Finance, is just one out of my blog series Anatomy Of Habits, which explores the financial aspects of my habits and how they intricately working with other aspects to bring realities to my financial goals. Let's start with simple question of why i felt writing this.
WHY? Finance is a key factor in living a good life, alongside health. A strong financial foundation shields us from debts & instability and offers social recognition. However, money is a double-edged sword with its own set of rules. As per PwC & Perfio's research, majority of Indians spend one-third of their monthly income just to pay off loans. That's concerning. Fortunately, I am not one of them. Take, for example, a close friend of mine who started his tech career at the same time as I did. By the time he got married, he had only accumulated one-third of my total assets—and that too he spent every bit in it, ending up at square one. I managed to build wealth despite funding family, owning an adventure bike, travelling across the country solo, maintaining a consistent exercise routine, buying books and chasing adventure trails—all of which needed fair share of consistent investment. How did I pull that off?
ORIGIN. In order to understand my financial journey, you need to first understand the man who raised me. My father worked as a shepherd to feed himself. Eventually, he got a tiny job & also involved himself in farming to make earnings. He battled for every rupee he could earn. This struggle made him strict yet disciplined. As he harnessed the power of discipline & compounding to improve his finances throughout his lifespan, we as a family became financially stable. This became the biggest pillar of my financial growth as my family became self-sustained and not needed my income to feed or shelter themselves. Despite this, I continued directing a small portion of my salary so that they remain solvent. We grew up observing his ways & ended up inheriting some of his qualities.
FOOD. Having spent my early life in a simple rural house consuming modest food, I learned to adapt to any food. As we moved to metro cities for work, this habit became quite useful as I was able to sustain with basic food & put little to no money on restaurant fast foods where many indulge in spending hundreds regularly.
WORK. Again this sort of exposure taught us to adapt seamlessly to any environment. As I started my tech career with just 10,000 ₹ monthly salary, I could comfortably adjust in a hostel and still save 3000 ₹. As my paycheck increased over time & experience, I remain stayed in a hostel diverting every bit of rupee to savings. After I moved to Darwinbox (2nd company) my annual package blasted relatively adding huge bucks to my savings account with little to no increment of personal expenses. I gradually started investing in mutual funds which went up over time. By this time I was capable of moving to a rented apartment but I kept myself locked in PG sacrificing personal space & privacy.
WORKOUT. Again that was the time when I recovered from a 2 year long one-sided heartbreak. That lengthy painful phase propelled me to take up workout as a habit. However, sustaining long-term exercise is not only difficult but also requires a significant financial investment, which could deplete my savings. To navigate this, I wisely chose running over gym workouts. Running doesn't require a gym membership or the expensive protein supplements often advertised in the media. It can be done anywhere, at any time, saving money and time, while offering an effective and flexible way to stay fit that compliments my lifestyle. The key attribute needed is mental strength to keep going for years to see results—and fortunately, I had it by then. Again during my nationwide travel, I would wake up early, run to a nearby attraction or beach and return by 10 AM to resume office work. This way, I combined workout & travel with office work, making the most of an active lifestyle.
TRAVELING. Traveling could be expensive, especially large-scale travel (expeditions) has the capability to threaten savings. Having solo traveled across our country—covering 25,000 km on a Himalayan motorcycle— I had to apply different set of tactics to keep costs in check. COVID-19 enabled remote work. Seizing this opportunity, I used to ride to a new city & settle in a hostel for a month or half with food availability. Worked on weekdays & explored nearby places on weekends. Ate only local popular food avoiding all sorts of luxury. If no budget accommodation found, explored attractions in a couple of days before hitting the road again. Also used apps like Couchsurfing at tourist hot spots. I not only traveled but also stayed & experienced locality & culture. It was a dream come true.
You see if I had stayed in my job location, I could have sustained equivalent accommodation & food expenses. The only extra expenses incurred in trips were travel between cities, attraction entry fees & local food delicacies.
CYCLING. Despite owning an adventure superbike, 98% of my commute & almost all essential purchasing happened on bicycle whereas 98% population rely on fossil fuel vehicles and end up paying for fuel, maintenance as well as diseases that may occur due to environmental pollution & body fat accumulation. It’s a simple yet powerful way to make a difference—both for the wallet and well-being. Not to mention, it's a daily based repetitive activity that adds up over life time.
WALKING. One attribute of a long runner is that I can inexhaustibly walk more. That means, all smaller travels within a 3-4 km radius, whether it's going to a nearby shop, lake, or station, I prefer by walk instead of opting for autos or cabs, which can rack up small expenses consistently. During my adventure trails - like that of Kedarnath, i push for trekking instead of opting for payable (horse or porter) services enhancing resilience instead of expenses.
HEALTH. Health and financial savings can go hand in hand, especially when rooted in lifestyle choices. One clear benefit of an active lifestyle is a strong immune system. I haven't fallen ill in the last four years, not even a mild cold. This has saved money on healthcare. But to maintain this, I modestly invested in fruits as part of my weekly diet.
