The second quarter of 2021 is about to come to an end. Summer is raging and everyone wants to head to the beach to get a tan and relax. Temperatures out west is sizzling hot but here in Triad is comfortable (mid-80s to upper 90s). Here’s this quarter’s 10 quotes about money and finance.
Samuel Butler: “Friendship is like money. Easier made than kept.”
When a kid visits a playground, it’s easy for them to make friends. Money no matter how big or small it is can be easily found or earned. However, just like friendship, if you don’t give time, effort and energy to it, it’s easily lost.
Nathan W. Morris: “Every time you borrow money, you’re robbing your future self.”
One thing I don’t like here in the United States is their love for credit. Credit for me is a necessary evil. I prefer to buy something when I have the money to pay for it. Borrowing money makes you lose sleep and increase your stress levels especially if you don’t know how to pay for it. Stress is the number one cause of a number of health issues. If you follow the trail, your future self will be robbed of a happy life.
Bill Gates: “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”
I wonder what lessons Bill Gates learned from his failed marriage. Life is filled with failures (money, relationships, education, etc.), it’s how you overcome those failures will determine your course in life. What does that have to do with money or finance? You may have heard a lot of rags to riches stories, how they overcome adversities in life. They learn from their adversities and didn’t let those failures bring them down.
Warren Buffett: “Never invest in a business you can’t understand.”
According to Oxford Language, business is a person’s regular occupation, profession or trade. It is also the practice of making one’s living by engaging in commerce. Whether it is as simple as a selling some homemade stuff or stock market or as complex as creating a major corporation, you need to understand how it works to be able to earn money. For example, you want to sell some homemade stuff, you need to know how to make the stuff you plan to sell, how to sell it, where to sell it and how much to sell it to earn a profit. If you only know one aspect of it, it will be difficult to see a favorable end result.
Charles A. Jaffe: “It’s not your salary that makes you rich, it’s your spending habits.”
You may be earning $200,000 or receive a windfall of a million of dollars, if you spend the money in buying everything you need and don’t plan how to spend it, it won’t matter how much the money is as the money will be gone in a flash. You might hear a lot of athletes who were highly paid when they were still playing that are now homeless because of how they spent their money and didn’t think long term.
Albert Einstein: “The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.”
When we were young, our parents often remind us that it is better to give than to receive. I always get a warm feeling inside me when I see the smiles and happiness of the people who receives something that they desperately need. However, I sometimes hesitate to give especially if they misuse the gifts I give them. It is hard to distinguish those who are truly in need from those who are just plain greedy.
Peter Drucker: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
What will the future holds will remain a question if there’s no action. You will go hungry if you don’t buy food and prepare it. You can’t always ask for alms to live day by day. As they say, if you give a man a fish, he will live for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he will leave for a lifetime. You need action in order for a reaction to occur. As Nike say, “Just do it.”
Jim Rohn: “Motivation is what get you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”
I agree on the first sentence but disagree on the second. I feel habit alone won’t keep me going. You may have noticed my monthly personal challenge updates and that I’ve given up logging the food that I’ve been eating daily. I’m not sure what the word that should be added but habit alone won’t work.
Robert Kiyosaki: “Inside of every problem lies an opportunity.”
I’ve been watching several documentaries on “The Food That Built America”. I noticed that the famous snacks and food that we know today where created out of an idea due to a problem that is happening at that time. Just like every diet created is due to a problem (e.g. dietary restrictions and vanity).
Suze Orman: “A big part of financial freedom is having your heart and mind free from worry about the what-if of life.”
Worry-free of what may happen is always an ideal goal to achieve. Whether it’s financially, emotionally, physically, being worry-free will take off a big load off your shoulders. How to achieve them and maintain that worry-free existence, is still a mystery.
Claudine on the Go 