A Badass training ground





The sight of all that water just makes you feel good doesn't it?  We need it to live, we are over 50% composed of the stuff, and most folks agree that we originated from it.  This uncomplicated love affair isn't going to appear on the day time soaps any time soon. Trouble is, this is a coastal beach in Australia.  All that water is undrinkable unless you carry around a desalination plant in your pocket! 

In May of this year, I had the incredible opportunity to go to Australia for a conference and then hostel my way up the coast.  In summary, it was fricking awesome!  One of the things that really struck me though was the lack of fresh water there.  I noted that every hostel I stayed in had a sign indicating that showers should be kept to a maximum of 5 minutes in length.*  Here in Canada, the supply of fresh water really isn't something we tend to think about very often.  For all intents and purposes, we have ALL the fresh water!  Actually about a fifth of "all" of it, but we only constitute about 0.4% of the world's population.  Lucky us!

What happens though when you have a lot of something?  You don't have to keep track of it, you don't have to conserve it and you certainly don't have to learn to use it efficiently.  In the absence of external pressures there is just very little reason to do otherwise.  Behaviour and expectations begin to change over time.  Demand naturally begins to exceed the actual need and then if enough time passes the increased consumption is perceived as "needed."  However at this point, from a purely functional perspective, the increased level of consumption IS needed.  This is because the ability/expertise/knowledge of how to get by just as happily with less is lost through disuse.  All of a sudden, a maximum 5-minute shower becomes a noteworthy challenge...

So what else does Canada have "all" of?

Money-money-money-money-monayyyy. MONAY!  We are one of the seven richest nations in the world and we've been removed from anything approaching real financial hardship (i.e. subsistence) for generations.  Money is no different than water.  If you have a lot of it, you don't have to keep track of it and you don't have to use it efficiently.

Over the years I believe this abundance has completely obliterated our financial literacy, planning skills, and valuation system.  For example, we seem to have so much money that most of us don't even know exactly where our money goes! There's just too many purchases to track and ignoring them doesn't immediately seem to be killing us!  What a life eh?

Another damning example would be that instead of saving first, we routinely pay MUCH MORE than the actual purchase price of unnecessary items by buying them on credit.  Or alternatively, we buy unnecessary things with our paycheck while still indebted due to past purchases that were actually pretty necessary (e.g. transportation for a job, tuition).  This is actually an indirect way of purchasing unnecessary things on credit, but we'll just pretend that isn't true...

Clerk - Hey sir, just so you know, you can buy anything you want in the store TODAY.
Anthony - Awesome!  Sounds great, have any sales?
Clerk - No...no. Nothing's on sale.  In fact... <clerk winces>... we've increased all of our prices today. 
Anthony - Yeah yeah, whatever.  I'm still allowed to buy whatever I want, when I want, though right? 
Clerk - Hell yeah!
Anthony - Sweet! <high fives clerk and enters store>

Unfortunately now we NEED all this money because we cannot remember or never developed the abilities, behaviours or perspectives required to "get by" just as happily with less. But the truth is, we most assuredly can, and people most assuredly do with much less, every day, all over the world.

Alright. Alright. We get it Tony, stop preaching, get to the point!  What the hell does this have to do with grad school?

Grad school is a time when the money tends to be tight.  Many student stipends that I have come across online seem to float in the territory of $15000/year (+/- for TA positions, scholarships etc).  Some may have tuition support, some may not.  Some students may not actually get any funding at all.  The point is that grad students have what would be considered in the Western world as below or near poverty line income levels.  Maybe considered enough for subsistence, but certainly not too much more.

A lot of us resent this and consider it to be a pretty unpleasant burden. This is because we could make a lot more money if we simply quit school (or finished faster).  However, the variable duration of grad school is a lonnnnng time to resent something!  To hell with that!  Resentment is neither healthy nor remotely productive and I have no interest in carrying this added weight.  Accordingly, I've decided to adopt the following perspective.

Grad school = Badass Financial Training! 

Grad school is the perfect time to learn the skills and perspectives required to happily get by with less!  You can try to figure out all the awesome ways to live the good life without the need for constant intravenous injections of cash and purchases. This is not about self-denial. This is about identifying your true needs and the heart of what makes you happy.  It's about figuring out exactly how to get all of it in the most efficient way possible.  After basic things like food, shelter, clothing and security are taken care of, happiness is almost entirely a mental game anyway!  Most of the the things that actually make us happy are free or can be done in a way that makes them very inexpensive (Gone Drinkin? okay, okay, bad example haha). 

Imagine how staggeringly bright your financial future will be if you can learn how to be totally happy living on $15000/year.  For example, after graduation, a $60000/year gig in Ontario would triple your annual take home income! TRIPLE!  And since you already know how to be happy you need not listen to the multi-billion dollar marketing army who would very much like you to triple your expenditures.  Just think of the security, flexibility and freedom provided by needing significantly less money than you earn.  If we can learn how to do this now then we'll be setting ourselves up for a sustainable kick-ass ultra-future full of good times and happiness!

So...who wants to be badass?


---------------
*Recently a friend told me about a trip they took to Malawi in Africa.  They stayed at one of the most expensive hotels in the capital city.  If they turned on the tap in the bathtub at the beginning of the day then by the end of the day there would only be enough water in the tub to fill some water bottles and occasionally permit a sponge bath.  Accordingly they stopped the sponge baths, feeling guilty they were using "so much" water.   



No comments:

Post a Comment