The song ‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year’ might hold up well for a warm feeling as the temperatures drop, but it was co-opted by the retail industry in a way to control the mind of the masses into mass consumption. Retailers make more money in this season than at anytime in the year, and the constrained are enslaved in debt from being guilted into buying stuff for other people. Let’s go through a few tricks you can use to survive this period without having to be Uncle Scrooge to get through it.
About 2 weeks ago, my daughter called me from Tucson, Arizona. She is a senior at the University of Arizona there. She had been stopped at the traffic lights in her car, when another car rear ended her. It wasn't a big accident. Thankfully no one was hurt, and there actually was little visible damage to the back of her car.
In previous articles, I have stated that the concept of FI (Financial Independence) is flawed. Although the pursuit of it is admirable, the fact is that few FI followers have been able to do this through bear markets. Consequently putting yourself on that path has some dangers. I prefer to concept of "financial sustainability" and this article gives you tangible steps to take to achieve that.
What we are doing in the United States and the western world is not working. The average person is living from pay check to pay check, is carrying too much debt load, has barriers to wealth, is brainwashed and is losing their individual freedoms. This article suggests a peaceful way to break that model that you can adopt today and be free of the restrictions of the economic systems that we are expected to live in.