Could you imagine what it would feel like to go to bed with $100 bucks in your bank account only to wake up and find $120,000 in your checking account? Well, guess what? One Pennsylvania couple actually did! A bank error deposited $120,000 into their account overnight. You can pretty much guess what happens next.
They went on a spending spree buying a camper, a Chevy and a racecar. In addition, they gave about $15,000 to friends and family. They blew through $100,000 in about 2 weeks. Whew!
This Monopoly style bank error in your favor was over almost as soon as it began. They were of course caught and now are facing federal felony charges.
These people got a few dollars in their hands and went crazy with Gold Fever. The likes of which that have not been seen since the California gold rush in the 1800’s.
However, in their case it was more like behavior of a gambler’s addition or lottery ticket winner.
Instead of holding on to money people are prone to spend. Why is that exactly? Are trinkets really how people value self-worth? It would be different if the money was theirs, but it wasn’t. In what world does money magically appear?
This couple had over $100,000 just show up out of the blue in their BB&T account. Who do they think they are?! Joshua Jackson’s character in The Skulls! Where he wakes up, goes to the ATM and sees that his account is now filled with money. Around $20,198.98 to be exact.
And also in that case, the money was not his. He had to join a corrupt secret society, get into an Ivy League college, go through hazing and get impeccable grades and an incredible SAT score to do it. He had to go through a heck of a lot to get access to that kind of cash. Don’t remember the film? No problem. I pulled the trailer for your viewing pleasure.
However, in this couple’s case they did NOTHING! Since, when in life do you get something for nothing? I’ll tell you when; never that’s when.
Are these people binge watching The Rich Kids of Beverly Hills or The Housewives shows or something? Where the housewives love to take PJ’s (short for private jet) all over the world just to spend more money. And by the way… a PJ costs upward of $25,000 a flight or trip. Maybe that’s why so many housewives are in debt, getting divorced, and on shows where they refer to private jets as a PJ.
Regardless, why is spending instead of saving money so important? It becomes a race to see who can have the most toys. Forget it. When you focus on saving and investing your money it transforms your life. You have more control. See why it pays to save.
If you read any story about the self-made millionaires of today, you will rarely see anyone who had a mysterious windfall come out of the sky. And even if a relative left them some money, they invested it in some way such as by going to college, learning a trade, buying stocks, or starting a business.
You have to focus less on spending money and more on holding on to what you already have. It may not be sexy, but hey like I Will Teach You To Be Rich author Ramit Sethi says, “would you rather be rich or sexy?”
In a perfect world, you would of course choose both. In reality, I am sure many of you will choose to be rich. Just understand that it doesn’t matter if it takes you three years or 20 years to get rich. The point is you complete the journey. Legally.