He finished his first mile and settled into a groove.
Alright, where were we . . . oh, that’s right. We were broke and losing our apartment. We weren’t exactly crushing it at work either.
In times of trial, some people panic. Others flail about, trying different solutions without addressing the real problem. Still others simply give up.
Truth be told, Jake did all of those things from time to time. But he also had another approach. When he found himself in trouble, he would make a list.
Today’s list started in his head, legal pads and pens being hard to come by on the jogging track. He began by writing down the trifecta of problems he’d encountered the day before.
Have to move out in eighteen days—oh wait, now it’s seventeen.
Need to start paying off all those loans. I wonder where all the money went?
Not doing so great at Brightside, the job I was so excited to get at the beginning of the year.
For now, he decided to defer the last problem. He had an idea to try a different tactic when he was back on Monday, so he’d look at that more then.
Focusing on the first two problems, he made another list in his mind as he rounded the track. He called this list “Assets.” It was a pretty short list.
When he’d checked his phone after the previous night’s dinner, he had a notification from the bank: “You have attempted to overdraw your account. For your security, we have rejected the charge.”
For his security and his embarrassment, he thought.
Not only had he misjudged the timing of those automatic deductions from the gym and the utility company, he’d completely forgotten about another one from his dentist. He was still paying off a $2,000 double root canal from three months earlier. They’d let him split up the payments, but that just meant he’d relive the pain of that morning in the chair every month for the next six.
It wasn’t all bad news, though. Hitting his stride on mile three, Jake realized that even if his list of assets was light on financials, he was still doing pretty well elsewhere. He had good health, for one—aside from that root canal. He had parents who’d raised him well, even if they didn’t always understand his way of doing things.
Zach was not only his older brother, he was also a close friend. Later today he’d see him, when Jake drove up to the Bay Area so they could have a late lunch. Zach worked for Titan, one of the most successful startups of the past decade. Maybe Jake could get his advice . . . and now that he thought about it, his brother had mentioned he had some news to share.
Liza, their sister, was in her last year of high school. Jake prided himself on being a good big brother, screening potential boyfriends on social media and checking on her every few days.
And then there was Maya. He still wasn’t sure what she saw in him, but he wasn’t going to question it. He just hoped she wouldn’t run away when she eventually figured out how much lower he rated compared to her.
He felt bad about the previous night. That morning he’d texted her another apology along with a photo of a dog holding a bouquet of flowers. When she wrote back with a smiley face and a heart emoji, he instantly felt better.
That was Maya: solid, reliable, and forgiving. It was too soon in their relationship to think long-term—when mentioning his apartment situation, Jake had carefully avoided any suggestion about moving in with her—but he liked her more than he’d ever liked anyone before.
The greatest assets in his life were his relationships, he observed. Unfortunately, those assets couldn’t do much to solve his cash flow problems. He was firmly resolved not to ask his family for financial help.
* * *
—
As he finished mile four, he considered possible solutions. First, he could cut back on his spending. Did he really need the gym membership? It was good for cross-training, but most of his workouts were right here on the track. There were probably some other subscriptions he could cancel, some $5 lattes he could downsize to the free coffee in the office.
Still, he realized that economizing would only get him so far. He could save some cash here and there, but he was already fairly frugal. And with holidays coming up, he couldn’t cut out gifts for Zach, Liza, their parents, and Maya.
The far greater problem was that there wasn’t much money in the account to start with. When you cut back to basics and are still short every month, he thought, cutting further isn’t going to help very much.
On the job front, Brightside wasn’t going to be offering a raise anytime soon. In fact, the less attention they paid to his performance at this point, the better. He needed to keep the job for the steady paycheck and insurance, but it wasn’t enough.
So what could he do—get a second job?
He wasn’t opposed to the idea. He liked to work hard, and back in college he’d often held two jobs while juggling classes. But as he added up the figures in his head, he felt discouraged. Most part-time jobs aren’t known for paying good wages. Even if he worked an extra fifteen hours a week, he’d still just be getting by.
What he needed to do was get ahead. He didn’t want to be obsessed with small things. Ultimately, he wanted a lot more for his life. As a kid, he’d had all sorts of dreams and ideas. Lately, though, he felt like he was just struggling to stay afloat.
In the fifth mile, he sharpened his focus and ran faster. He didn’t have a long list of problems, he realized. He just had one big problem. It wasn’t complicated, it was simple: his monthly paycheck didn’t have a large enough number on it.
If he had more money, he could find another place to live. Sure, it might be a hassle, but in the end moving was just about packing up your stuff and carting it over to another place. If he had more money, he wouldn’t stress about the loan payments. The worst thing about a root canal would be the three hours in the dental chair, not the six months of paying for it afterward. And if he wasn’t always scraping by, he could do things like buy plane tickets for Maya and him to visit her parents at Thanksgiving instead of driving five hours each way.
Maybe he could even begin to save for the future.
Finally, even though having more money technically wouldn’t help him keep his job at Brightside, he’d be less worried about losing it. The worst-case scenario wouldn’t mean he was out on the street—it would just mean he’d need to find another gig.
That’s what it all came down to, he realized. Financial independence. A new way to get paid, preferably in larger-than-small amounts and on a regular basis. Money wasn’t the answer to everything, but if he had more money coming in, a lot of things would be a lot easier.
So where’s the money tree, Jake?