Air Conditioning

I must say I've been blessed these past few months. I'd say the hardest thing for me was actually sticking to my guns and abiding to what I've been preaching these last posts. It's hard to see others suffer, especially when they have no plan or had any reason to change their lives that are already set in their ways.

I work with a wide range of filmmakers in southern Arizona and each of them have their own stories of surviving the pandemic. Many stories of them include the changes in their income, their economic security and overall their well-being.

A lot of us are returning home, asking relatives for money and finding any job (no matter how potentially unhealthy) to make ends meet. Our entire nation looks like a third-world country - fires in the west, unsettled social issues and protesting, an election year and the pandemic umbrella looming over it all.

How I Got AC in a pandemic:

For the last five years I've been living with a regular old school swamp cooler. The cooler itself kept me cool but it had it's up and downs - keeping it filled with water, which attracted mosquitoes and the classic "wet dog" smell permeated the house, the hot wet air that would fill the vents making everything sticky, the lack of air quality when it became too hot or too humid outside. I'm not going to lie, I was hunkered down in my bedroom for almost a month and if it wasn't for my portable AC unit I probably would have left Tucson for the time being.

Since I had been quietly setting money aside and investing cryptocurrency I was able to finally look for quotes for AC in my home. The crypto Chainlink had recently got a bull run and went up almost triple the amount, giving me access to a good chunk of money. I knew if I had stood on the investment it could bust, leaving me high and dry and back to square one. So I bit the bullet and sold half the crypto. I'm glad I did! The same crypto dropped almost a quarter after the following week. I did get a loss but not the loss I was dreading when I sold it.

I found out one of my relatives who works in HVAC was recently laid off because their small business closed down due to COVID. He lost his work truck but he still had access to his clientele. I gave him a call and asked him if he would install an AC system into my home. I told him my budget and it was fairly low compared to regular AC system installations but since I was family, he could do it as a very low price. I'm grateful I have a family with skills and happy I was able to budget my way into getting AC for the home.

But just a year ago had I not been investing cryptocurrency I would still be stuck with a dead ass wet swamp cooler. I know if I needed to get my house installed with any new system it would cost a fortune AND I would definitely feel the squeeze. The fact that I continuously invested small pieces of my savings into the crypto helped me realize I didn't feel a loss and I honestly felt I gained an addition to my home without actually doing anything. The powers of the market, the bull rides of cypto brought me there. All I had to do was chip in and pay up when I got paid. Did it make me tighten the belt, of course! But that small chip turned into big changes. Luckily my investment paid off, especially the day before my AC installation, my swamp cooler shut down, leaving me without any circulating air.

I think many people think it's safe to HOLD your money in your pocket, assuming it's yours. It's true but if you don't use it as a tool, like nails to the wood beams, your house won't be protected. It's best to use your money for the things that will make your life better, and do it all the time! The point I'm making is use money as a utility and NOT as a spending resource. Your spending directly correlates with your lifestyle.

Every day I shake my head to see people suffer - but you look at their lifestyle of fancy stuff, expensive junk, useless services and poor judgement, it all adds up. Each decision they have to make is the equivalent of adding a little bit of savings into a crypto or stock option. Your money directly affects your well being. It will always be a tool, no a luxury or a surprise shopping spree. You can't be mad at the bill when you're done having fun! Money doesn't get mad back.

All money is a system you've decided to use to get that task completed. Luckily for my relatives who helped me get the AC in, I was kind enough to loan a hand, help them with some of the project, to both build camaraderie and offset the costs. I bought beer and offered meals. It was also a great way of staying close to my relatives in a rough economic environment. Not to mention that money wasn't going to some corporation or a box store, it was going to my own blood and name, my own family. But it'll be up to them to decide what they do with the money I gave them for their labors. Spending it on beer, cigarettes and useless junk is a literal pit trap. A case of beer cost $20, that's a solid stock in any regular market. A pack of cigarettes can get you two penny stocks. Don't look at money as a currency, keep the value of it like the value of nails, screws or bolts you have in your tool box. Eventually you'll be able to use them as building blocks for your life. My friend said for every nail you put in your house is the equivalent of a dollar invested into your home you didn't have to pay someone else for. That always kept inside my thoughts. When I see my family build the AC unit, every penny I put into it was the investment for my home, making my individual value greater than it was yesterday. And that's the name of the game, are you in a better position than you were yesterday?

If yes, you're doing good.

If no, solve your problems.

I hope all of you are doing okay during the pandemic. I hope it's not bringing you down. I hope your finances are becoming locked and secure and you've got a plan for your money. Do yourself a favor: pay yourself, a few bucks here and a few bucks there, keep paying yourself! One day, when you need AC in this hot ass pandemic world, it won't be a drop a sweat on your behalf. Let your money work for you, always.

Adam