One Of The Great Secrets To Enjoying Life

Proverbs 20:21, “An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.”

Proverbs 21:20, “There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.”

I couldn't think of a good Bible passage to go along with what I have to say, but these are all great truth passages. The first passage from Proverbs 20:21 could perfectly fit the Prodigal Son. He got his inheritance hastily and spent it all before he knew he was broke.

The second passage goes along with the first passage. We've all heard about reckless Hollywood multi-millionaire celebrities who foolishly spent every dollar they ever earned. A wise man retains riches. Proverbs 11:16, “A gracious woman retaineth honour: and strong men retain riches.”

I have learned that one of the secrets to enjoying life is to take plenty of time to acquire things. I recently bought a Huber VRB-3 banjo with a radiused neck. I spent about one year looking at different banjos, watching many videos, reading lots of articles, listening to audio files of various banjos, et cetera. I saved up and paid cash. I really enjoyed that process of taking my time before buying anything. I actually enjoy the time preparing to buy something as much if not more than acquiring the purchase.

And that is a secret that I have learned, to better enjoy life. People who must gratify themselves immediately, and then pay for it later, never truly enjoy life. When I see someone driving a new SUV as big as a garage, I cannot help but feel sorry for them, knowing that 99% of them went into massive debt to acquire it. Dealerships now offer 8-year loan packages, which I think it insane and foolish. I paid cash for my 2013 Honda FIT when I bought it in 2021.

I saw a Gold Tone banjo advertisement today for their new OB-175 banjo. PayPal popped up inside the ad and said, "Play now and pay later" on credit. That is a terrible idea dear reader. Who can “play now” and enjoy something that you're already in debt for, and that dark cloud hangs over your head? I would much rather save up the money, learning all about whatever it is that I want to acquire, having fun deciding what I want, comparing products, and then when I have enough money saved up down the road, pay cash and enjoy the item when it is fully paid for. That makes good sense to me.

I think the vast majority of Americans today, especially this younger spoiled rotten generation, have the wrong attitude. They are spoiled and feel entitled. I have learned to save up the money first, and enjoy the preparation period as much as buying the item. I have enjoyed the last year looking at dozens of different banjos. It's fun to enjoy looking, comparing and learning for months before you buy something. Take your time. Save up money to pay cash.

Likewise, I am now enjoying learning about banjo bridges (which affect tone) and will take my time before I buy anything, and I'll buy a couple and then see how they sound, and go from there, instead of ordering a bunch of bridges all at once. Most people don't know how to enjoy life anymore. If you have to always buy things to be happy, you'll never be happy.

The same can be said about courtship leading up to marriage. There was something priceless, sweet and beautiful about the courtship period in the old days a century ago. We see courtship in Brian Wilson's beautiful song, "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by the Beach Boys. That is my favorite song by the Beach Boys. Today, teenagers are horribly encouraged by Walt Disney and Hollywood to "score" (fornicate outside of marriage - Hebrews 13:4), which ruins the specialness and sacredness of marriage. Premarital sex has ruined courtship. I think that is a crying shame. Young people are missing out on the joy of courtship, of waiting until their marriage day to have sex (carnal knowledge) for the first time, preserving its specialness.

I have learned to enjoy life more by enjoying the time before buying something, as much as I enjoy eventually buying it. I think it is a very wrong and even destructive attitude, that we need to enjoy everything immediately and then we'll pay it off for months or even years to come.

When I moved from Guam to Pensacola in 2021 I had saved up money for a long time, so that I paid cash and bought my 2013 Honda FIT before I even left Guam. The dealership in Pensacola had one of their employees pick me up at the airport and drove me to my new used vehicle. They even got the license plates for me. They were so kind and helpful at the Pensacola Honda Dealership. By God's grace and goodness, I didn't buy the vehicle by going into debt for years to come to pay for it. I saved up first.

I think most people who go into financial debt don't need to. I see young people driving brand new vehicles. Many of them are on 8-year loan payment plans, almost like a mortgage. I think that is really a bad deal. I have never bought a new vehicle my entire life and I am 59 years old. And I don't want a new vehicle. Used is good. Hey, my 2013 Honda FIT was brand new 13 years ago. I bought it in 2021. It still runs great! God has been very good to me.

I encourage you the next time you want to go buy something that is a bit pricey to wait a couple weeks, or even a few months. Learn about the different products. Shop around, read and compare, ask questions if you'd like, and make it a fun time of considering all the angles. I do that often and enjoy the entire acquisition process, long before I actually acquire anything.

Don't Be A Foolish Spender

I encourage you to listen to this practical sermon by Pastor Jack Hyles titled, “Hasty Fruit.” The greatest things in life we should pay for first, and then we enjoy them. Such is marriage. You earn it by proper courtship. Some of the most miserable people are those who choose to enjoy everything first, and then pay for it later. That's no way to go through life.

Approximately 77% of Americans have some form of debt, while only about 23% are completely debt-free. Common types of debt include credit cards, mortgages and student loans. I thank God that I am in the 23% group of debt-free Americans. That's not by mere coincidence. I am careful what I spend. I save up money before I buy big things.

I really like the old saying from The Great Depression...

Use it up,

Wear it out;

Make it do, 

do without.

People waste a lot of money buying things that they don't need.

When I shop at Walmart, I often see select foods at the aisle ends which cost much more than the other food. You are paying for the fancy packaging and brand names. I always buy “Great Value” products, which is Walmart's exclusive brand. The food is often half the price of name brands and the quality is just as good, if not better. I love Great Value foods.

