You Can Afford Anything, But Not Everything

Recently I came across two extreme real-life stories:

A. Can Collecting Millionaire

Curt Degerman spent his life strolling through a small coastal town in Sweden on an old bicycle. He searched recycling bins for cans and bottles, which he sold to a recycling plant.

No loans. No debt. Minuscule expenses. When he died, his estate was estimated at an eye-popping $1.4 million (close to 10 cr).

B. Tennis champion Boris Becker declared bankrupt

To a generation of tennis fans, he will always be ‘Boom Boom’ Becker, the explosive young German who was the youngest player to win the men’s singles championship. Winner of six Grand Slam titles, was once estimated to be worth upwards of £100 million, was declared bankrupt in 2017.

What can we take away from these two stories?

Many people think that the key to getting rich is making a lot of money.

But look at movie stars and athletes who have made endless amounts of money and are dirt-poor. At the prime of their careers they might be making 10-15 million dollars a year, and by the time they are 45 years old and they’re broke.

You could be driving a Mercedes and own a huge apartment in the best area in town. But you could also be heavily in debt. You may be earning a lot of money, but your lifestyle could be so extravagant that your finances would be fragile.

The idea behind Afford Anything is that each time you buy an item – a smartphone, clothes, TV, car – you’re making a tradeoff. You’re stating that you’d rather have this smartphone instead of something else.

Please don’t misunderstand me – clothes and electronics are great things to spend money on, IF that’s what you truly want.

But some people are unaware that every purchase they make is a tradeoff against something else, like traveling to Paris or investing in your business or retiring early.

The key to “affording anything” is spending money in a way that reflects your priorities.

If your top goal is to cultivate your outer beauty, go for it! Buy the clothes and the makeup. There’s nothing wrong with that.

How rich you are is determined by how much money you have, not by what you own. What you own is how much you’ve given away to others!