What's better than Financial Freedom?

in Silver Bloggerslast year

I distinctly remember the SECOND time that my father told us "the greatest gift he could give us". It was on his birthday, December 24 - and the reason why I remember the second time is because I forgot the first time!

He had been sharing with us at the dinner table. On December 24, my mother always would prepare a big feast for him. Having a birthday on the same day as Christmas Eve all your life is not easy. You don't get a birthday gift AND a Christmas gift. You tend to get one "bigger" gift and feel robbed! haha He said his gifts were always the same as what everyone else got - but they also got birthday gifts later in the year too! My mom felt bad about that, so she set out to make sure that his birthday was always extra special and separate from Christmas.

On these nights, we would be so full and fat and happy! haha Dining on all kinds of delicacies, we would often get sleepy from a food coma! LOL So you can't blame me when he started telling us the "important things of life" on such a drowsy end to a festive occasion.

What shamed me most, was that second time he brought it up the next year - and he asked if anyone had remembered what treasure he had shared the previous year. I was the oldest, I should have known! But my brother, who never listened to anything - actually HAD this time, and rattled out the secret, special words: "Stay out of debt."

The first time, I don't remember.
That time? I never forgot.

That principle is so simple, and yet so many of us find ourselves in debt. We call it necessary debt - mortgages, school loans, maybe car loans. Then we also tack on credit cards, store cards, and maybe even borrowing from friends and family. The weight of that really begins to burden people down with a sense of drudgery. We must work, not to live - but to pay off debt. That is a very difficult way to live.

Sadly, it's a very hard lesson to learn from words. It's something that usually has to be learned in the experience - the hard way. It's become something that we have tried to actually TRAIN our children to do. Not just listen to advice, but to actually walk them through HOW to stay out of debt, how to save, how to give - so that they can live differently than most.

So financial freedom has become the thing that we cherish most, right?

No, actually something more has become a greater treasure to me. This has probably grown in me in the last 15 years or so. I mentioned this in a post 2 weeks ago, and had several people ask me to define it more, and as promised, here is my attempt.

Financial freedom (to me) is the ability to live free - just as the phrase implies. To live in a way that allows you to not have the strain of debt, and burden, and to be FREE to spend your money in the way that YOU find best. If you want to go on a trip - you can afford it. If you want to buy the finest chocolates, you can splurge. If you'd like to buy a car, you can choose to pay cash.

Believe me this is a WONDERFUL thing to achieve. Very few people on this planet have the opportunity to live such a life, and if you can, God bless you! But having seen MORE of the world than most - and not just the fancy, ritzy locations - but the very poor, and downtrodden places as well, it hit me very hard that there would be times that I could afford ONE item in my house that would be able to have HUGE reach in other parts of the world.

One time in particular, I remember splurging and taking some family friends out to eat at a very fancy restaurant. When the bill came, we tried to grab it quickly but it wasn't before our friend saw the amount. His eyes became SO wide and he said - this? This would pay for the food of the entire town for a month. I went from being happy that I was able to do this extravagant thing for them - to feeling a bit of shame that maybe we should have just given them the money as a gift when we left?

Though I had always felt this sense of disparity before - now, it had become very personal and very integral for me to not only have financial freedom - but to exemplify FINANCIAL EFFICIENCY.

Now, at the time that I wrote that 2 weeks ago, I thought I had created a novel phrase. haha Tonight, I googled "financial efficiency" and found that it has already been used- but not quite the way I mean it.

For me, FINANCIAL EFFICIENCY is simply being able to live the level you like - for the least amount of money.

It seems to me that the richest people in the world live without a care of how much they spend - and spend frivolously, no hesitation. But can you imagine if they chose to use their money differently? This post isn't about bashing the rich and wanting them to take care of us all! haha It's more about you and me.

When you think of how you spend your money - is there a way for you to live well - for less? Can you think of the places in your budget where you can allocate differently? Instead of name brands, can you get by with store brand? And when you save those bits of funds, what will you do with them to plan for a better future?

This concept has been driving me a lot lately. I haven't let it completely change my life and there are still times when we spend in ways that others might call frivolous. I think its important to find the place where YOU are most comfortable - a place that is reasonable and also able to be maintained. But once you start to find these little places to become more efficient, it almost becomes like a game - stacking up little "profits" for you to grow, invest, give, or set aside for those drEEm projects to build!

I'm very curious if you can see places in your own life where you can adjust to a more financially efficient model! What about even on Hive? Perhaps setting aside a portion of your author/curation rewards for new purpose?

Tell me in the comment section some of your ideas! Maybe you'll spur others on to try also!



WHERE THE HECK IS DREEMIE CLUE!

These two pictures were taken about 3 minutes apart! That's how fast weather changes where I'm at today!!! Add this to your list of what you know... use Google if you need hehee!

