The Success of Desdinova

[Desdinova]

This post isn't exactly about financial success. If anything, it's more about the success of saving money. In my opinion, saving money is pretty close in line to being financially successful. Instead of working to put money in the bank, you're working to keep money in the bank. The methods I use to keep money in the bank actually take less work than putting money into it. However, I also do small things that will put money into the bank as well. It may not be much money, but when you combine it with saving money, it's easy to see it multiply.

First of all, let me tell you that I'm not an entrepreneur. I've made some small attempts at becoming one, and in my 30s I've decided that it's not for me. I'm much happier to keep working at the job I currently have, and you'll see why in a bit.

Before I get into detail, let me tell you about my parents' views on what success is. I had to completely discard the example that my parents set and venture out on my own to find it.

My father's view of success is to have lots of money. His primary goal throughout his life was to win the lottery. He has stuffed tons and tons of money into lottery booths and VLTs to try and increase his chances of winning millions. In the meantime, he's probably wasted a million dollars during his lifetime trying to win a million. He's 70 years old now, and still trying to win the lottery. I think about all the money he wasted on the lottery, and it makes me sad to think he could've put it toward something much more useful.

Another thing my father has tried a few times is to become an entrepreneur. One of his biggest projects consumed a lot of money, time and space. I was just a child at the time, so I had no fvcking clue how his business was going to be successful. Now that I'm older, I realized that my dad's biggest problem was that he didn't go out and sell his product. He was also too stubborn to hire someone as a salesman. He could have got things under way by paying someone commission to sell his product. In the end, his product and idea were completely scrapped.

Now my mother's view of success is greatly different. She joined a religious cult, so her idea of success (at least for me) was to work my way up in the ranks of the religion and become a top salesman of their literature. I didn't like that idea because I'm a lousy salesman, and I didn't enjoy attending the extremely boring religious meetings.

My father did something that was both good and bad for me. He saw that I had some really good potential with repairing electronics at a young age, so he encouraged me to pursue it. I was pretty good at it and made some decent money as a teenager repairing people's tape recorders and VCRs. My dad encouraged me to remain living with him and have a home business doing electronic repair. I didn't like that idea and did not pursue it.

I eventually did get a job repairing electronics for a small company. The pay was okay, and they sent me to college to get some official papers for my job. However, electronic repair was a dying industry, and after 8 years or so, I realized that I needed to find new work if I were to remain employed. Electronics had become so cheap that it was more cost-efficient to throw it away and buy new as opposed to getting things repaired.

At the time I realized my industry was dying, gas prices were also going up drastically. My paycheck was barely enough to make ends meet, so I decided that I was going to pursue a job where I could get my gas paid to and from work, and use my experience to drive around the city repairing things. And that's the exact type of job I found, NO REGRETS.

I got a job in a currently-demanding industry... Health Care. It was a perfect decision, and I really do enjoy the work most of the time. Now think about why this is a good field to get into... The baby boomers are getting older, more crippled, and there will be an increasing demand for more health care. The down side is since I live in Canada and have health care covered, it's going to really suck the money out of the taxpayer's pockets. But it's not my problem to fix and there's no concrete decision on how to fix it as of yet, so I'm not going to worry about it for the time being. The fact is, my job is pretty damn secure and a piece of that tax money ends up in my bank account every second week.

The perks of my job save me money. They pay my gas for the day and when I'm on call, I was able to get cheaper insurance on my own personal vehicle, they give me a cell phone, and (until they scrapped it) sent me out of town to do work where my meals and hotel room were paid for. I have more holidays than at my previous job, and when I'm done my work for the day, I can go home (even if I've only worked for two hours). The fact that I have more time for myself is probably the best part of the job. I genuinely enjoy my "me" time, and the more I can get, the happier I am.

One of the hidden perks with my job is the ability to make extra money. I end up with a fair amount of scrap metal at my job. I can either toss it into the scrap bin at work, or take it in myself and get cash for it. When collecting scrap metal, you have to figure out what's worth your time and effort, and what isn't. Steel isn't worth my time and effort because the payout is lousy. Aluminium is where it's at for me, and I come across a LOT of it. My last truck load gave me over $200 in cash. That's cash I barely had to work for. I just had to put it aside, let it collect, and then take a morning and haul it in. It's maybe an hour of work. Remember, the more "me" time, the better!

Another thing I haul in is rechargeable batteries. I get lots of them, and they usually fetch about $300 a tonne. Again, an hour of work, and I come out with $300. Did I mention that all the "extra" money I make goes into a savings account? I generally try to use my "work" money to pay for the bills and food.

 

[Desdinova]

Now, one of my pet peeves during my entire working life has been the fact that any clothes I destroy at work are purchased with money that I made working. A few years ago, I found a solution for that...

