aint this the truth.
A group of alumni, all highly established in their respective careers, got together for a visit with their old university professor. The conversation soon turned to complaints about the endless stress of work and life in general ... Offering his guests coffee, the professor went into the spam and soon returned with a large pot of coffee and an eclectic assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal -- some plain, some expensive, some quite exquisite. Quietly he told them to help themselves to some fresh coffee.
When each of his former students had a cup of coffee in hand, the old professor quietly cleared his throat and began to patiently address the small gathering... 'You may have noticed that all of the nicer looking cups were taken up first, leavi ng behind the plainer and cheaper ones. While it is only natural for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is actually the source of much of your stress-related problems.'
He continued ... 'Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In fact, the cup merely disguises or dresses up what we drink.
What each of you really wanted was coffee, not a cup, but you instinctively went for the best cups ... then you began eyeing each other's cups....'
'Now consider this: Life is coffee. Jobs, money, and position in society are merely cups. They are just tools to shape and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not truly define nor change the quality of the Life we live. Often, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee that God has provided us. God brews the coffee, but he does not supply the cups.
Enjoy your coffee! The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything.
So: Live simply. Love generously Care Deeply. Speak Kindly. Leave the Rest to God.
O/T Enjoy The Coffee
Moderator: Excalibur Marketing Dude
O/T Enjoy The Coffee
Scott
http://www.myspace.com/saxman1
Take a kid hunting
They don't remember their best day of watching TV
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ACF Member - 2011
http://www.myspace.com/saxman1
Take a kid hunting
They don't remember their best day of watching TV
Excalibur Equinox
TruGlo Red/Green Dot
NGSS Absorber by NewGuy
Custom strings by BOO
Groundpounder Top Mount
ACF Member - 2011
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raydaughety
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dick195252
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- Location: McEwen Tennessee
That is so true 
my wife and i have for the past 20 years watch our friends buy bigger and bigger houses 
we have stayed in our modest 3 bedroom 2 bath house in Dania Beach Florida. we are now getting ready to retire at the ripe old age of 50 and 55 and they all say how can you afford it? well look at the Big House you have and look at our house that we have had for 20 years and saved our money while you kept buying bigger and bigger homes we bought a Retirment home in Tennesse on the saved Taxes, Insurance, Air Conditioning, Up Keep, Closeing Costs that you spent on just to have a Big house to BRAG about Thats how you do it {with Gods Help mixed in} This is a perfect example of what your talking about here 
my wife and i have for the past 20 years watch our friends buy bigger and bigger houses we have stayed in our modest 3 bedroom 2 bath house in Dania Beach Florida. we are now getting ready to retire at the ripe old age of 50 and 55 and they all say how can you afford it? well look at the Big House you have and look at our house that we have had for 20 years and saved our money while you kept buying bigger and bigger homes we bought a Retirment home in Tennesse on the saved Taxes, Insurance, Air Conditioning, Up Keep, Closeing Costs that you spent on just to have a Big house to BRAG about Thats how you do it {with Gods Help mixed in} This is a perfect example of what your talking about here -
Grizzly Adam
- Posts: 5701
- Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:36 pm
- Location: Decatur County, Indiana
Good point to ponder, Sax.
That's how April and I paid off the farm ... by living in a $6000 trailer for six years while we shoveled money on the land. It was by far the most humble dwelling among my own peer group. Now we've built the new house and are shoveling money onto it ... while we both drive used 10 year old vehicles with high miles. They are by far the most humble autos among our peer group.
I don't own an ATV or a fancy boat or a jet ski or lots of the toys so many of my friends have ... but I own the farm outright, and I'm paying off my house mortgage (and the subdivided acre it sits on) three times faster than most because I don't insist on the latest greatest or on having everything. We are cheating the bank out of tens of thousands of dollars of interest money!
And know what? While the new house is high quality and very solid compared to the old trailer, I wouldn't say we're really any happier ... as your submission declares, the "coffee" or our existence is our life and our love. I'd rather live with my wife in a refrigerator box than with anyone else in a mansion. I'd rather be with my honey and have nothing than have everything with someone else.
I have God, my spouse and family and friends ... more "coffee" ... the best in the world. Ya'll Excal forum folks are part of my "coffee" too!
The professor was wise.
"A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his his possessions."
Someone I know said that.
That's how April and I paid off the farm ... by living in a $6000 trailer for six years while we shoveled money on the land. It was by far the most humble dwelling among my own peer group. Now we've built the new house and are shoveling money onto it ... while we both drive used 10 year old vehicles with high miles. They are by far the most humble autos among our peer group.
I don't own an ATV or a fancy boat or a jet ski or lots of the toys so many of my friends have ... but I own the farm outright, and I'm paying off my house mortgage (and the subdivided acre it sits on) three times faster than most because I don't insist on the latest greatest or on having everything. We are cheating the bank out of tens of thousands of dollars of interest money!
And know what? While the new house is high quality and very solid compared to the old trailer, I wouldn't say we're really any happier ... as your submission declares, the "coffee" or our existence is our life and our love. I'd rather live with my wife in a refrigerator box than with anyone else in a mansion. I'd rather be with my honey and have nothing than have everything with someone else.
I have God, my spouse and family and friends ... more "coffee" ... the best in the world. Ya'll Excal forum folks are part of my "coffee" too!
The professor was wise.
"A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his his possessions."
Someone I know said that.
Grizz
Saxman, I really enjoyed your post. The message is one that spawns thought, and that is always a very good thing. I read with a great deal of interest all the responses. And it occurred to me that I took a very different route then the authors of those responses. I kept buying bigger and better cups.
