Something That Made My Day…It’s Priceless

I recently posted an interview that I did with pensioner from Prosper.com. This man has invested $750,000 in Prosper and while I didn’t ask straight out…it’s almost a given he’s a millionaire.

Imagine that…someone with a negative net worth asking a millionaire for an interview. While I was curious about his lending strategies with Prosper since he strays from the norm, I almost couldn’t hit send when I asked for an interview. I was scared and afraid of rejection due to my financial status. After all, I did have to tell him where the interview would be posted.

When he replied and agreed to answer my questions, it literally made my day. While I know in my heart that who I am as a person is not defined as my debt, my financial situation sometimes holds me back. I shouldn’t let it, because our debt is not who we are, it’s a situation we are in.

As I wrote the questions about Prosper to pensioner, I was near the end and I decided to ask him one more question, unrelated to Prosper. I gave him the option of disregarding the question but again to my delight he responded…

By the amount you have invested in Prosper, you must have made some excellent financial decisions in your life. Many of my readers, including myself, are working to gain financial security by paying off debt and moving forward with our finances. Are there any words of wisdom that you would like to share with us?

“I have accumulated some wealth by living beneath my means â€“ not by having a business degree. A large percentage of Americans donâ€™t give too much thought to financial responsibility. For many, they are being responsible if they can pay all of their bills each month, but when their transmission breaks and they fix it instead of paying their rent, it is not their fault. The personal satisfaction that comes with the security of having some savings, or at least a line of credit, has been more satisfying than having all of the consumer goods that advertisers say we must have.”

I love the last sentence – it is so true! We did get caught up a little bit in the past with buying “neat” things (mostly pricey electronic stuff – our weak spot). Back then, if LCD TVs were out we probably would have bought one on credit. It was the wrong happiness that I was looking for. The happiness I get when I pay off a chunk of our debt is different, and it’s better. I know with each payment we are getting closer to having the security that pensioner mentions. And that is a darn good feeling.

Thank you again, pensioner, for answering all of my questions. It meant a lot to me.

Posted by Tricia on February 2, 2007 at 9:09 AM in General Debt | 7 Comments »
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Daisy responded:
Posted: February 2nd, 2007 at 10:18 am
I think the whole quote is great. I used to be one of those people he talks about who think they are financially responsible because they pay their bills each month. Now that I’m changing my ways, I’m beginning to understand what he means about personal satisfaction re: savings.
reggie responded:
Posted: February 2nd, 2007 at 11:50 am
Hi tricia,

I totally also agreed with the last sentance too..

I myself made the wrong financial decisions, as mentioned before, i’m not fully out of debt, but good enough now to start building that emergency funds…

I must say, when i did made the decision to live cheap, and cut back on all my wrong spendings, i never bothered me one day, until my daughter made a comment, without the knowledge of the fact.

When ever she wanted me to buy something that was not really needed for her, i would turn her down.
and it really got to her, every week being turned down, one weekend she came to visit, and once she got into the house, her entired attitude changed, from jolly to disappointed..
I wondered why, but i never questioned her..
later that evening, she said papa, can i get a such and such, so there was me with my common line (u know the situation, if it’s not needed no money will go towards it).then is when i got the shock of my life.
by her expression, i could have seen the anger in her, she said, papa, for months u have been turning me down for every thing i asked for, now i come by you, and u have 3 VCR recorders that was not there last week..
that hurt, to see, my own dauther (7years old) made that comment.
yes i had to explain to her, that a friend of mines was moving, and didn’t want to migrate with all her unnecessary items, so i got the VCR’s from her…
at that moment, i realized that while trying to make best of my financial situation, my daugther was feeling pain..
But thnigs has change since, she now get’s a monthly allowance, to buy what she wants, and also i’m teaching her about WANTS and NEEDS…well, she’s doing well, she understands that, and spend her money wisely, i see she’s going to be a good investor, (i was told by her mother, that one day she asked her to borrow some change to get some groceries, until she collected her check, it was agreed upon. – when pay day come, my dauther kindly told her, that there would be a 5 euro interst fee) i was proud of her approach, to know that she’s already know bout returns on invesment, i only know had to tell she, that u don’t make the deal after, but u agree upon before giving your money out, to avoid confusion..

but i do hope she don’t make the stupid mistakes i made..

base on some stories i read about the billionairs in the USA, most of them worked hard for thier monies, and also living cheap too saving a buck here and there, until their day came to be a millionair
Anon responded:
Posted: February 2nd, 2007 at 1:21 pm
I hope you don’t mind but I linked to your blog entry on my own blog. Great piece!
Carnival of Personal Finance #86 Has Arrived! | My Two Dollars responded:
Posted: February 5th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
[...] Blogging Away Debt talks about the personal satisfaction that comes with the security of having some savings versus having all of the consumer goods that advertisers say we must have. [...]
» The Carnival is Up, and Thoughts On Finance Writing on Consumerism Commentary: A Personal Finance Blog responded:
Posted: February 5th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
[...] Something That Made Tricia’s Day [...]
Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge / Carnival of Personal Finance #86 is Up! responded:
Posted: February 5th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
[...] Tricia gets an additional priceless piece of advice from her Prosper pensioner. [...]
Not Made Of Money : Carnival of Personal Finance #86 responded:
Posted: February 6th, 2007 at 5:55 am
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