READING. In graduation itself I developed a distinct habit of reading novels. Though they are an incredible source to expand mental horizons, one drawback is that once read, they render useless. This drawback compelled me to avoid buying books. Instead, I borrowed it from connections and mindfully returned it on completion. This approach revealed an interesting trend ie majority of people like buying or keeping books even though they never read them. A jackpot for readers. Few books that I couldn't find had no choice but to purchase them. As I was exposed to a large set of financial books, I became aware of the power of compounding over time. Hope I am progressing on it.
ENTERTAINMENT. People pour money to get entertained by trading temporary escapes with real-life difficulties. Entertainment industries monetize this demand. An excellent source of liability drowning tiny pockets of money in exchange for short thrills. To counteract this tendency, I never subscribed to any OTT platforms till date. Booked theatres rarely that I could still recall all of them. Consume social media with strict regulations. To minimize mobile-induced pleasures, I started a resolution named Digital Fasting Days(DFDs) where I keep away my mobile throughout the day for 2 days a week. Alcohol is another tool of temporary escape and I never drank it for myself. Only shared occasionally when someone offered me out of genuine reason or celebration. I never associated with any groups, one good reason (out of many) is not to lose control over my spending.
MISC. To clutch frequently recurring smaller expanses, I had placed a series of techniques that do their job well. Like a good trimmer assists with grooming needs, steamer assists with nutrition, cycle assists with mobility etc.
TRACKING. Effective financial management goes beyond saving; it requires a clear view of where money is being invested. A well-categorized expenditure tracker reveals not just the amount spent but the direction of those outflows—highlighting investment areas, overspending zones, and opportunities to cut back. I track monthly expenses and divided my spending into seven categories i.e. Adventurism, Rent, Family, Food, Lifestyle, Health & Miscellaneous expenses. I use an offline app called Money Manager to collate daily expenses at night and it nicely provides visual insights (PIE chart of daily, weekly, monthly & yearly) of spending on each category with percentile (%) share against total expenditure. If the maximum bar is crossed in any month, that can be compensated in the subsequent cycle. For the record, last year, among all categories, Adventurism🥇 led the pack, driven by expenses of EBC trek.
MINDSET. It's critically important to set the right mindset to achieve your financial goals. It takes a great deal of time, sometimes a person's entire life to change financial status. In cases like this, one simply can't afford societal temptations like that of a superbike, SUV car, grand wedding, lavish vacation or dream home as these flashy commodities can potentially drag you to square one at different stages, all at once. Go for these only if they offer equivalent service to the cost of owning them or you have reached a stage where owning them will have no impact on your growth. Have faith, patience, gratitude, believe in yourself and keep on improving.
SUBJECTIVE. Finance, largely is a subjective concept. A generational wealthy person perceives it completely different than that of the middle class. There is no absolute formula. No magic. No comparison. Your journey might be different to that of mine but i believe, if you are determined enough, you create equivalent or more opportunities based on your goals & life choices. Nevertheless, the strategies shared here are remain useful.
By now, we as a family is so financially stable that, if all of us leave job & move back to our rural origin, we can sustain whole 20 years even after adjusting inflation. This sort of security grants me freedom to experiment as well as live life of adventures and I have just started.
🤑 Financial literacy is as important as stable income. Without the former, later does not serve its purpose.
🤑 Classifying assets vs liabilities and eliminating liabilities is first step towards financial growth.
🤑 Compounding is the only process a middle-class salaried person harness to change his/her financial status. There exist no other way.
🤑 You don't have to be a CA, banker or financial expert to get rich. Exposing to diverse financial & self-help books can greatly assist in your financial planning & growth.
🤑 you can never gamble away to become rich. A rich fool & his money is just 1 big party.
🤑 A cycle owner is 5 crore (estimated) wealthier than a Lamborghini owner assuming equivalent wealth. This is one aspect that society always gets wrong.
🤑 Money & happiness are complexly related. A subtle increase in money leads to a subtle increase in happiness but the curve flattens or goes down (inverse U) after a certain stage.
🤑 Effective tracking is vital to understanding your spending patterns & fine-tuning your outflow direction based on personal priorities.
🤑 Everything has a price attached to it. Your financial growth also demands an equivalent price in terms of comfort, time, health and recognition.
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Disclaimer: Be aware, you are reading my past when I lived with low income & savings. Things have changed now and with the power of compounding, life will unfold in ways no one ever imagined. It's just a matter of time.
Thank you for reading:). I am not an expert of finance. Just an ordinary guy with bunch of extraordinary habits who believes in goals. Again huge efforts goes on each blog, if it helps on improving your life, even a bit, feel free to add a comment. If you have any suggestion or feedback, share on my email gsangram1704@yahoo.com
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It's truly inspiring life journey lived by you. There are alot many things from your blog writing that we will learn definitely. Keep learning, keep shining and keep writing✍️. Many many Congratulations🎊 and all the best for your future endeavor.
ReplyDeleteOverwhelmed with such a positive feedback brother. Appreciate your time.
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