Don't you just love to shop and spend using money that didn't have to come from your own savings account? Or from your own sweat and blood? You might say, of course who wouldn't want that, but who does that? Is that even possible (or legal)?
Rich and financially savvy people including your banker do it all the time. When they spend, someone else pays for it.
That's greedy, you might say. But don't be so quick to judge. Don't you want to know how they do it?
For four days, I had been away from three of my four kids because I had to take kid # 2 for a portfolio review at our homeschool provider. The school's office was located in the city quite far from our home in Laguna. I decided we'd drive and stay a few days in the unit we owned in the city. It’s not that the review took 4 days because it only took 2 hours, but I wanted to squeeze in other errands I could do in one go. Errands like:
I told my son over eating tacos how all our expenses, the tacos, the drinks, the new toy he just bought, were met by other people's money who paid me for services. How? The money from the car rental paid for my gas, toll fees, food trips and other impulsive little things I bought, like a Monopoly board game and mini lego blocks for Colin. Remember the free coffee? I've been craving for an iced latte for weeks but resisted from buying. I was practicing delayed gratification by not giving in to my wants until hey someone offered it for free!
I did not have to shell out any money. I also paid my credit card bill using the rental payment from the condo.
The small business deals I've done didn't take up much of my time either. It wasn't hard to deliver the car rental and pick it up again after, or collect rent payment. I was able to do my own thing in the process like take my boy to the school for review, get some work done, and buy personal wants. It was like getting a new toy and eating out all for FREE.
Colin's eyes lit up at understanding the concept of having other people's money work for you.
Hitting (More Than) Two Birds With One Stone
Attending to my commitments to go to the city for homeschool activities costs money: there's gas, toll, and we have to eat when we get hungry. I don't have to pay for those costs if I can think of a way to expand my means. Someone happened to need a car, I offered mine for a fee. They accepted. I scheduled my travel at the same time the car deal was to take place, at the same time I might as well schedule the meetups, condo checks and collection of payments.
This is a simplified version of how to use other people's money (OPM). You don't need a college degree to come up with this kind of plan. It's a way of thinking and seeing things and just a matter of switching it on in your head.
The not-so-simple version of using OPM is when you use debt to build a business or to put money in an investment that will give you a profit.
On Tuesday night, my 8-year-old decided he wanted to leave the condo by 5am the following day because he missed his siblings already and couldn’t wait to play Monopoly with them.
He also told me “We should leave early because you hate traffic. We were supposed to leave tonight but you said it would be traffic and didn’t want to drive”
“Ok son, I’m gonna wake you up at exactly 5am,” I said.
We were able to pack and leave the condo by 9am. So much for exactly 5am.
Leaving the city, driving home, going South at the South Luzon Expressway wasn’t so bad at 9am. It was pretty smooth sailing actually. The other side of the highway though, going the opposite direction, was a completely different story. Cars, buses, vans, all were bumper to bumper and were hardly moving for a very long stretch of time that I was driving.
“My gosh look at the traffic on the other side! Do you see that?” Colin mumbles in agreement as he began to doze off again. I actually said this out loud, more to myself, not caring if my son was listening or not:
“I used to be in that traffic every morning for 3 hours just to get to work, 5 days a week, for 6 years. And another 2 hours to get home to you guys.”
“And sometimes you came home late because you went out to watch movies with your office mates,” said Colin who was listening after all.
Just then I looked to see how fast I was driving: 80 km/h. I decided to slow down to 65 coz I remember reading a blog post about how you can save gas and money when you drive slower. And what am I hurried about anyway? I didn’t have to go to work, I had to do some consultancy work but they can wait. The kids were "officially" on vacation. I was commended by the reviewer for effectively teaching my kids. Really? Me? And I was so worried I would screw everything up the first year of homeschooling.
It was so comforting to be able to slow down. It was unnatural, but relieving. I'd gotten used to fast-paced living: with my driving, getting up and ready, texting on the phone while driving or riding the bus or the jeepney... but those were the days when I was an employee trying to climb the corporate ladder.
It felt good that I stood by my decision to homeschool the kids inspite of other people’s criticisms. If the kids had been in a regular school I now would have been worrying about new school bags, uniforms, school supplies and waking up at 5am every morning come the month of June. But now, I’m just excited to get new books and sign up for a sports class for the boys, although frugality will probably get the better of me later and I’ll end up playing sports with them myself. Unless... someone else pays for it.
Homeschooling allowed me to do many things that I enjoy doing, eventually. In the end, I have more time for myself, which was one of the major worries I had when I started. My kids are enjoying more free time for themselves too. When you choose to homeschool you get better at parenting and teaching. Now that it's a little easier for me, I can’t wait for it to be really fun.
If you found this article helpful in someway do comment or "like" below. Be sure to subscribe too if you wish to receive insider tips on homeschooling and money making!
