← Optimal Finance Daily - Financial Independence and Money Advice
Optimal Finance Daily - Financial Independence and Money Advice
3283: The Oregon Trail Guide to Personal Finance: What Happens Next? by Jana with Budgets Are Sexy
00:10:45
Jana draws parallels between The Oregon Trail and real-life money management
Loading summary
Transcript19 lines
- [00:00]
A
Thanks for selling your car to Carvana. Here's your check.
- [00:03]
B
Whoa. When did I get here?
- [00:04]
A
What do you mean?
- [00:05]
B
I swear it was just moments ago that I accepted a great offer from Carvana online. I must have time traveled to the future.
- [00:11]
A
It was just moments ago. We do same day pickup. Here's your check for that great offer.
- [00:15]
B
It is the future. It's.
- [00:17]
A
It's the present. And just the convenience of Carvana. Sorry to blow your mind.
- [00:21]
B
It's all good. Happens all the time.
- [00:24]
C
Sell your car the convenient way to Carvana. Pick up. Times may vary and fees may apply.
- [00:31]
B
Race the rudders. Raise the sails. Raise the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over. Roger. Wait. Is that an enterprise sales solution? Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title and more. Start converting your B2B audience today. Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a free $250 credit for the next one. Get started today@LinkedIn.com campaign. Terms and conditions apply.
- [01:01]
C
This is optimal Finance Daily. The Oregon Trail Guide to Personal Finance. What Happens next by Jenna with BudgetsAreSexy.com As a child of the 80s, I can't help but have an affinity for the Oregon Trail. The game, not the actual Oregon Trail. Though I do have mad respect for the pioneers who made that trek. That's some bad s ery right there. I mean, who doesn't love a good case of cholera or hunting buffalo to get their blood pumping? I know I do. But did you also know that while we were fording the river, trading for oxen and buying bullets, we're also learning about personal finance? It's true. If you don't believe me, you can check out my series, the Oregon Trail Guide to Personal Finance. But I'm not here to promote that. Even though it's really awesome and you totally need to read it. No, I'm here to tell you that once the journey ends, there's still a long way to go. I've always wondered what happened to the settlers at the end of the game. I mean, you get to Oregon and then what? What do they do? Where do they live? How do they earn money? Those kinds of things. Fortunately, the clever folks who created the Oregon Trail have a follow up game that helps me answer those questions. And wouldn't you know, I've learned a few more financial lessons from that. I swear, these people are evil geniuses. Here's a sample 1. Take care of your necessities. First in the game, you arrive at a Completely empty plot of land, save for trees, rocks, and the occasional buffalo skull. In order to build on it, you first need to clear the land. Once the land is cleared, you can start building. But what to build first? That's a good question, and the answer is simple. Take care of your necessities. Find a water source. Chop down trees and build a shelter. Start a fire with some of the logs. Hunt a squirrel or rabbit, or find some non poisonous berries to eat. Cover the basics, because if you don't secure what you need to survive, it's almost impossible to do anything else like raise animals or harvest crops. Your money works the same way when you get paid. Pay your necessities first. Pay for your housing. If you still have to. Set aside money for food and transportation, make sure you have enough to pay for electricity. Unless you live in a completely greenhouse or are Amish, then you can forget about that payment. If you need medication to survive, budget for that as well. Once those are taken care of, you're pretty much good to go. Then you can take what's left over and use that for the stuff you want. 2. Have a logical plan. It's easy to look at the empty plot of land and just start haphazardly building stuff. A tavern, a general store, a hunting lodge, a bunch of houses, maybe a farm. Those all seem like a good idea for a town. I mean, that's totally the kind of town I'd like to live in. But there has to be an orderly plan for where you place those things. For instance, it's probably not a good idea to put the hunting lodge next to the tavern. That could get dangerous. Sounds kind of like a budget. Income is just like that empty plot of land. If you don't have a plan for how to spend that money, you're just going to spend it on whatever you want without really knowing where that money goes. You'll spend in an illogical way that makes no sense and could cause a potentially dangerous situation like massive debt or a missing big financial deadline or opportunity number three. Work hard, but remember to rest. The game is really big on monitoring your energy. Each task that you perform, whether it's collecting money from the stores or building a storage shed or harvesting crops, they all require you to use energy. When your energy meter runs out, you can't perform another task until it resets and and your spouse even reminds you that your energy meter is empty and you can't do anything else. Thanks, nagging spouse. Sometimes you'll work really hard and get an energy bonus. But mostly the work just depletes what you've stored up. When you're trying to build a successful town, it's hard and sometimes painful to rest. You want to keep working and working until you have nothing left to