Debt is the New Slavery (Created with Night Cafe + Canva) - Shea Bennett
How many times have you had your alarm clock go off just to sit up and wipe your eyes and wish you did not have to go to work or work a certain job?
In the past, chains were physically visible to see your enslaved condition of servitude.
Now, there are no chains, but their are credit cards, student loans, personal loans, mortgages and if you are really down on your luck...pay day loans. What is so insane is humanity has gotten to the point that our desires are so extreme that many really believe that they just have to have that new iPhone, car, house, designer bag or whatever else drives a person to take a massive loan they cannot truly afford!
Living in Kenya opened my mind to reality. They do not have these loan and credit card sign up and don't pay at first schemes we have in the West. If you do not have the money in Africa. You will not buy it. Period!
Here in the US, we are drunk on credit cards and loans to buy even the smallest of items!
Interest based loans and credit cards are almost impossible to pay back in full for your average working class person. What makes things even worst is constantly chasing to pay an overdue debt that is impossible to catch up and pay. Then a person just opens another credit card, or takes another loan to pay off the other loan, or credit card. The cycle of that rat wheel becomes almost endless until someone opens your eyes and tells you to break the chains around your mind!
We Work Jobs We Hate Because of Bills and Debt!
I do not believe anyone would put up with a rude, arrogant, or pain in the neck supervisor, boss, or business owner if they did not have debt, bills through the roof, mortgages, family expenses and upkeep, or car payments waiting for them to pay every month.
I got my first taste of real freedom when I flipped my first house in Baltimore, MD.
I tried every way possible to get money and help from family, friends and everyone I could think of. In the end of the begging for help and not getting anything, I just had to struggle and suffer and use my entire paycheck with what was left over the course of 2 1/2 years.
I finally finished renovating the house (I will forever be greatful to two people who changed my life when I met them: Fernando and Jose. I would NEVER have accomplished my this dream without them!) and sold it!
Click on the Photo to see the start to finish!
What I learned from literally building a house from the bricks and cinderblock walls to completion is you can really accomplish anything with patience and when you put your mind to it! I purchased the house for $25,000; plus, closing costs which made is $27,000. Renovations ate like $100,000 and I SOLD it for like $264,000 cash (i.e. after commissions, fees and closing costs). More money in cash than I ever had in my entire life!
2 years worth of salary! What!?! In one transaction. My eyes are now forever WIDE OPEN!
What people did not see is the amount of sacrifice, eating at home, penny pinching every single nickel and dime and literally going without so many things to make this dream happen. My wife kicked in because she really felt pity that I would get off of work and go straight to the house and do demolition and trash cleanup and removal until 11pm-1:00am in the morning only to turn around and go to work in DC from Baltimore at 6am in the morning.
I took a LOT of crap from different supervisors and some seriously rude and disrespectful colleagues those two years. I really put up with a lot because I had a goal to achieve and needed that money from my paycheck to keep things moving.
I also had loans and other debts and credit cards to pay which was crushing. A huge cash infusion not only changed my life but the lives of people around me. I paid off 10 years worth of debt, my wife launched a company and I helped a few others and then took what was left and flipped another house.
Earning 2 years worth of salary in one sale after 6 months of work (after I had experience, a team and processes down packed) is damn irritating when you realize the deck is stacked against everyone.
You Will NEVER Earn As Much As an Employee As You Will Running Your Own Business...Period
If you work a job, you better damn well have a written down goal of the why of working for someone else. Everyone has different plans and goals. No two people are exactly the same, but you need to think about what decision you make today and how it can help you get to a goal that is 2, 3 or 5 years away. Personally, 5 years is too far away for me to plan. I plan in 2 year increments.
Write down a goal plan on physical paper with a pen. (There is just something that the brain does when you write with your hand sitting at a table that you just can't do with a cellphone.)
Is it realistic? Re-write and re-edit and then after you do that. Put it somewhere electronically or physically with paper that you can edit it and update it every 2 weeks.
Get rid of any debt or anything that you owe someone else.
Cash is King. All Day. Every Day.
Do NOT take a loan from anyone. You can do it yourself with patience, sacrifice and discipline.
Do NOT beg people to believe in your vision. You will see things other people just won't.
Work like a BEAST until you are expended all energy on your goals. Burn every braincell and exhaust every muscle. Sleep. Get up and do it again. Every...single...day...until your goal is realized!
Don't expect anyone or ask anyone to pat you on the back to achieving anything. Be your own cheerleader!
