Can you feel it? They lurk around every corner. Scheming and planning their way into your most precious source of power. In the shadows and in plain daylight they live, so subtle that we may not even notice. Am I talking about day walkers? Vampires that lurk in the shadows? No, not exactly. Put away the garlic and the wooden stakes since it is not necessary. As we live our daily lives, I have noticed that everyone wants our money. Can you catch em all?
- Services: Back when I was just a little kid, the only services that we had that was needed was electricity and water for the house. We had two channels to watch TV shows and occasionally my Mom would get her nails done. Heck, when I lived in the province we didn’t even have electricity and water was something we had to fetch for ourselves in order to take a shower or cook our meals.Today, the mindset seems like these services are a necessity when in reality it’s more of a luxury. Let’s start with a few supposedly “harmless” ones: Cable, internet, Netflix, Hulu, Crunchy Roll (Anime Shows), Amazon Prime, HBO Go, pricey cell plans, Geek Squad, Dog walkers, Poop scooping services, lawn mowing services and many more. I’m not saying that having some of these services are bad, but if we don’t have the base emergency savings plan and living paycheck to paycheck, we have to cut these services off. Life does go on without the fancy pants cell phone with the fancy pants cell plan. I promise.
- Supermarkets: It’s not called “Super” just for kicks and giggles. I mean why not just call it “Turbomarket” while we’re at it since the money that flies from our wallets to their cash register is faster than the speed of light. Supermarkets are exactly what the name implies: Super Marketers. They know all the tricks and Jedi mind tricks to make us buy more and without a solid game plan we will buy more. Bring a list EVERY TIME and do not deviate from the plan.
- Ads: The modern day Jedi mind trick. After a the millionth time seeing the same ads over and over, maybe I do want the turbocharged, hemi powered hellcat sedan for my five mile commute… They don’t spend billions of dollars because it doesn’t work.
- Credit cards: Wow how convenient. All I got to do is swipe my card or cell phone via android pay and that sweet unicorn outfit is fine! What, hold on, is today the 14th or the 15th? Oh crap I’m late on my credit card payment! That my friend is just the beginning of an endless trend of a leech slowly sucking your life energy. Interest rates pile on and Visa, Amex, and Discover get ever richer.
- Cars: If you become a slave to car payment, you will be broke for a very long time. Ride a bicycle, walk, take a bus, or buy a used vehicle at an affordable price.
- Window shopping: walking around a mega store like Target or Walmart may seem harmless, but there is a very high probability that we could walk out with items we did not plan on buying.
- Family: This may not apply to everyone but in my experience, there’s always a few people in the family that always needs money. May it be gambling problems, health issues, or supporting their kids for college. It can get pretty overwhelming at times. Remember to never EVER expect to get that money back if you do decide to help out. Just do it out of the goodness of your heart. Do not lend money to family. It will only yield bad results.
That’s all I can think about! Was there any I missed? Everyone wants to take your money! It takes a lot of effort, life energy to earn money and do not let a simple slick ad or a seemingly harmless leech suck the life out of you.
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