungle”.   Or he could have worked in a factory, get paid and collect some specific information with enough time.   It is totally up to you how you do it.

 

     If you keep being short of money even though you work hard, see if you spend double money somewhere.