Looping the Hen

However, I'm kind of kooky. First, I listen to Dave Ramsey, so I don't believe in debt, and have very little. (House will be paid in 70 more months and a 12-month out on my car) Second, a few months back, I felt that for what I made, my cash flow was not quite what it should be. It didn't feel like my check went far enough or that I was saving enough. (even though I think my aggregate savings is about 30% of my income) So I decided to try an experiment.

I made a pact with myself. All my regular discretionary spending (DVD's, movies, Amazon, Website and hosting fees, most eating out), I was going to only fund from Paypal. And the only way I was going to fund Paypal was through Ebay sales or Consulting fees (i.e. Work income separate from my main job) In other words, if I don't have any cash on my Paypal debit card, I don't buy any junk. I started off selling my old Magic Cards on Ebay. Most of the Magic cards weren't even good, for those wondering at home.

I would put 60 random Dark commons, a few uncommons and a rare into a box and sell it for $2.49. Ice Age got me $3.50. Mirage $1.99. These are the big binder cards, the rares no one used and commons we all had 1000's of. I did sell one Morphling for $35, but that was the biggest. The problem was, the whole thing actually felt like work, and I was always paranoid they wouldn't get the cards or felt gipped somehow and they'd whack my feedback. (Same with the BMG CD's, though I still do those like clockwork.)

Then I found out that people willingly pay ridiculous amounts of cash for electronic objects that exist only in online games (MTGO, Eve, Everquest, all of the online games). That's no news to most of y'all, but it was like Moses on Sinai for me. The reason is, I had found a hugely undervalued trade good on Eve Online, and had made billions of ISK (Eve currency...currently 1 billion eve ISK is worth around $250-$300) buying and selling it. I am sad that the item in question doesn't drop much anymore, and the only reason it was undervalued is that it is large and hard to move (thus it only worked well when I was buying huge quantities, recycling it and then selling the components), so my market is mostly gone and my ISK drying up.

Still, between February of this year and now, I have made around $4,000 selling electronic money, simply by playing a game I was already playing. To be honest, in the past 3 months due to my wrist problems, I haven't even done much playing other than going online and transfering cash to whoever bought it. I also made another $300 in Magic Online cards, though I spent a little more than that. (And yes, I know that is small change to many of the professional game cash sellers) Still, that's a lot of junk in the real world.

And more importantly, it did wonders for my cash flow. I never feel stretched anymore, and always have plenty of paycheck in the bank when the next one arrives. And if Eve doesn't cancel my accounts for Eula violations, I should be able to get another $2,000 out of my two accounts after I sell off most of my liquid assets in-game, almost enough to pay for my Belize trip.

I guess the point of all this is that I hear complaints all the time from certain folks at work and in my family about how there is never enough money. One guy I know who makes around $10k more than me does nothing but complain about how he never has any and is in debt up to his ears.

Personal finance is about 10% income and 90% behavior (I think Dave told me that). We all know tons of people who make plenty of money but are still in debt to the gills. After my bankruptcy, I was only making 9 bucks an hour for almost a year. However, I made the choice to never, ever, be in over my head again. If I spent a dollar, any change went directly into a bucket at home (and still does). If I spent a 5-dollar bill and got a 1 back, that did too. (not doing this one though anymore) If someone offered to buy something they saw in my house or car (old books, posters, more Magic cards and other junk), I'd sell it. If I was out of cash, there was no way I was putting food on a credit card. I would eat whatever leftoevers were at home or my ex-fiances. Even today, when my Eve money ends, I will find something else to do to keep cash on the Paypal account or I will do without my movies.

We live in a society that is in for the quick fix. Credit card offers are NOT your friend. They do not make people adults, or show that we've done something right. These are businesses, designed to make money. They will sign you up whether you have any way to pay them or not. They will charge you $30 for paying late one time and jack your rate up after two. The new bankruptcy laws go into effect in the next several weeks, and that is no longer the easy out it once was.

I am not as bad of a credit demonizer as Dave Ramsey is, but I do understand that they are dangerous, no matter how much we think we have them 'under control.' Often, people buy as much house, or car, or stuff, as they can get away with. They don't leave themselves any escape routes if they lose their job or something like a bad illness or blown engine happens.

I am not a poster child for anything, but I have put myself into a position where if I lose my job tomorrow, I can actually pay all my bills, including my mortgage and car stuff, by playing video games or working at a McJob for $7/hour, without touching my 401(k) or IRA's. It wouldn't be much fun, but I could do it. Heck, the cost of my car was exactly equal to what I will have saved by quitting smoking for three years (It was a present to myself for doing right by my health and life). I do understand that there are extenuating circumstances for some people's difficulties, but putting balance into one's financial life can have a tremendous impact and actually allows you to buy more stuff over the long term.

However, unlike many, I do not see putting $5,000 worth of furniture on a credit card to furnish a new apartment as an extenuating circumstance. I do not see spending 1/3 of one's income on a new car as extenuating circumstances. For Heaven's sake, Christmas is not an emergency, and yet more debt is added during that time of the year than any other.

It's funny, I sold $45 worth of of stuff on Ebay since I started this post (too long ago!), and that's enough adding to what was there already to let me go get my new Ipod tomorrow.

Go me.