Episode 16: Prioritize the Ability to Sustain Your Lifestyle Over Deposit Power

In this episode, I will talk about "prioritizing the ability to sustain your lifestyle over deposit power."

At night, you open your household account book and check your monthly expenses one by one. Food, utilities, communication costs, rent or mortgage, insurance premiums, daily necessities...

After everything is deducted, you invest the little bit of money that remains. You might have days when you look at that amount and feel discouraged, thinking, "Is this all I have this month?"

But I think that "little bit" left over after paying for everything is actually something amazing.
That is because it is a "certain margin" that you were able to send to your future self after properly protecting your precious daily life.

Deposit power is not the ability to earn, but the "ability to save."

When we hear the term "deposit power," we tend to focus only on the "ability to earn a lot."

Of course, it is better to have a higher income. If your monthly surplus increases, the money you can invest also increases. I won't sugarcoat it, and I don't deny that annual income is important.

However, when it comes to whether "a high annual income means money will remain," strangely enough, that is not always the case.

When income increases, the size of your lifestyle naturally grows if you leave it unchecked.
More convenient areas, larger houses, better schools, better lessons, better dining out...
All of these things bring smiles to your family's faces.

However, when that "more" accumulates unconsciously every month, the surplus in your household account book gradually disappears.

Actually, I am one of those people who once fell into the trap of this "more and more disease."
I tried to keep up appearances, repeated expenses that were beyond my means, and no matter how much I earned, the money just flowed right through my hands.
Only after experiencing that did I deeply realizehow much more difficult it is to "control your lifestyle" than it is to "earn money."No matter how much you earn, if no money remains to send to the future, that is something that can happen to anyone, and often before you even realize it.

The reason behind news stories like "How could such a high-earning celebrity go bankrupt!?" might be this kind of runaway "lifestyle container."

The strength of those who carefully protect their lifestyle container

On the other hand, there are people who are not swayed by the flashy waves of the world and can gently protect a container that suits their own lifestyle.

People who look at their monthly expenses steadily.
People who adjust their fixed costs little by little to be more comfortable.
People who keep their cash emergency backpack (emergency fund) intact without dipping into it.

Such people are by no means weak.
Rather, they are "truly strong people" who can protect their lifestyle container.
There is no need to compare yourself with the flashy numbers flowing on social media, or someone else's annual income or assets.
They do not abandon their daily lives and continue to stand firmly on their own two feet.
This "ability to protect your lifestyle" is the foundation that supports your life.

What is truly strong is a lifestyle that can be sustained in good spirits

Neither investing nor living is a sprint that you run through in an instant.
It is counterproductive to force yourself to make a huge deposit just once, only to run out of steam the following month and cause your household finances to fall into a panic.

Even if it is 5,000 yen or 10,000 yen a month, if you are able to continue while cherishing your own lifestyle, that is already a wonderful strength.
This quiet strength will surely support you throughout your long life.

Thank you for reading until the end today!