I was kind of surprised today that I read how a person was trying to convince others that if you want to have fun in life then that means you have to spend money. For this example specifically, there was a hockey game and while people were there watching it and having fun one person was saying how people should all wager some bets as that is the only way to have fun.

I just had to think about that comment for second. While I recognize he could have just been saying that as a peer pressure way to get people to spend money, it’s actually not that uncommon for people to say if you don’t spend your money in ways like that then you are not enjoying life. I was even trying to think of this in a silly scenario such as a parent going to their kid’s sporting event where the fun and enjoyment should be about watching them compete and all only to then have two parents say they need to bet each other to make this fun.

In like high school this was things like cigarettes where people said if you don’t do it then you must not be having fun as you only live once. Speaking for myself, it didn’t make sense then and it doesn’t make sense now. I find that around a more mature age group of people this scenario is the same except the most common example is people say you either you spend all your money like how they do as well or else you are classified as having a boring life.

I think the main mentality I have developed to overcome this peer pressure type of mentality when it comes to spending money is that I recognize in many cases people say things like this because they want to live that experience through you, if that makes sense. For example, if you are the only one that has five thousand dollars to spare and you went with another person where you both saw this crazy TV that he/she can’ afford, them pressuring you to buy it would be almost the same as if they bought it themselves. So when you think about it, is you spending money in that case more for your entertainment or someone else’s?

I was even joking how isn’t it the other way around many times where if people want that kind of entertainment then they are usually paying the person to see them do it? Either way, it should be more about doing what is best for you.

Anyone else read those news stories lately about how apparently climate change may make coffee beans extinct by the year 2080? It was kind of interesting I thought reading stories about how people have no idea what to do now. For some people it seemed like it was the equivalent of a news report saying we are going to run out of clean water by 2080.

The solutions that people are thinking of were kind of neat to read such as some people saying how to survive longer they just need to move the crops to different areas every few years. The one thing I haven’t heard at all which is kind of surprising is how nobody seemed to wonder if they can simply replace the coffee drinking habit with something else if worst comes to worst. Kind of like how a business expands into different things in order to adapt to say consumer habits. Instead, people just said without it the world is doomed to have grumpy drivers in the morning and such. In a semi humorous way of course.

There were comments too that some people thought that they should start hoarding coffee beans now. I must say though, it would be interesting to see if that does happen where something that is so uncommon in so many people’s lives all of a sudden turns into a hot commodity. Kind of an interesting way to practice your thinking outside of the box solutions too in regards to what you think would work in these situations.

I was watching an interesting documentary today of a person who was expressing how he thought he had everything backwards in life where he was so focused in making money and that his personal health was usually at the bottom of his list. He would always invest a lot of money into making more money but when it came to things like the food he ate he would simply just eat anything and filled him up. It was interesting as because of this unhealthy lifestyle he would often rely on pills and such to make him feel better which in the end would cost him a lot of money.

Afterwards, he started to seriously put a budget into things such as eating healthier and there were even comparisons on how much it costs him to say buy those fresh fruits and vegetables versus the junk and pills he was relying on. Not surprisingly, he got better as time went on and it was so much cheaper. Kind of interesting how we easily overlook simple things like these during our hectic lifestyles. As always, learn to take care of yourself first.

Nice tip I heard today. Usually when people are eager to dive into various motivational material to hopefully spark some energy to change their life around the expectation is that you go through the course and with that new knowledge you will be a completely different person. However, in many cases people just end up in the same rut once they head back home for some reason.

One important point that was brought up is that you have to be willing to change your environment and surroundings. For example, if you just got back from hanging around with a bunch of successful people that generated all these ideas and positive energy then of course you are going to feel very good. But if you simply go back next day to hanging around people that are simply negative in every way they will simply suck everything out of you and you will be back to square one.

So true I thought. I suppose it can be true in every aspect. For example, if you went and took the best financial management course for a year where it seems like you have everything set now, if you continue to hang around others that insist in blowing all their money away on the most trivial ways then most likely you will be back in that situation. I guess another way of putting it is that you have to be truly ready to change your life before worrying about what to learn to help you get to where you want.

I was reading a financial advise today where one person suggested that what worked for them was to always designate a day or so in the week where they won’t spend any money at all. This is to help balance out if they overspend during other days of the week. I wasn’t too big of a fan of this as I personally think if you want to save money in a consistent and healthy manner it’s all about making a lifestyle makeover. Therefore, it’s not like you ever have to force yourself to do anything crazy for one day.

It just reminds me of things such as trying to stay physically healthy. When it comes to meals, it’s all about a lifestyle habit in finding something you can do everyday and not say starving yourself for one day to try and balance out the excess amount of bad food you ate during the other days. If you are having trouble spending too much money on certain things, then I think it’s better to invest some time in seeing if there are different ways to do things in general.

Hobbies are a great example. Many times I have seen people take on hobbies that cost them an arm and a leg. By simply exploring other hobbies that provide a similar challenge or thrill for them they are then able to save a lot more. Not only that, they learned that there are other things that they can enjoy as well. It was a change that required a natural lifestyle change which in the end worked out better.