5 lessons to take into 2019
It’s been a shaky-ass year, as Kanye would say, so here’s what 2018 taught me about mad crowds, the price of a good night’s sleep, and moving in with mum and dad.
I’VE been writing this column since 2013, and immersed in the world of personal finance for even longer. You’d think I’d have it all figured out by now. Instead, every revolution around the sun brings a new learning lesson, or reminds me of an old lesson I’d forgotten. Here are the five money lessons I learned – or relearned – in 2018: What gets measured, gets done I tracked all my spending again this year, down to the last cent. I didn’t have any particular goal in mind this time, so I was stoked when the grand total came in at $15,800 – almost identical to last year.
The mere act of writing everything down forces you to confront your spending habits, eyeball-to-eyeball. It might be a little over-the-top to do it for an entire year, but everyone should try this exercise for amonth or so. Don’t follow the crowd On Easter weekend, my friends and I got up obnoxiously early, and joined the hordes of Aucklanders descending upon the Coromandel.
Dutifully, we headed to Hot Water Beach, circled endlessly for parking, then gave up and paid some local $10 for a spot in his paddock.
As I was sitting in a few centimetres of tepid water, on a tiny section of crowded sand, with a stunning view of the ample buttcrack of a German man digging in the next hole over, I started to wonder if it was worth it.
It was still a great trip, with good friends and food and drink. But we had somehow become tourists in our own country. This is something I’ve noticed time and again throughout my travels, but hadn’t put into words: If you skip the top-tier or ‘‘must-do’’ attraction, you will almost always have way more fun at a fraction of the price. Don’t pinch pennies on important things I don’t know what madness possessed me to book a $5 hostel – especially after spending the previous night curled up on the concrete of Kuala Lumpur airport.
My dreams of blissful slumber were dashed by a posse of Irish lads, who came crashing in like a herd of drunken elephants.
Not having learned my lesson, I stayed in a cheap capsule hotel in Vietnam.
Once again, I had many sleepless hours to contemplate the complete lack of consideration shown bymy roommates.
Perhaps this is a function of getting older, but I’m no longer willing to sacrifice sleep quality to save a few bucks.
The same goes for anything related to health, eating well, and general wellbeing. Mumand dad are cool again No sooner had my parents managed to empty the nest, I turned up at the airport looking for a place to crash.
The ‘‘boomerang kids’’ phenomenon is a growing trend.
Quite a few of my peers have moved home at various points to study or save money, but I was apprehensive.
It turned out to be a surprisingly harmonious few months, and aworld of difference from living at home as a teenager.
With clear expectations and ground rules, I now think it’s an arrangement that can benefit everyone involved. Know yourself In the immortalwords of Kanye West, it’s been a shakyass year.
For the first time, many new investors – myself included – have experienced amajor correction in the stock market.
Personally, I haven’t lost any sleep over the sea of red ink, but I have changed my tune somewhat on what to do when the market crashes.
Playing the long game is the best possible strategy, but it doesn’t account for the frailties of human nature.
For anyone tempted to panicsell on the way down, then buy back in too late, it might have made more sense to take some money off the table during the good times.
You have to know yourself: if you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen. No doubt 2019 will bring plenty of ups, downs, and learning lessons. I just hope they won’t be too expensive. Thanks for tuning in this year, and for all your thoughtful emails, comments, and questions. See you next year!