That's greedy, you might say. But don't be so quick to judge. Don't you want to know how they do it?
For four days, I had been away from three of my four kids because I had to take kid # 2 for a portfolio review at our homeschool provider. The school's office was located in the city quite far from our home in Laguna. I decided we'd drive and stay a few days in the unit we owned in the city. It’s not that the review took 4 days because it only took 2 hours, but I wanted to squeeze in other errands I could do in one go. Errands like:
- Renting out the car for 2 days
- Meeting up with a startup team of freelancers who bought me coffee
- Collecting rental payment from my tenant
- Since I only had one kid to look after, I could do some blogging and consulting while waiting for the car to be returned.
- Going to the bank to pay my credit card bill
I told my son over eating tacos how all our expenses, the tacos, the drinks, the new toy he just bought, were met by other people's money who paid me for services. How? The money from the car rental paid for my gas, toll fees, food trips and other impulsive little things I bought, like a Monopoly board game and mini lego blocks for Colin. Remember the free coffee? I've been craving for an iced latte for weeks but resisted from buying. I was practicing delayed gratification by not giving in to my wants until hey someone offered it for free!
I did not have to shell out any money. I also paid my credit card bill using the rental payment from the condo.
The small business deals I've done didn't take up much of my time either. It wasn't hard to deliver the car rental and pick it up again after, or collect rent payment. I was able to do my own thing in the process like take my boy to the school for review, get some work done, and buy personal wants. It was like getting a new toy and eating out all for FREE.
Colin's eyes lit up at understanding the concept of having other people's money work for you.
Hitting (More Than) Two Birds With One Stone
Attending to my commitments to go to the city for homeschool activities costs money: there's gas, toll, and we have to eat when we get hungry. I don't have to pay for those costs if I can think of a way to expand my means. Someone happened to need a car, I offered mine for a fee. They accepted. I scheduled my travel at the same time the car deal was to take place, at the same time I might as well schedule the meetups, condo checks and collection of payments.
This is a simplified version of how to use other people's money (OPM). You don't need a college degree to come up with this kind of plan. It's a way of thinking and seeing things and just a matter of switching it on in your head.
The not-so-simple version of using OPM is when you use debt to build a business or to put money in an investment that will give you a profit.
On Tuesday night, my 8-year-old decided he wanted to leave the condo by 5am the following day because he missed his siblings already and couldn’t wait to play Monopoly with them.
He also told me “We should leave early because you hate traffic. We were supposed to leave tonight but you said it would be traffic and didn’t want to drive”
“Ok son, I’m gonna wake you up at exactly 5am,” I said.
We were able to pack and leave the condo by 9am. So much for exactly 5am.
Leaving the city, driving home, going South at the South Luzon Expressway wasn’t so bad at 9am. It was pretty smooth sailing actually. The other side of the highway though, going the opposite direction, was a completely different story. Cars, buses, vans, all were bumper to bumper and were hardly moving for a very long stretch of time that I was driving.
“My gosh look at the traffic on the other side! Do you see that?” Colin mumbles in agreement as he began to doze off again. I actually said this out loud, more to myself, not caring if my son was listening or not:
“I used to be in that traffic every morning for 3 hours just to get to work, 5 days a week, for 6 years. And another 2 hours to get home to you guys.”
“And sometimes you came home late because you went out to watch movies with your office mates,” said Colin who was listening after all.
Just then I looked to see how fast I was driving: 80 km/h. I decided to slow down to 65 coz I remember reading a blog post about how you can save gas and money when you drive slower. And what am I hurried about anyway? I didn’t have to go to work, I had to do some consultancy work but they can wait. The kids were "officially" on vacation. I was commended by the reviewer for effectively teaching my kids. Really? Me? And I was so worried I would screw everything up the first year of homeschooling.
It was so comforting to be able to slow down. It was unnatural, but relieving. I'd gotten used to fast-paced living: with my driving, getting up and ready, texting on the phone while driving or riding the bus or the jeepney... but those were the days when I was an employee trying to climb the corporate ladder.
It felt good that I stood by my decision to homeschool the kids inspite of other people’s criticisms. If the kids had been in a regular school I now would have been worrying about new school bags, uniforms, school supplies and waking up at 5am every morning come the month of June. But now, I’m just excited to get new books and sign up for a sports class for the boys, although frugality will probably get the better of me later and I’ll end up playing sports with them myself. Unless... someone else pays for it.
Homeschooling allowed me to do many things that I enjoy doing, eventually. In the end, I have more time for myself, which was one of the major worries I had when I started. My kids are enjoying more free time for themselves too. When you choose to homeschool you get better at parenting and teaching. Now that it's a little easier for me, I can’t wait for it to be really fun.
If you found this article helpful in someway do comment or "like" below. Be sure to subscribe too if you wish to receive insider tips on homeschooling and money making!
