Posts
The Dream - How to Save for What You Want.
https://www.johnnyfd.com/2018/08/the-dream-how-to-save-for-what-you-want.html
I watched a video today about a young Thai kid that reminded me of myself. Five years ago I was living in Thailand and was broke. I barely had any money to my name as I had run out of savings and couldn't even afford to buy a plane ticket home. In 2012 I lived in a tiny apartment for 4,500 baht ($125) a month with just one window overlooking a construction site. I remember it being so hot and noisy that wake up every morning before 8am and wouldn't go back home until I was ready to go to bed. I was even too embarrassed to bring girls back there. But I was determined and saved up every dollar I made and make my dreams happen.
In this Thai bank ad, it shows a little kid doing something similar. Instead of spending money keeping up with everyone else, he saved and kept dreaming. I eventually moved into a slightly nicer apartment, but even then, I never spent more than 6,500 baht a month on housing which was around $200. I'd still eat cheap Thai food, work, save, and be frugal. My friends thought I was crazy, my girlfriend at the time thought I was being cheap. But I had a goal that was bigger than me that others wouldn't understand. Keep reading to see the video and see how it turned out.
A year later, in 2013 I started making some real money with my dropshipping store. I even wrote a post announcing it and telling others how they could do the same, that post was written on August 12, 2013 and is still relevant today. But even though I went from living off of $600 a month to making $3,000 - $5,000 a month or more, even then I wouldn't buy anything and still lived as cheaply as possible. My favorite past time which happened to be free was that I'd go to the store every day just to check out watches and months later when I finally picked out the one I wanted, i'd go visit the gold watch I desperately wanted to buy. My girlfriend at the time thought I was crazy, especially since the watch itself was only $200. But my goal wasn't to save up $200, buy the watch, then have zero left over afterwards. My goal was to go from $200 to having $30,000 in the bank, which I could later invest and have that money grow for me and continue to earn money.
I wrote about the entire process and journey in my book Life Changes Quick which you can find on Amazon. It was a book that I wrote from the heart detailing everything that I did to set actionable goals, and how going through twists and turns I eventually achieved them. Here's what a few people said, and I hope you and many others will also get the same amount of value from the read if you haven't read it already.
Aside from the book which goes into the how I did it and the action steps before it, I also wrote about achieving the goal in blog posts, including my Gold Watch Challenge blog post which is a must read if for some reason you can't read the book. But trust me, the book is much better as it goes into more detail and honestly is just a fun, easy read about what it really takes to become successful.
Years later, I started the Invest Like a Boss podcast with my buddy Sam Marks which is an active learning experience on how to invest the money that we made to made sure we don't fall behind on inflation. I know the video above is a bit exaggerated, but it's also very true. On average your money loses 2% a year due to inflation, but if you think about the costs of rent or houses rising, or even things like phone prices, it's often a lot more. This is the blog post where I talk about why investment income is the most important passive income you can make and I share exactly what I personally invest in myself. Even though I'm much more focused today on investing than making and saving money, watching this commercial really brought me back to those days of staring into the shop glass window which is what sparked this blog post today.
I hope you enjoyed this fun video and blog post. Leave a comment below and let me know what your goals are and what you're saving up for!
Warm Regards,
Johnny FD
In this Thai bank ad, it shows a little kid doing something similar. Instead of spending money keeping up with everyone else, he saved and kept dreaming. I eventually moved into a slightly nicer apartment, but even then, I never spent more than 6,500 baht a month on housing which was around $200. I'd still eat cheap Thai food, work, save, and be frugal. My friends thought I was crazy, my girlfriend at the time thought I was being cheap. But I had a goal that was bigger than me that others wouldn't understand. Keep reading to see the video and see how it turned out.
Thai Bank Commercial
Watch this video first, before scrolling down to read what happened next.
The Money Gain
A year later, in 2013 I started making some real money with my dropshipping store. I even wrote a post announcing it and telling others how they could do the same, that post was written on August 12, 2013 and is still relevant today. But even though I went from living off of $600 a month to making $3,000 - $5,000 a month or more, even then I wouldn't buy anything and still lived as cheaply as possible. My favorite past time which happened to be free was that I'd go to the store every day just to check out watches and months later when I finally picked out the one I wanted, i'd go visit the gold watch I desperately wanted to buy. My girlfriend at the time thought I was crazy, especially since the watch itself was only $200. But my goal wasn't to save up $200, buy the watch, then have zero left over afterwards. My goal was to go from $200 to having $30,000 in the bank, which I could later invest and have that money grow for me and continue to earn money.
I wrote about the entire process and journey in my book Life Changes Quick which you can find on Amazon. It was a book that I wrote from the heart detailing everything that I did to set actionable goals, and how going through twists and turns I eventually achieved them. Here's what a few people said, and I hope you and many others will also get the same amount of value from the read if you haven't read it already.
Reaching the Goal
Aside from the book which goes into the how I did it and the action steps before it, I also wrote about achieving the goal in blog posts, including my Gold Watch Challenge blog post which is a must read if for some reason you can't read the book. But trust me, the book is much better as it goes into more detail and honestly is just a fun, easy read about what it really takes to become successful.
Years later, I started the Invest Like a Boss podcast with my buddy Sam Marks which is an active learning experience on how to invest the money that we made to made sure we don't fall behind on inflation. I know the video above is a bit exaggerated, but it's also very true. On average your money loses 2% a year due to inflation, but if you think about the costs of rent or houses rising, or even things like phone prices, it's often a lot more. This is the blog post where I talk about why investment income is the most important passive income you can make and I share exactly what I personally invest in myself. Even though I'm much more focused today on investing than making and saving money, watching this commercial really brought me back to those days of staring into the shop glass window which is what sparked this blog post today.
I hope you enjoyed this fun video and blog post. Leave a comment below and let me know what your goals are and what you're saving up for!
Warm Regards,
Johnny FD
Leave a comment here and tell me what you are saving up for!
ReplyDeleteJohnny, been following you for many years and have been so excited to see your journey develop. Although last year we tried drop-shipping, we found it's probably not for us right now. Too many obligations with kids. :)
ReplyDeleteTaking a Rich Dad approach seems better. Glad to hear you are focusing on the investing. Are you more of an S or a B or even I at this point? :)
I thought I was a "B" (business owner) at the time as I had employees and had automated or outsourced most of my dropshipping business, but in reality I was probably closer to "S" (self employed) as the store wouldn't continue to make money without me if I completely checked out. I've actually sold the drop shipping store since then and invested all of the money, so I've somehow got into the "I" category almost accidently.
DeleteGood to catch up Johnny! That commercial ending was a funny twist haha. So true.
ReplyDeleteI'm saving up to provide for my family. That's it. It's Samurai September, and I'm trying to spend more money on myself, but there's nothing I want to buy.
Can't wait to go traveling again next year!
Sam
Hey Sam, thanks again for the beer. It was great finally meeting in person and hanging out. It's a good thing to be content and not need to buy anything. =) Use that money to fly business class to come hang out here in Thailand. Come visit. =)
DeleteJohnny, what is the name of the apartment which you stayed in?
ReplyDelete4500 baht apartment. Where was it?
ReplyDeleteI've lived in town, one was a decent place but far away in Hangdong and the other was a old Thai building in Santitham.
Delete