When I go to Publix they charge around $8 for strawberries, which they cut the green tops off. I can get twice as many whole strawberries at Walmart for half that price. If you can afford it, go for it, but I try to be frugal when shopping. I don't smoke, drink booze or gamble on lottery tickets, which right there saves me thousands of dollars a year. The average Floridian spends $1,600 a year on tobacco products. What a waste of money!

It seems that everybody and their dog nowadays is begging for money. The Los Angeles Times and New York Times refuse to let you read their websites unless you pay them money to subscribe. No thanks, there are many other free news outlets. I refuse to throw money away.

Two sales people came to my door a couple years ago wanting to put solar panels on my roof in exchange for guaranteeing that I would only pay a certain amount for electricity every month. As I always do, I said I needed time to think about it. I learned that it is a common scam, which even the U.S. government warns people to avoid. The sales people used the pitch that my electric bill was so high in the summer, trying to get me worked up to draw me into their scam. I learned later on that if I had signed their contract, I would have been legally locked into their tyrannical scam for 25 YEARS! I recommend that you NEVER make hasty decisions dear reader.

When the nurse on Guam years ago in 2017 pressured me to take a Tetanus shot mixed with Whooping Cough vaccination, I said that I needed to think about it and do some reading, but I never took the shot, and I am so glad that I didn't from what I read. At least 25% of people who take the Whooping Cough vaccine experience side effects, such as soreness at the injection site or fever. Tetanus cases are rare in the United States, with only about 30 reported cases each year. It's just a money making scam. No thanks! I digress.

Getting back to the topic of this article, I encourage you to take time before buying things. Enjoy the process. Enjoy the moment. Save your money so you can pay cash when you're ready. Avoid going into debt. Avoid foolish adages, such as: “You only live once.” Although that is a true statement, you don't want to be miserable along the way in your one life. Being in debt all the time is no way to survive. It feels darn good to be debt free!

You Don't Need To Keep Up With The Joneses

You truly don't need to, “Keep up with the Joneses,” as the old adage goes. Who cares what your neighbours, relatives or co-workers drive or have. When I worked as a truck mechanic at an International Harvester Dealership in my early twenties (late 1980s), my older coworkers often pressured me to go into massive debt by buying a Snap On brand toolbox. Misery loves company and they wanted me in debt too. Thankfully, I was smarter than the average bear. Those boxes cost upwards of $15,000 when you buy a bottom, top and side cabinet. They come with ball-bearers that roll as smooth as butter. Nice!

But I wisely went to a local store called, The Tool Box, and I paid $600 for a bottom, top and side cabinet sale combined. Those tool boxes were all I needed. They served the same exact purpose as my coworkers who were in debt for $12,000 to Mac Tools and Snap On, which purpose is to simply provide a place to store your tools. I worked at that truck repair shop for 4 years and one week (1987-1991).

It was funny looking back in hindsight. When the Mac Tools and Snap On trucks drove onto the property, I used to watch grown men leave the building and hide outside until they were gone. The tool salesmen came to collect their weekly payments from the men who were in debt to them. What saith the Scripture? Proverbs 22:7, “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” I never wanted to be in their debt, so I refused to buy anything from them.

Instead, I went down to Sears Roebuck & Co, which company at the time sold their awesome Craftsman tool line, which sold for a fraction of what Snap On and Mac Tools cost. Granted, the quality was inferior on some of Craftsman's tools (like hand wrenches) compared to Snap On and Mac Tools. But I bought a Craftsman torque-wrench for $35 and it worked great.

At one time Sears had 3,500 stores nationwide, but today only have 5 stores remaining open (two in Florida). My father loved shopping at Sears back in the day, and he always bought me one of those big soft pretzels each time we went, which I loved. Several of the men whom I worked with were always angry and bitter because they were in big time debt. Literally, it took them years to pay down those very expensive toolboxes.

And if that weren't bad enough, every Saturday when the business was closed the foreman brought a group of teenagers from his church to clean the shop. They used a caustic soap solution with acid in it to power scrub the greasy floors. Each truck bay had a sewer drain in the middle. As the industrial scrubbers cleaned the floors, they flung caustic soap onto the bottom of the tool boxes, literally eating the paint off the boxes. Oh man! I watched some of my coworkers go ballistic in anger on Monday when they came into work and saw the paint dissolved off their $7,000 tool box. Who could blame them?

Most of the red paint had been eaten away at the bottom of my $600 toolboxes, but I couldn't have cared less since I owned the boxes outright. Time and time again I praised God for giving me enough Horsesense not to go into debt like my coworkers did, over some metal boxes. Dear reader, I could share many more true stories with you about people who foolishly spent money. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with buying an expensive toolbox, or whatever, but you should save up the money first and then pay cash.

When I was growing up in the 1970s there were no credit cards. Praise God! When microwaves first came out they cost $1,500 and only wealthy people could afford one. I grew up eating Swanson TV dinners which all came in metal trays, never in plastic. All soda cans had removable tabs. Coke came in 16 ounce bottles. All cars were rear wheel drive. It was a much simpler time in our country. There was no hip hop, rap or grunge music. No one owned a personal computer or cell phone. There was no internet. Many younger Americans today cannot even imagine such a world. I was born in 1967.

Thank you dear reader for reading my ministry blog. Jesus is precious!!!