Every Sunday, I take a one hour drive. I drive to some of the thrift stores that are closed during the day, and see what people have left under the "no dumping" sign. Anytime I come across bags of clothing, I grab them regardless of what's in them. I take them home, go through them, keep what I can use, and then re-donate what I don't use the next time I go for my Sunday drive. Not only do I find clothing, I find furniture, DVDs, computers, electronics, and sometimes even money. The items that are in decent shape get sold on kijiji, and some stuff gets traded in to book stores. I never take the cash and usually use the store credit (because you get more) and get things that I want. Remember, all of this is barely costing me any money!

I'm an avid music lover, and I've come across lots of CDs and records during my trips. The CDs that suck ass get toss in the garbage, minus the case. I keep the CD cases to replace any broken ones that are in my collection.

As for the bags of clothes I bring home, I usually end up with more than enough clothing to get wrecked while working. Sometimes, I'll get lucky and end up with some primo 5hit. I've got some nice suits, about 20 neck ties, some great jackets (including a leather one), and even some fantastic name brand items. Occasionally, I find stuff that still has the price tag on it. This is primarily how I clothe my kid, and we know kids are either going to destroy it or grow out of it. My closet is exploding with clothing, and my kid's dresser can barely contain how much clothing he has. I've also got an abundance of bath towels that are in fantastic shape. The best part is I didn't pay fvck all for ANY of this stuff (minus the gas I burned which isn't much).

Although I don't participate in dumpster diving (at least not yet), one of the greatest books I've ever read is called "The Art and Science of Dumpster Diving" by John Hoffman. I'm going to share the one statement in the book that rings true with how I save (and make) extra money with my lifestyle...

The United States is full of idiots discarding perfectly good material wealth.

...and the same goes for Canada. It's unbelievable how fvcking wasteful society is - ESPECIALLY THE WOMEN. I won't lie... A good 50% of the clothing I find is women's clothing. Since a lot of times it's a mixed bag, I'll go through it anyway and sometimes find boys clothing that my kid will fit in the next year. Most of the new, unused stuff I find with the price tags on it is women's clothing. I had a girlfriend once whom I save some of this clothing for. I just told her I got it from the freecycle internet group and never gave away my secret. She was blown away by how much of the stuff I gave her that still had the original price tags.

Speaking of freecycle, take advantage of the local internet channels of freebies. I've often picked up an item and sold it on kijiji for $50 or more. When someone says "no resellers", ignore it. Once the item leaves his house, it's no longer under his agenda, it's under yours. He can't sue you for selling something he gave away, so fvck him for being dumb.

Free samples can be good too, especially if you've got a few friends who can receive packages for you. I've got free shaving gear, laundry soap, pain killers, baby formula, cat food, tampons and pads for my girlfriends' emergencies, and all kinds of other stuff. Whenever I stayed in a hotel for work, I heavily pocketed the soap, shampoo, mouthwash, and whatever else they had to give away. Some people think of me as cheap or stingy, but those pennies you save add up. It takes a few seconds to put a couple bars of soap into your luggage, and there's a couple more waiting for you the next day when they clean your room.

There's also two kinds of people in life... Those who put pop / beer cans out by the curb for the government to make money on, and those who haul them in with the scrap metal they've collected.

Those are all the basics of how I make and save extra money. There's probably more ways to do it that I haven't come across YET, but I'm never shy of trying something new.

Another good thing to have is being multi-skilled at doing your own repairs and maintenance. Why shell out cash for someone to change the brakes on your car when you can do it yourself? However, doing my own repairs and maintenance takes up "me" time. I generally don't get enough pleasure from these activities to call them hobbies. They're necessities, and I'm hoping to eventually eliminate these necessities from my life. How? Well...

My parents are getting on in years. I'm the only beneficiary of their estate. They don't really have much due to my dad trying to win a million dollars, but they DO have their house which is paid for. When my parents die, I will inherit their one property. I'm going to sell it, pay off my house, and use the money from my job to hire people to do all my lousy necessary chores that I don't like doing. Once my house is paid off, I will be hiring a maid to do my house chores, hire contractors to fix the place up, and I will ultimately get to have more "me" time to spend doing things that I like.

So that's pretty much a decent summary of how I live and how I plan to live in the future. Any additional suggestions to save me money are always welcome!

 

[Vulpine]

Fan-fuxing-tastic!

I'm a pretty extreme cheapskate, myself. And, like many other "external validations" I gave up, the shame of the expression "cheapskate" is something I naturally resist. Instead, I embrace my pragmatism.

Consider a gold miner: he "picks money up off the ground".

