mmm... vulgar words

I used to be a real dumbass.

A really good one.

I remember when I got my first low-interest credit card from Bank of America — because I was an employee at said bank, my interest rate was prime + 0.5% (or some other ridiculously low number). At that time, ~1% seemed almost like free money.

Hah. Free money. Yeah and pigs can code AJAX.

And so I spent. Trip to Paris? No problem. Swipe swipe. Steak dinner? Give me two in different degrees — just in case medium rare doesn’t strike my fancy tonight. Swipe swipe. (Just kidding on the steaks).

Before I knew it, my credit card statement numbers were larger than my checking account statement numbers. Hmm.

Then came the cheap ass era.

Gotta reduce the debt. Gotta get rid of this stress and anxiety.

What? Milk for $2.89 at this supermarket? You’re kidding me. Let’s drive to the next supermarket and save $0.15.

You want an ice cream at the theme park? What am I, made of money? I’ll buy you a jug later for the same price at Safeway.

When I really think about it now, the cheap ass era included a bit of the dumbass characteristic, plus a little bit of an asshole tendency. But you can probably already guessed that.

These days, I drift between being a cheap ass and being a dumbass.

As a reader, Gayle, said:

Sometimes it’s just hard to turn off that internal calculator! The important thing is to be able to laugh about it.

And it’s true. It’s tough to turn off that internal calculator. A side effect from spending myself into debt? Probably.

The interesting thing is, I see this a lot among my peers (18 to 25). It’s not that they are total dumbass or cheap ass; it’s just that for many young pepole, it seems that they’re either on top of their finances or they’re totally not.

I have friends that are totally against debt. They work hard, save diligently, do all the basic stuff right and handle the complicated stuff as they come along — I believe they’re set (or will be set) financially. And then I have friends that are a bit worrisome. I see my old self in them. They spend more than they make, over extend themselves financially, and carry a large credit card debt along with an even larger student loan.

Anyway, figuring out the source of this discrepancy is a topic for another post (hint: parental education on personal responsibility).

The real question to ask yourself is: Are you a cheap ass, a dumbass, or neither?

As with many things in life, being in the extreme of any category is never healthy (or sensible). I’m not saying that saving diligently is being a cheap ass, but there is definitely a point where you’ll be saving more than necessary (or being unreasonable in your quest for financial independence).

The same goes for being a dumbass. If you ever spend yourself into bankruptcy (or near bankruptcy), you’re most likely in the dumbass category. A bit harsh, but that’s my opinion.

How then, do you find the perfect balance? After all, No one wants to be a cheap or dumb ass. It a demeaning classification, especially when it’s from a smart ass blogger.

Unfortunately, there’s no real solution from me.

As I’ve mentioned, I still drift between two camp these days. Sometimes I spend recklessly and sometimes I get super cheap. It’s lame, but thats how I like to roll (until I get it smacked out of me by my sister).

I think there’s an important thing to remember though. In the long term, you’ll find that I’m usually a very sensible spender/saver. Generally, I make careful financial decisions, and I come away with a higher net worth.

And that’s probably the key. It’s just like poker. You can lose a hand once in awhile, but if you’re a long-term winner — if you can overall come away with a winning stack in the long-term, you’re probably going to be just fine.

 Note: I’m done using the A word for the rest of the year.