Any bank is not your friend. Period. All banks are in the business of making profit and money.
Money gives you freedome to tell someone to jump off a ___________. You pick!
If you eliminate 3 expenses, everything you earn can be used towards making your dreams a reality: housing, transportation, day-to-day expenditures
The 1st rule of entreprenuership is if you do not work, you do not eat because you will not have anyone buying anything!
The 2nd rule of entreprenuership is do not sell anything no one is willing to pay for!
So How Do You Create Your Own Freedom Papers?
Being willing to do what others do not want to do. Cannot do or refuse to do. Everyone can make an excuse for why they can't or should not do something and philosophy beat your mind to death. It comes down to sink or swim!
If you launch a business geared to the general 5 things all human beings need. You will find success.
There are five things that all human beings need to live. No matter what country, what language or what culture. All five of these things will impact any human being.
1. Somewhere To Live
2. Something to Eat
3. Something to Wear
4. Some way to present yourself to others (e.g hair, grooming, fit, etc)
5. Some way to earn an income
Your job can help you fund whatever you can identify from one of the above as a way to have a buffer for errors, mistakes or bumpers while riding the freedom train. Have a purpose why you work. Don't just show up every day like a mindless zombie!
Cash is King. I will say that again. Cash is King!
Loans, debts and credit cards all have to be paid back. Get rid of your debt!
Do not buy a car you cannot afford to pay for in cash. If you want a new car, save the money and then buy it in cash. If you can't afford the car you want. Buy what you can afford in cash and save for what you do want.
Real World Example:
I purchased a 2011 Hyundai Tuscon and paid it off in cash. I still have the same car to this day and it rides fine. I will not sell this car until other goals are achieved first! Even with $400,000 cash in hand. I did not buy a new car!
Do not buy a house you cannot afford. Rent! Do that until you can buy a home in cash or renovate and live in your home rent and mortgage free.
Real World Example:
We purchased multiple homes at auctions and 1:1 personal sales or buying from Baltimore City for $2500 to $60,000. We renovated one home in the better neighborhoods and live in it without any rent or mortgage. Saving over $8000 per month in mortgage and other expenses that go with the upkeep of a home in a high priced neighborhood.
Long term these properties will all be finished and upon completion. Rent will replace all salaries and eliminate the need for running businesses or working for people. Strategic sales when the market is hot will also allow 3-5 years worth of salary in one lump sum payment. Buying property in cities where there are challenges that have plans for growth and development in 5, 10 or 20 years is better than trying to move into a high class neighborhood and you have no money left after paying monthly bills and a mortgage payment.
When You Earn Money, Don't Burn It...Be Frugal!
If you see your average rapper or music star, they have diamonds and gold hanging on their neck. Women have super expensive designer clothing, etc. What you do not know is that man or woman who has real wealth could be sitting next to you at Panera Bread or shopping in Aldi's and you have no clue how rich this person is. People with genuine wealth are not flashy and are generally humble. They do not buy stupid stuff that will not earn them income.
Poor people are the one's who ball out on ridiculous purchases when they get any large sums of money. The rich, wealthy or financially intelligent make strategic purchases, launch businesses or invest.
Financially intelligent humans generally can care less about what other people think about them, what they wear or what they drive.
If You Do Not Work On Your Dream, You Will Work On The Dream Of Someone Else...
Caskets and graves are one per person. You will die. We all will die. No one can escape that day. While we are all here in this dunya (present earthly life), we have to work to make it comfortable for ourselves, our families, our significant other or our community.
Every single dream is valuable and can have the life you are willing to breath into it.
Do not listen to the people telling you that you cannot do something (if it is realistic). Do it. If it fails. Learn what you did wrong, pick-up, wipe your knees off and try again in a different way. Keep at it relentlessly until something works!
I remember sitting down on the steps after taking down an entire 10 foot tall wall by myself. I then had to take the wall apart drywall piece by piece and wood slate by wood slate and framing. Carrying down 3 flights of stairs. Up and down and over and over again. It was relentless on a body that had not slept for 20 hours! It took me 3 days to get the wall out of the house and into the yard and then I had to turn around and get everything into the dumpster. 5 years later and 4 houses later. I have never forgetten just how many times I wanted to quit and give up, but I had no choice but to keep going.
All of my money was in that house...
You will do what you have to do because you have no other choice but to succeed.
As long as you understand this, you will make it in life.
Peace Be Unto You
-Shea
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