If you consider other resources, I see money "laying on the ground" and find no shame in picking it up. Do I get "Ewww... what are you going to do with THAT?!!!" from time-to-time? Sure. But, that's when I put my gloves on. I'd be lying if I didn't say I had a "scrapping" bug.

Pragmatism. It's not far off from "frugality", "opportunist", or "engineer". I'm glad someone else can appreciate the true meaning of Benjamin Franklin's words:

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Every penny you don't spend is double-profit when you have some form of income. If you can make a full-time adventure of "scavenging" (picking money up off the ground), then fuçk having a job for "the man". Finding a copper cord hanging out of a dumpster beats buying a $2 lottery ticket and winning two dollars. I get a lot of satisfaction from "finding" "treasures"; it's like winning a little lottery every time.

I've been foraging for a while now, too: picking up goodies of the ground in the woods, taking them to a buyer, and walk off with money in my hand. It has been enjoyable; like an easter egg hunt for adults!

People waste hundreds of dollars on batteries for their ($1000) metal detectors to find precious metals or coins. Skip that and just keep your eyes open on your day-to-day travels. There is money just laying around, pick it up!

It takes a sack, Des, to openly flaunt being a coyote-esque hunter/gatherer that capitalizes on "other men's trash". It sure beats "consumerism", too, don't it? Up-cycling and recycling, whether society associates it as "dirty work" or glorious, needs to happen for all our benefit. It's a matter of being part of the solution and not "the problem".

:rockon:
Good on you, and, thank you!

:cheer:
Keep it up, man!

 

[Desdinova]

Thanks for sharing that link! I've never seen that show. They're a bit too far on the extreme IMO, but perhaps I can get a few gems out of it. I'm still going to live by the idea that spending too much "me" time to save a few pennies isn't worth it, and it's also not worth decreasing the quality of my life. Again, that's why I don't bother hauling steel. Too much effort, too little pay. I can't be a slave to my penny-pinching, I need to enjoy life a little bit. I mean, I could stay away from eating out to save cash, but eating out can be fun and sometimes it's the most convenient way to eat.

If you consider other resources, I see money "laying on the ground" and find no shame in picking it up.

Agreed. It takes a couple of seconds to pick a dime up off the ground. Last spring I found a $20 bill floating in a dirty puddle. I'm not going to let any "ewww" factor stop me from grabbing a free $20 that only took me a few steps to claim.

Occasionally when I do my Sunday run, I'll grab a box of 5hit that looks like someone emptied a teenage girl's bedroom. I'm absolutely fascinated by stuff like that. I once came across $15 AUD. I'm guessing she had a penpal in Australia. I took the money over to the bank and had it exchanged to $17 Canadian, minus the $2 service fee.

People waste hundreds of dollars on batteries for their ($1000) metal detectors to find precious metals or coins.

I've honestly been thinking about the idea of owning a metal detector. I agree that walking around with one on the boulevard is a stupid idea, but it could potentially be a goldmine if you use it in the correct place. I'm thinking things like concert grounds on the morning after a performance. It's something that could be potentially worth it especially if you come across gold jewelry and take it to a dealer.

It takes a sack, Des, to openly flaunt being a coyote-esque hunter/gatherer that capitalizes on "other men's trash".

It really does, and it takes a huge sack to go out looking for free food, just like the guy in the book I mentioned. The thing about picking dumpsters for free food is it takes a bit of research and perhaps some oddball hours to get the timing down. I haven't grown my nut size to the point where I want to try it yet, but it's certainly tempting solely to cut down the cost of the grocery bill. Again, the "me time" vs "valuable payout" debate comes to my mind. How much food do grocery stores actually toss?

I did pizza delivery for one night. The best part about it wasn't tips or payment, it was the angry customer who sent back 4 pizzas. I asked what they wanted to do with them, and they told me to throw them in the dumpster! Fvck that, they went into the back of my truck.

Anyway, scrounging the right places at the right times is certainly worth it. I paid for a huge chunk of my divorce just by selling 5hit that I found or purchased for next-to-nothing at garage sales. I sold a 1950s ashtray lamp for $40 - I paid $4. I sold a 1960s salon chair to a stripper for $40 - I paid $5. Those are the kind of deals I'm after; ones with good gain. I scrounged up a really nice Sony reciever from the electronic recycler for free, and the fvcking thing works. It's going up on Kijiji for $40.

There's a lot of good cash to be made with little effort, and that's the area I focus on; lots of cash, little effort. Finding a car battery by a dumpster is like the fvcking lottery. I haul 25 of them to the scrap dealer and walk out with $300 in my pocket. I'm still trying to figure out how to increase the amount of batteries I find. They're one of the things I come across with the highest payout.

 

[user43770]

Good for you, Des. I'm a big fan of minimalism.

