As I was thumbing through the internet while enjoying my daily rosewater soak in my gilded, claw-footed tub this morning, I came across a couple in an unfortunate financial situation that actually hit quite close to home.
When I finally emerged into the daylight after my bank rejected me from buying the Chiron yacht, I took a good and long look at everything I had amassed. The Lexus and Aston Martin boats, the AMG Cigarette racer. I didn’t even include the bulletproof, diamond-coated Rolls-Royce in that expenses sheet because technically the payment details are still being sorted out—but anyway!
The story in question appeared on a blog called Financial Samurai. They live in New York City, each make $250,000 a year and have two kids. Here’s a chart of their expenses:
As you can see, they are maxing out their 401k contributions (smart!). And after everything is said and done, they’re only walking away with $7,300.
That’s not very much at all!
I felt for them. I really did. These poor people could only afford three (three!) vacations a year and they only have two cars—and two not very nice ones at that.
I do have something to admit, though: I don’t actually walk away with that much cash, either. It’s not cheap being me, I have expenses! And because I honestly believe in total transparency with you, I made a similar chart to show you exactly how little cash I have after all the bills are paid.
I know I scream and yell a lot, but you and I—our problems really aren’t that different. We both sometimes stay up at night, fretting about how we’re going to get through the next few weeks.
The point I’m trying to make here is: we’re in this together. We learn humility. And that’s the most important lesson of all.