Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Mr. Money Mustache Review from Dathan

     As a society we are constantly consuming and fear parting with something that we invested time or money into if it is not within a price range that we see as being profitable. Mr. Money Mustache speaks to this way of thinking in his article entitled "If You Wouldn't Buy it, You Should Probably Sell it."

     After attempting to sell his house unsuccessfully, as he did not want to lower his asking price any more, he looked to renting it out as a way to squeeze as much money out of what he invested in. After subtracting the long term expenses, HOA payments and repair bills, he nearly increased his investment by half. However, if he had sold the house for lower than his asking price and placed that money into an index fund he would have more then doubled his money in the same time span.
   
     When you are trying to sell something to someone, a house for example, and you are asking for what you think is a fair price, the author of this blog suggests putting yourself in the shoes of the one looking to buy. More often then not, you would view that price as unfair. It is a bit of a gamble, seeing as how you could find someone who is looking to buy it for what you originally asked, but Mr. Mustache suggests selling it for less, so that it will be a drain on your resources no longer.

     When looking at gains and losses, you can't forget to look at everything. If you are looking to move closer to your work and all of your worry is focused on the cost of moving into, and buying, the house you will miss the details. What you would gain by moving closer is a lower gas bill, which, depending how much you commute, over time could save you money.

     "Don't let the boat anchor of you past mistakes drag you forever into your future." The main point that this article talks about is getting rid of something that you own and would not think about buying if you didn't already own it, as it just sitting there is a drain on your potential gains.  The long term effects of what you do, and we forget this sometimes, is often more important than the short term effects.

3 comments:

  1. Ironically there also exists a "People will buy anything" mentality as well, traditionally the thing being sold needs to be absurd (Like the Kickstarter project for Potato Salad or the Etsy: Spoon-Feather-Pen offering.) and needs to have a sense of humor to sell.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looking at the long term effects is motivation to make the current change.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This makes a good point about evaluating your possessions from the perspective of the buyer in order to evaluate your position as seller. As Matthew pointed put, people often buy things the don't need, which is financially irresponsible. it is equally irresponsible to own things you would not buy.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.