I get a lot of ideas for writing from interactions on Twitter, last night I commented on something that I saw and the reply has been received somewhat negatively by a lot of people. I’d like to explore further my points in that ‘conversation’ to explain accountability and responsibility. The two real problems with our society today as we live in an entitled world.
Let’s start off with the comment and my response to it, Twitter does not allow you to elaborate very much, so I will use this format to explore the theories presented.
So, with my limited amount of words I was able to say
anyone who cannot afford a house but spends money on VRs or MRs needs to re-evaluate.
The reason I said this is that the feeling I received from this being shared by Jamison, and agreed to by Mike is that it is someone else that is to blame for the inability of Millennial’s to achieve something, in this case home ownership. At this point in the post I would like to clearly and distinctly state that it is not whether I think they should or should not own a home that is in question, it is that they should not blame some other factor for the inability to achieve a goal, be it home ownership or anything they desire when they are making choices for voluntary spending that take away from the goal, in this case home ownership.
A VR is a Vanilla Reload card, it is a tool used in Manufactured spending and 99% of people (pulling that number out of my backside) who purchase VR cards do so to earn Airline Miles or Hotel Points, they do not use them to accumulate Cash or Cash Equivalent items such as gift cards, that can reduce non variable spending needs, things like Groceries etc.
A MR is a Mileage Run, these are paid flights to nowhere whose purpose is to rack up ‘bum in seat’ miles to both gain/retain airline status and accumulate miles. Again, 99% of people who do MRs do not do them in order to build up an emergency fund replacement for last minute flights to visit sick relatives, they do it to have Status on airlines and enjoy the luxury of travel.
I will pause here and say that without a doubt the single most important influencing factor in my development has been gained through the gift of travel, so I by no means discount its value, and here is the crux of the matter. It is your choice where you spend your money, but don’t for a moment think that every single penny of it does not matter. The saying is, you made your bed, now lie in it. Every door you open to one opportunity closes another.
Now, I understand it seems like nothing to spend $3.95 on a Reload card, but that is $3.95 you decide not to put into savings for a house downpayment. I don’t care if it takes you a really long time to save for that house downpayment, if you are not putting every ounce of your available cashflow into that goal, don’t blame others for your inability to hit goal, re-evaluate your saving and spending habits!
It really is that simple a concept, everything that comes into your pocket book can be used however you see fit, and it is not my place, nor anyone others to say you are doing it wrong, but do not complain when you get the perks of luxury travel and yet there is not enough money in your bank account to buy the house. Likewise, if you bought the house and are focused on making payments on it don’t complain that you cannot afford even the $3.95 to help you on your way to luxury travel. It is your lifestyle choice.
That is a principle, and that is what I am arguing is wrong with society today, they don’t take accountability for their choices.
Now, next up is entitlement. Another huge problem linked to this. People think that they are entitled to everything right now, the large TV, the house, the travel, the Winnebago, the truth of the matter is that if you are a self made person from a financial perspective you have to grind, you have to save, and make sacrifices. You cannot be poor and buy a house in Manhattan, but you can save, and buy one further out and commute, life is about choices, and if you spend rather than save or invest then you chose to be poor.
Equally, you might choose that buying a home is not a good move due to all of the foreclosures or prices that are falling, that is absolutely fine, but then you still must be saving like you were a home-buyer not just renting and squandering, it is a lifestyle choice to rent VS buy, but it is a cop-out to say you cannot afford to buy when you do not save.
I hear that there are no jobs, is that true, or are people not willing to take a job? Personally I believe the latter, of course I am sure that people would say I am out of touch with reality. In my life I have had a job where I had to empty blocked drains with my hands, and scrubbed kitchen floors, I moved across the world to work for $10 a day, 16hrs a day, 7 days a week. It isn’t that there are no jobs, it is that people feel entitled to a certain type of job. Now, I agree its harder than in the ‘good times’ to get what you want, but that doesn’t mean you cannot make what you want of your life if you take responsibility for your choices.
Things are better for me financially right now, but I am absolutely certain that I would get down on my hands and knees and scrub floors for a living again if it was what I needed to do to put food on the table for my family. If you don’t think like that, then you can’t blame the economy for your troubles, you have to re-evaluate.
I’ll leave you with this.
I agree with the majority of your post and think you touched on some good points about how spending habits aren’t aligned with so-called priorities (people — myself included — tend to announce a goal/priority without taking active steps toward achieving that goal). The title of taking responsibility of your choices is spot on.
