My Asset Diet

Henry — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 01:01:33 +0000

Like most of my classmates i operated under the assumption that upon finishing college i’d move on to a job with a comfy salary and start amassing all the wealth that a college grad ought to have. Whilst still in school I spent money and collected belongings at rate that far outpaced the meager income i recieved from my student job. I bought a condo and i spent some money on a credit card.

It was never out of hand. My mortage payments are quite reasonable and i’d be able to pay off my credit cards easily working at most entry level jobs for which i’m qualified. But now I’m wishing i hadn’t spent all that money.

Here I am, out of school for only a couple months, but wishing i had freedom that i simply don’t. I have a sweet job that pays well and basically lets me work whenever I want. But I also have a mortage payment, DSL bill and credit card that demand my attention every month.
I’m really not the “own a home at 21″ kind of guy. My goals for a given month usually include things like going sailing 5 times, riding my bike 400 miles in a month or having the ability to leave and go skiing when the snow falls. The “own a home at 21″ guy’s goals are more like getting a raise, buying a new car or upgrading his home theater.

Now it’s become time for me to shed some this extra stuff and gain some freedom. First to go has to be the condo. Not having the condo will take a thousand dollars out of my monthly commitments. That thousand dollars is the equivilent of working 4 days less a month, or alternatively it’s building a sweet bicycle that i could ride to to San Fransisco with the next months free time. And that doesn’t even begin to consider the sizable chunk of change that such a sale would drop into my bank account. A sum that could buy a modest sailboat and leave money left over for a rainy day.

Is anyone in the market for a studio in Fremont?

Henry Rose » Money

My Asset Diet