Today I updated all of my financial information and was taken aback by something that had yet, in my adult life, to present itself. Financially speaking, I am actually worth something!
I do not look at myself in regards to how much money I am worth, but after several years of putting money away in savings and retirement, trudging like no other, and paying off a good chunk of my loans, my net worth is finally green. It might only be a couple hundred bucks, and that may change soon, but today I'm green!
Corbin and I have been working really hard these past few years to be as financially responsible as possible. We don't want to be cogs in a machine trading our time for money for the rest of our lives. We want to earn a wage that sustains our lifestyle, if not enables it. We have the goal to not be working well into our 70's and to be able to build a house and own land. These are big goals which we unfortunately cannot afford now, but we might as well practice, right?
There will be another post soon where we get into our finances, how we managed to live below our means, pay our debts, and still manage to start saving for retirement. I wouldn't be net positive right now if we hadn't been so diligent in our goal to be as fiscally smart as we possibly can. If you're curious how two 26 year-olds can have healthy retirement accounts, student dept paid off, and phenomenal credit, rest assured we'll get into the nitty-gritty of it all soon.
Before I leave, I just want to take a moment to address something here. Corbin and I are not islands, as no man or woman ever is. We've had lots of help from our friends and family members throughout the years that have helped us keep our heads above water. We couldn't have done this without their help. But, I also need to clarify that we haven't been spoon fed this financial success. There is a parable that I think is applicable: The Parable of the Talents. It goes something like this:
A man went on a long journey and entrusted three of his servants with a sum of money. The first servant he gave five coins, the second he gave three, and the third only one. While the man was away, the first servant used the five coins on expensive gifts and extravagances until they were gone. The second, invested in three coins he was given. The last, buried his coin to keep it safe. When the man returned, he asked each of the servants what they did with the coins he gave them. He was frustrated by the first and third, not having the responsibility or the foresight to use the money he had given them wisely. But he was pleased with the second and entrusted his finances to him.
The point is this: it doesn't matter how much you're given or how much you have. What matters is what you do with it. You can spend extravagantly, but that will not get you any further than you were. You can hide what you have, but you will never move forward. Our goal should always be to try to make more out of what we have, by investing it in our futures, our goals, or by paying off our debts. Now, I don't want to get preachy, so I'm going to stop here. It just needs to be made clear that it doesn't matter if you're living at home with your parents making minimum wage or making six digits, it's what you do with it that counts.