 

[jimmy18]

Some other ways to save money:

-Don't buy books in new condition but instead either buy them 2nd hand from charity stores or borrow books from the library.

-Identify and buy food specials using weekly supermarket catalogues. You can really save a lot of money each week doing this.

-Fuel prices usually cycle, with a regular "cheap" day each week. Fill your car up with petrol that day.

 

[Desdinova]

-Don't buy books in new condition but instead either buy them 2nd hand from charity stores or borrow books from the library.

Although I generally don't buy or read books, I apply this to buying music. I buy most of it used, and sometimes I come across records and CDs for free either on my weekly drives or on the free channels.

-Identify and buy food specials using weekly supermarket catalogues. You can really save a lot of money each week doing this.

I generally shop at only one store which has an overall low price for food. I don't see shopping at multiple stores worth my time or money. The extra gas and time used to save five dollars on an item just isn't worth it. I'm all about finding the best buck for my time as opposed to the best bang for my buck. Anything done with extremist actions isn't beneficial to me. If I did that, I'd end up wasting time or money, both of which are valuable to me.

When I buy food at my usual grocery store, I keep an eye out for 30-50% off labels. When I see them, I grab like crazy. I buy a lot of meat this way. About a month ago, I bought a dozen cartons of milk at 50% off and froze them. I'm still using that supply and I saved a huge chunk of money. Milk is something I use regularly and will buy regardless of price.

The same thing goes for gas. I'm using my vehicle regardless of gas prices. The savings that I get with gas come from using my company vehicle. I fill up my personal vehicle with gas about every two weeks. Before I had my current job, I was filling up weekly.

 

[annabanana19]

Ugh a guy I work with is like this lol. He'll go out of his way to 4 different grocery stores just to get $2 off on a bottle of detergent. I'll admit, I admire the personal restraint it takes to live like that. But I definitely wouldn't be able to do it. Props to you anywhooo.

 

[apprenticedj]

This thread makes me feel like garbage. Let me be the first to admit:

I'm f*cking terrible with money!!!

When I say terrible I truly mean it, bad bad bad. I'm the kind of guy where I'll make a income/expense worksheet and just want to shoot myself. On paper I should be bank rolling a small but decent amount each month but I never do. I nickel and dime myself to death on unneccesary expenditures.

And don't even get me started on going out drinking!!

Have any of you guys made the shift from financially retarded to thrifty? What steps did you take first?

 

[Oxide]

Sorry guys, this is pretty terrible...

People who are successful know rule #1.

Time is everything. Wasting time to save a few bucks is always a losing proposition.

I like saving money.. I always do when I go shopping, but I also tend to go for the "make more" than "spend less" mindset. I think it makes you more money and more successful as there is room to grow.


And entrepreneurship 101 is ability to sell. You have to be able to sell yourself and your company at the early stage...how else will you make any money or have any customers?

Also think outside the cheap item bin. You can resell higher price items and make more. Also you can make money by helping people find what they want for a cut. I'd look into that instead of trolling for used donations.

Good luck

 

[Desdinova]

People who are successful know rule #1.

Time is everything. Wasting time to save a few bucks is always a losing proposition.

Care to define what "success" is?

To me, success is being happy and truly satisfied with your life. I really do love my simple little lifestyle that I have. It works really well for me and I have extra cash to spend when I need it. Which brings me to your second point...

I believe that time is valuable. I did not say that I spend every waking hour of the day searching for items to sell or make my life better. Putting too much time into that is truly wasteful. I spend one hour per week doing this. Most of the time, I come home with stuff. I found myself a really nice working Sony DTS amplifier two weeks ago for free. I just sold it on kijiji for $65. That was the result of one hour of driving. There were other things that I found, but that was the big ticket item.

I think I stated earlier that I look for the best buck for my time as opposed to the best bang for my buck. Entrepreneurs can keep their long working hours to make the money they desire. I'll keep my free items, my sell-able items, and the large amount of "me" time to do whatever I want.

 

[Oxide]

Success to me is when you are concentrating your effort, your focus and become a beacon that can't be bent or stopped until you reach where you're headed. i Just don't see it within your system, but as you stated that wasn't your mission. My apologies if I came on harsh but I just don't like this way.

 

[Desdinova]

Success to me is when you are concentrating your effort, your focus and become a beacon that can't be bent or stopped until you reach where you're headed. i Just don't see it within your system, but as you stated that wasn't your mission. My apologies if I came on harsh but I just don't like this way.

I know it's not for everybody. This is just the way that I've found the definition for my own success. The more time I have to spend doing the things I like, the more pleasurable my life is. If anything, that's my ultimate goal; To have as much time to do whatever I want. Money plays into that equation, but there's only so much time that I want to spend making money. It again comes down to the best buck for my time, and that's what my job gives me.