A Victory for the Scatterbrain

Hehehehe. Hahahaha. AAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAAAA! You know, I always used to say that I’m not very bright—which is true. But sometimes I do things that are pretty smart and it benefits me greatly. Yesterday I was preparing my year end bank statements to bring to SFS (Smalltown Federal Savings) Bank and I looked at the total amount I had in my name. Hehehe. The total amount? $15,384.44. This means that I actually REACHED my year end quota of 15k for 2011!! And this is how I did it…

About a year after I graduated college with that well-earned 2.01 GPA, my dad Roy gave me a book called “How To Become an Automatic Millionaire” or some variation of that title. The book detailed how to, after 20-30 years of working, have a million dollars in your bank account when you retire by using 401k plans, Roth IRAs, CDs, and other forms of investing. I found most of the book completely useless, as I hated the idea of having to work so long just to get a million dollars. The one part of the book I found very interesting was a concept the author brought up: Pay Yourself First. After every paycheck is in your account through direct deposit, you tell the bank to make an automatic deduction that is put in a separate account, preferably a savings account. I liked the idea of making the bank work for me and further liked the concept of making sure I get paid first: not the heat and electric bills, not mortgages, not the Water Department— ME first. The concept fits my ego perfectly.

During my starting over phase in June I decided to open a savings account with about $1500, then have $350 taken out of my business account every month to be put in my savings. I knew that I would forget about it due to my god awful memory, but I covered my bet by not listing the savings account on my online banking. A couple of days afterwards I guess I completely forgot about it and it’s been building up ever since. Those times in November and December when I would feel like a failure because I missed my quotas, I was actually reaching them without knowing!

My eyes lit up when I saw how much money I had and it made me feel even more confident heading into my meeting with SFS Bank yesterday and Phase 3 in general. I took advantage of my horrible memory and it paid off big time, as I’m fairly sure I would have spent that money on other things. That’s what this whole blog is about: recognizing my weaknesses and finding a way to profit from them. I plan to raise the increments per property I purchase. I’d rather not use the savings regardless, so I still plan to use my business account as my primary base for general funding and real estate purchases. I might not be too bright or too lucky, but once in a while I have a good idea and it works. The way I see it, even the white guy on the basketball team’s bench scores a basket every now and then.