The Smartest People I Know Don't Talk Too Loud

I've known a few people in my day who were pretty dumb. 

More specifically, I've known a few people who were extremely dumb financially.

In fact, if I look back at my own life, I can point out more than one moment where I was quite dumb, myself.  Financially speaking, of course.

Finding the people who aren't making wise choices financially are EASY to find.  They are complaining over drinks that they aren't sure where the car payment is coming from...but they'll buy the next round. 

They are in the office break room complaining about the rising price of gas and making plans on where they are running out to lunch. 

In fact, the more you educate yourself about financial matters, the more dumb choices shout out at you until you wonder why EVERYONE you know is foolishly wasting their money on EVERYTHING!    When you are 100% committed to getting out of debt or paying cash for an upcoming major purchase, you can hardly visit even your closest friends, because they are sure to have a new outfit, a new decoration, an over-priced dish soap or SOMETHING that will make you cringe and want to say, "you know, vinegar would have cost 1/5 the price of that handi-wipe and would have cleaned just as well."

Your tongue bleeds some days, trying to hold it back and save your friendships!

I've been thinking, though, about the smartest people I know financially. 

I've been thinking about how my parents saved up enough over the years to pay for a house, in cash, while never much talking about it or obsessing about it or pouring over financial advice books.  They just did it.

About all those post-Great Depression folks (we've all known a few), who cringe when you throw away a sandwich baggie because it can totally be reused again tomorrow!  Who don't need anyone to tell them to cook at home or reuse or shop at garage sales.  

One of my closest friends and her husband have quietly been building a life for themselves.  A single-income family of four.  A two-car family.  A family that takes vacations regularly.  A family where the children want for nothing and closets over-flow after holidays and birthdays. A family with "big kid toys" like snowmobiles and mountain bikes.  A life where they will have their home fully paid for before they are 35 years old. 

Quietly, steadily, they pay for things in cash.  They put a bit away here and a bit away there.  Make an extra payment.  Work a bit of overtime and assign that money to the mortgage before it's hit the checking account. 

They did not start life out with silver spoons in their mouth.  They were not given more than I was, more than you were.  They have not have easy, stress-free lives.  There have been illnesses and stresses and all the life things that interfere with us all.  

Most interesting, though, to me, is that they don't much talk about it, either.  They will commiserate with how hard it is to stick to a budget, while quietly living well-below their means.  They will nod in understanding about how much mortgage payments cut into living expenses, while painlessly doubling their own payments.   

They aren't living in a post-Depression era where things cost less and people seemed to want for less.

They ARE living in a world where so many believe "you NEED a cell phone and cable and GPS and internet and MP3 players and unlimited text messaging and a netbook and an e-book reader!" and where "everyone" had a VCR, I mean, DVDs, or is it Blu-Rays, no, it's streaming internet through their gaming systems!

They don't talk about it much, but when they do I am also floored.  Impressed. Aghast.  I want to live with them for a year and learn their secrets.  I want to grow up to be just like them.