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We have a little savings club over on the @eddie-earner account where a group of people are doing exactly what you suggest 😍 You're welcome to join us any time.

 last year  

hehehe i've heard about what you're doing!!!

from @samsmith1971

and i actually had done something really fun back on Steemit - where I used the @dreemsavingsfund account to have a bunch of us saving up and using the account to give out bigger upvotes while we waited - and then at a certain point we all powered down - and distributed

it was awesome and it just so happened that RIGHT when we powered down - steem soared when it was all liquid - and we had all this savings to take out and use at $1 per steem - it was AWESOME! hahahaha

the reason why I didn't join in your new initiative (just yet - still considering) is because I was spread SO stinking thin.. and still am hahaha

and I didn't want to commit to being in a group where I wasn't really present so much. I hate that. if i'm there - i like to be ALL there. hehehe

but - things are changing up for me over this next season - so who knows.. maybe i'll come join - not sure - but thank you for checking in with me hehehehe

I think its important to find the place where YOU are most comfortable - a place that is reasonable and also able to be maintained.

Apt

Life is one thing and debt is another. I don't know why I am always having that free mind when it comes to having a life free of debt. It's gives a lot of inner peace and self confidence. You dad saodxot right and he actually gave our a great gift. Thank for sharing those important gifts with us.

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They might have actually chosen the money over the dinner at that second. BUT did they enjoy it? It was possibly a once in a lifetime experience for them, so worth every penny :) ...

What about even on Hive? Perhaps setting aside a portion of your author/curation rewards for new purpose?

I just wish I had started doing things the way I am now earlier. It involves using a portion of my liquid rewards to diversify, partly on the internal dex, and partly on my favorite centralized exchange. The rewards from those coins go partially to grow those stacks, and partly to diversify even further. Should something in that area seriously moon, the bulk of those rewards will go into HBD savings until the next big dump in Hive. Then I'll get myself one of those huge power up bee badges :) ...

I'm wishing that I had handled my HP differently during the bull run, though. I will be handling the next one far differently :) ...

I'm really happy where I am now though, I have the ability to reward people with a whale vote thanks to Ecency. I have support for Let Our Picture Tell Your Story, plus enough to fully fund it myself should I ever have to. And I'm involved with some incredible communities and projects ♥️

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How would you have managed your HP differently during the bull run? 😍

I would have powered down a good portion of my HP at a dollar plus, and deposited it in HBD savings. Let it sit there and earn until the bear drove Hive down to 30 cents. Buy Hive, and now be a dolphin - plus have a nice fat HBD savings :) ...

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Ah, I see what you mean. Good plan for the next bull run! 😍

 last year  

yes - hehehe

but who can predict if it will go up or down?!?! it's always a risk and a gamble! hahaha

love you wrestling -sorry i didn't get to so many comments while i was away but i've decided to NOT even try and to just start fresh hahaha
but this one caught my eye LOL

Yeah, it's always a risk, but the markets do tend to run in cycles eventually. We can only balance out how much to hold and sell!

I hope you had a great vacation ♥️ When do we guess where you were???

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 last year  

hahahaha I posted it last Sunday lolol

prizes have been awarded 🤣🤣🤣

🤣 I've been a little off my game lately, but will be back in action soon!

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 last year  

my vacation was a blessing...always to be able to enjoy new places

and I got to see family

we had some crazy issues but overall... blessed!

It sounds like a good trip then :) ... Except maybe the part where you got sick!

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 last year  

This financial efficiency you speak of... I am in for doing more in that area. eg: trying to mix up my grocery shopping as there are shops I can use that stock what I need at better prices!!! And they do fuel at cheaper rates too so.... two birds and all that !LOLZ... I also need to review our insurances again in the coming months and shop around to see if we can get better quotes on house and car insurance etc...and I am trying to instill a saving mentality with my kids too... I couldn't quite remember what split you said you guys used... could you let me know again please hehe... I have a general idea... which is sensible enough but would love to be reminded of the split and the rationale behind coming to those percentages. Hope you're having a fantabulous time!!! Make the most of the last few days! Love you! 💗 !LUV !ALIVE !hivebits

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Your dad is indeed a very wise man. Incurring debt is the beginning of a person's hassle and turbulence. It's very adviceable to live within one's means.

One of the things I find very hilarious is incurring debts just to impress another human..... Oh wrong. Once you start, you would keep hoping from one debt to another and this cycle can only be broken if you take immediate and extremely creative actions.

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Wes...

Financial freedom is a supposed trivial thing....
Nobody understands the true value of it till you get the mail of something getting repossessed 😔

 last year  

We just paid off most of our debt and it feels good. Your father was very wise with his words.

Hi @dreemsteem,

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Maybe its a bit late for my upvote to be worth anything. However, I read your post about staying out of debt, financial freedom and financial efficiency.

I agree with much of what you said. As for the stay out of debt...I mostly agree. I've taught my children to treat debt very cautiously. Personally I don't consider it debt if its paid off by the end of the week and I love the insurance that comes with credit cards plus the cashback...but never let it sit more than a week.

I am a huge on financial freedom! I feel so many people are debt slaves and I truly value freedom.

I'd never heard the term financial efficiency before but it does seem like something I'd get behind 100%. I'm all about living beneath my means and getting the most life for the least buck. Why? Because then I have more cash available for helping others :)

Thanks for the post.

Appreciate it.