On the high seas circa late 2008, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was returning home from a Western Pacific Deployment. We hit several ports along the way including Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, Guam, and Hawaii.
The first stop was in Hong Kong and I remember ordering a big mac from McDonald’s there. When the order came out, I thought it was a happy meal because the drink was 8 ounces, the burger was tiny, and the fries looked like they were from the kid’s menu. I guess I should have ordered two!
There were several other memorable moments during the deployment from singing on stage in Singapore to sandboarding and snowboarding in Dubai. We took Land Rovers to the middle of the desert to go sandboarding and I remember being instantly parched when I got out of the vehicle. Sandboarding was not as fun as you would think, and I had sand in my ears for days. Later we would go to the mall where they had snowboarding indoors.
Deployment
On the deployment we were receiving extra pay and did not have any bills. This was a great opportunity to save some money. I did not ever feel like I missed out and I was with my friends everywhere we went. However, most of my friends did not save any money. They spent all their money every chance they got. It seemed strange to me upon return home how I could save several thousand dollars and how they were broke. We had the same exact experiences!
I think it is in the discipline and behavior that separates people who accumulate wealth and those who do not. I was not tracking my personal net worth at the time since it was insignificant, but I did know that it was a good idea to not spend all of it. Instead of spending $600+ at a port, I only spent around $300. Maybe the difference was in the amount we spent on alcohol or something. I do remember one place we were at my future roommate came up to me and said “Wilson, I need money!”
He had spent $1,400 on his bar tab buying everyone in the squadron a beer it seemed. I handed him a $20 bill and told him to try asking one of the people he bought a drink for to get him back!
The Return Home
The real damage was revealed when we returned home from deployment. We had an opportunity to move out of the barracks and collect basic allowance for housing or BAH. It was around $1,400 per month, tax free which to us was a fortune at the time. We found a 2,500 square foot house in Oxnard, California that would have us each paying $600 per month in rent, plus utilities. We would be able to pocket the difference so we were excited about the opportunity.
The holdup was the deposit needed plus first month’s rent which came to $4,800 give or take. No one was able to even afford the first month’s rent let alone the deposit. I had to front all the money in order to get the operation going and be paid back at a later date. Once the BAH kicked in everyone would be good to pay rent and pay me back, so I went ahead and fronted the money. The house was awesome, and we had a lot of good times.
Opportunity Cost
Any situation that we are faced with has an opportunity cost. An opportunity cost is defined as the benefits an individual, investor or business misses out on when choosing one alternative over another.
On the deployment we were faced with many opportunity costs. By going ashore and spending money, our opportunity cost was staying on the ship and saving all the money—the benefit being additional savings for future investments.
Was not spending any money at the country we were in the best choice though? I knew of a few people that did not leave the ship. They chose to save all their money. I could not imagine looking back as that being the best choice. The experiences and stories in those different countries are priceless to me.
I do think that not spending all my money at those countries was helpful in building my financial foundation. Like I said previously, I was able to have all the same experiences as my friends who saved nothing.
The Balance
Everyone will have different standards on choosing how they spend their money. Personal finance is after all, personal.
When I started my wealth-building journey there were no podcasts or YouTube videos like there are today. You can go on the internet now or social media and find unlimited content about finances and investments. There are many people in the financial freedom community that are extreme savers and get to financial freedom quickly. I consider them to be the type that stayed back on the ship though—giving up prime years in exchange for financial freedom.
One of my biggest goals is to be financially free, but I do not think I would trade that in for memories like riding on the world’s largest water tower in Dubai, designing antennas for the Space Station at NASA (took a pay cut), or learning another language while living in a foreign country.
I think it is important to find your own personal balance of experiences and wealth accumulation. It has been my experience that you can do both.
Conclusion
Building wealth or reaching financial freedom can be fun along the way. Obviously the more you sacrifice the earlier you will achieve it, but it is nice to stop and smell the roses once and a while. You can make good financial decisions as well as have great life experiences.
I find there are plenty of opportunities to sacrifice—going out every Friday night or eating out all the time are a couple that come to mind. I have been made fun of plenty of times about my eating habits. I hardly ever order soda at a restaurant and sometimes eat prepared meals for $2 or less. I have done this over many years and my counter argument is usually: what did you eat for lunch 3 weeks ago?
Considering the new financial information today, I might have revised my approach to wealth building. Today I am more focused on thinking about ways of creating more income rather than saving, but the early focus on saving money has put me in a good spot.