A few things you didn’t get into in this post (which is not a critique because there are enough side points to this discussion to fill an entire book):
1. People who have two simultaneous goals, in this case travel and homeownership. Perhaps buying VR’s helps them achieve their one goal (travel) at a discounted rate, allowing for higher savings leftover for the other goal (homeownership). People split their spending between multiple goals all the time, whether that’s retirement, a new car, or sending their kid to college.
2. The issue of people not acknowledging that they have a “hidden” priority. Verbally, maybe their two goals are travel and homeownership (just as an example) but in reality the money they spend on Starbucks, cable TV, or whatever doesn’t align with either of their announced goals. Taking a look at spending habits can help someone realize that perhaps conveniece, entertainment, or luxury are other goals (or make changes to their habits if that’s not really the case).
Thanks Becky, excellent points.
Thought for point 1 which I agree is really the only way to exist that doesn’t mean that you have to blame anyone else for your decisions.
Point 2 is really interesting, there is a lot to dig into there, thanks for making me think about that!
You asked for my opinion so here goes…
It is a bit of a rambling, haphazard way of getting to what I think your real point is. Yes, everyone is responsible for their own decisions and actions. At the same time, the argument to not do X so as to save money for Y could be made about anything to anyone at any time. It isn’t only about home ownership or travel or education or beer money or whatever else someone is spending money on.
One place where I think you miss is in assuming that everyone has the same goals or that there is an overarching single reason why things are the way they are or that there is only one way to get to an end goal. Even if we accept that home ownership is some sort of holy grail which everyone should aspire to – a belief which I strongly disagree with – that doesn’t mean the only way to get there is to save every single bit of disposable income until you can afford the down payment and then scrimp every penny to make sure that you can make the monthly mortgage payments. In fact, that’s probably the worst way to get there. Make sacrifices if you must, but giving up everything to get one thing is rarely a sane or rational approach to life. You are likely to lose more that way than you gain in the end.
Yes, it is important to have a plan, a budget, an approach to get to your end goals. And if the numbers are such that you have to make a decision between two things then you make that decision. More often than not, however, the decision is more of a compromise where both sides see some but neither gets the full investment.
To suggest that in every case it is an absolute “must” in where the spending should be or that there “must” be a sacrifice of one thing to support another is foolish. The world is rarely that binary. That’s why I called bullshit on your tweet last night and I still believe that’s a valid view of the claim made, both there and here.
Hey Seth
Thanks for your reply. I guess I missed the delivery, yet again- I am only trying to say that you need to stop bitching about the external when the internal needs adjusting.
The whole home ownership argument was irrelevant to me in my original tweet, it was that someone sought to blame someone else for their inability to achieve something whilst simultaneously choosing to enjoy something else.
I must be in the 1% minority. I buy VRs with 5% G/G/D, then synthetic 4+% (2.2% Arrival + 2.3% BCCB), then quasi 3+x (SPG + 2.3% BCCB) in that order of priority. If I had more capacity on the first 2 I wouldn’t tap the third.
Very cool, but do you net a monthly cash profit, or do you create subsidized travel?
It ties in to the point you are making. Do the proper accounting and it will lead to optimal choices. I embrace the reality that manufacturing SPG costs me 2.2% (minimum) to the extent I don’t fully tap other options first (including career).
I must be in that minority as well.
Same question for you, since I know you like the SPG points, do you actually make profit per VR card or just get amazing travel for pennies on the dollar?
I must give credit where it is due…I agree 100% with this post! Passing the buck is also one of my biggest pet peeves.
What’s interesting is that it cuts both ways. In my gen X and my parents’ baby boom demo you hear “I can’t afford/don’t have time to travel” tossed around just as casually as “I can’t afford a house” is by 20-somethings, with the same lame excuses.
Well you could knock me down with a feather Dia, we keep this up and we will be best pals soon 🙂
I have seen people who can’t afford but still tries to buy $500 iPADs/iPHONEs, plus the monthly data plans, thinking their life self-worth has gone up somehow by owning these so-called “cool” gadgets. They fall for the Apple’s “Marketing machine” which entice people to buy these over-priced, over-hyped electronic devices and/or to fall for their so-called “upgrades” instead opting for “cheaper” devices that does 99% the same functionality. It is like buying a $75,000 Porsche thinking they need to get to the work 5 minutes earlier…
I agree, the individual should take responsibility, but also you raise a very good point about the marketing machine it is something that they should also have more accountability for, things like the iPad/gadget cause financial errors, and on a worse scale things like the fashion industry are responsible for encouraging young people to eat poorly and have low self worth.