give. It's the quickest way to be profitable. Working around the clock, having our hands busy constantly. But that's also an easy way to burn out and make some potentially unpleasant mistakes, like forgetting to craft some medicine and your pioneer dies. Oops. Whether you're self employed, work for someone else, work in the home, or have some other work situation, it's important that you allow yourself to take a day off. Resting boosts your ability to perform at the top of your game. Resting allows you to recover, prevents you from burning out, and helps you avoid mistakes. Resting gives you a mental break. And often during your rest, you'll find a solution to a problem that's been nagging you. Resting affords you the time to be proud of your accomplishments. And most importantly, resting gives you the opportunity to connect with your friends and family, which is more important than anything. And number four, be kind to your neighbors. One way to build up your town and earn rewards is to visit neighboring towns and help the townspeople with their chores. You get rewarded in little hearts that allow you to obtain a bonus trip to the prospecting field where you get to blow up rocks with dynamite, which is awesome. You get visitors to your town, allowing your businesses to be more profitable. It also helps to build relationships so in the event of a flood or stampeding buffalo, the you can get some help rebuilding your broken town. Everyone wins. In real life, the game's neighbors are our networks. It's important to have good, solid relationships with your family, friends and your community. Because in the event of a tragedy or unemployment or starting a new business, these are the people that you'll turn to for help. They're the ones who will come to your aid and support you. The nicer and more helpful you are to people, the the broader your network becomes. And honestly, you never know what kind of opportunity can arise as a result of that network. I love games that make me think. Yes, I'm a huge nerd. Particularly games that make me think about money. Because in addition to the lessons learned here, there's the whole earning, budgeting and spending money element to the game that makes it even more challenging. But that's a whole different post. You just listened to the post titled the Oregon Trail Guide to Personal Finance. What Happens Next by Jana with budgetsaresexy.com this message is brought to you by.
- [07:55]
D
Apple Card if you're like me, you might be considering getting a new iPhone, but have you considered upgrading your credit card? When you use your Apple card with Apple Pay or the laser etched titanium Apple Card, you can earn unlimited 3% Daily Cash back on everything you buy from Apple, whether it's a new iPhone, an iPhone case, or even a service like Apple Music or Apple TV. Earning 3% back on the Apple products and services you love.
- [08:24]
C
It's an easy decision.
- [08:26]
D
You'll only wonder why you weren't doing it sooner. Subject to credit approval Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City branch terms and more@applecard.com.
- [08:41]
C
Well I.
- [08:42]
E
Was down on my last dollar Then I started saving cause the bank said fiscal restraint is what you're craving so I put my earnings in a high yield account let the savings compound and the interest mount I'm optimizing cash flow putting debt in check now time is my friend and not a pain in the neck and we've got a little cash to rebuild the old deck Boring.
- [09:00]
B
Money moves make kind of lame songs, but they sound pretty sweet to your wallet. BNC bank brilliantly boring since 1860.
- [09:10]
A
I.
- [09:10]
C
Really enjoyed this article because it challenges an assumption I hear a lot, which is that you should keep pushing to increase your income, decrease your expenses and invest the gap until you reach financial independence. This idea that you're not able to relax until you're financially independent fails to notice the financial freedom you open up along the way to fi, and I don't agree with it. While financial independence is what we're all striving towards eventually, whether that be for early or traditional retirement, I believe the milestones along the way can release some pressure and make the journey more sustainable and more enjoyable. Debt freedom to me is the first step and has been the most enjoyable step in my journey. Funding a retirement fund brings some security into the equation. And then perhaps you get to a place like me where you're coast fi and gain peace of mind knowing that you no longer have to save for traditional retirement. When you have one to two years of living expenses accessible, you have what we like to call FU or peace out money. You still need to work for your livelihood, but perhaps you can take a break and take time to find a job you really love that doesn't feel like work. Or you can make the leap to self employment like I did. The point is, the milestones on the path to FI open up just as many options as actually reaching financial independence, so why not take advantage of them? One thing I've realized about money is that it's only as valuable as your clarity on how you'll use it and your comfort level with how much is enough. If your approach is just to get more of it, perhaps you're missing an opportunity to ask bigger questions about the role that money plays in your life. And that will do it for another edition of Optimal Finance Daily. Have a great day. Thank you for listening, and be sure to come back tomorrow for more where optimal life awaits.