I played the game. I kept up with Mr. Jones. I moved my family with me when my company offered me new positions and challenges. And every time I moved, I bought a bigger cup, a way more expensive cup. I paid the large mortgages. I paid the huge real estate taxes.
In the end, I moved out of my big home in Chicago and bought the home I now live in outside of Cincinnati. It is on several acres and many are familiar with the area if you ever read my posts about hunting the “neighborhood.” I posted an aerial picture of the house and land a while back in one of those posts promoting urban hunting. By some standards the house would be considered substantial.
The first house my wife and I purchased was a little 1450 sq. ft. ranch house, one of those little boxy houses that seemed to built everywhere during the housing explosion of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. We scraped together a thousand bucks to put down on that house. The year was 1970.
In 1990, and five houses later, I bought the house where I now sit in my office writing this post. I paid for the house and I did not require a mortgage. It is not that I had some fabulous savings program. All the houses prior to this house had appreciated so much that the proceeds from the sale of my house in Chicago were enough to pay for this house in Ohio. Now had the tax laws in 1990 been the same as the way they are now, I would have had a mortgage on this house and taken the proceeds as tax free money. Back in 1990, if you didn’t reinvest the profits made from the sale and exchange of residency, you paid capital gains taxes. But my point is this. All my former “cups” made so much money they paid for this “cup”. This fact helped me retire at age fifty-five.
As I said in my second sentence, I liked this post because it made me think. And what I thought about was the fact that one mans cup is another mans mug. To my way of thinking, it doesn’t matter what a man has on the outside. The measure of a man is the way the man looks at his fellow man. I try to look every man I meet right in the eye and just see the man. I try not to see the costume or the surroundings. I try and determine the quality of the coffee and ignore the cup.
I think the message in Scott’s post was great. I just wanted to point out that it may be a mistake to think that all the people, errrr coffee you see in shiny cups is any different than the coffee in the more modest cups.
The way I look at everyone in this forum is that we all have coffee in a mug with an Excalibur logo on the front.
I played the game. I kept up with Mr. Jones. I moved my family with me when my company offered me new positions and challenges. And every time I moved, I bought a bigger cup, a way more expensive cup. I paid the large mortgages. I paid the huge real estate taxes.
In the end, I moved out of my big home in Chicago and bought the home I now live in outside of Cincinnati. It is on several acres and many are familiar with the area if you ever read my posts about hunting the “neighborhood.” I posted an aerial picture of the house and land a while back in one of those posts promoting urban hunting. By some standards the house would be considered substantial.
The first house my wife and I purchased was a little 1450 sq. ft. ranch house, one of those little boxy houses that seemed to built everywhere during the housing explosion of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. We scraped together a thousand bucks to put down on that house. The year was 1970.
In 1990, and five houses later, I bought the house where I now sit in my office writing this post. I paid for the house and I did not require a mortgage. It is not that I had some fabulous savings program. All the houses prior to this house had appreciated so much that the proceeds from the sale of my house in Chicago were enough to pay for this house in Ohio. Now had the tax laws in 1990 been the same as the way they are now, I would have had a mortgage on this house and taken the proceeds as tax free money. Back in 1990, if you didn’t reinvest the profits made from the sale and exchange of residency, you paid capital gains taxes. But my point is this. All my former “cups” made so much money they paid for this “cup”. This fact helped me retire at age fifty-five.
As I said in my second sentence, I liked this post because it made me think. And what I thought about was the fact that one mans cup is another mans mug. To my way of thinking, it doesn’t matter what a man has on the outside. The measure of a man is the way the man looks at his fellow man. I try to look every man I meet right in the eye and just see the man. I try not to see the costume or the surroundings. I try and determine the quality of the coffee and ignore the cup.
I think the message in Scott’s post was great. I just wanted to point out that it may be a mistake to think that all the people, errrr coffee you see in shiny cups is any different than the coffee in the more modest cups.
The way I look at everyone in this forum is that we all have coffee in a mug with an Excalibur logo on the front.
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Grizzly Adam
- Posts: 5701
- Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:36 pm
- Location: Decatur County, Indiana
I have found out that you can't tell very much about people by looking at their "cups" anyway. I know multi-millionaires who live very modestly and people who are hopelessly in debt who live extravagantly.Mike P wrote: I just wanted to point out that it may be a mistake to think that all the people, errrr coffee you see in shiny cups is any different than the coffee in the more modest cups.
I know what you mean about appreciation ... this farm is now worth three times what I paid for it nine years ago!
We built our house for 60% of it's appraised value ... and the addition of it to the whole acreage catapulted us into a rather impressive net worth ... at least on paper!
I have found that what you own isn't worth what you paid for it ... it's "worth" what they say it's worth!
That being said, my "coffee" is what it was ... but your point is well stated: There is something to be said for nice "cups" too!
For that matter, some of the nicest, kindest and most generous people I know possess some very nice "cups" indeed!
Grizz
raydaughety wrote: Please pray for those involved in the Illinois tragedy
This has really hit home with me. My son is a graduate of NIU and I have been on this campus hundreds of times. When I heard the news on the radio I immediately thought about my son and how terrified all the parents must be for their kids on campus now.
Kind of makes you wonder what kind of "cup" that whacked out kid grew up in!
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Grizzly Adam
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sumner4991
- Posts: 6989
- Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2006 12:16 pm
Live the extra ordinary life in a fancy cup if that brings you happiness and you can afford it. If you can not afford it, then try not to feel left out because happiness is free to all whom look for it.
Being a mortgage SPAM! and spending 25 years in the loan generating business, I've seen far too many people attempt to live outside their means. It's a short lived happiness that typically ends in bankruptcy. It's sad to see good folks that just can't seem to be happy without running up their debts to the limit. The limits eventually explode on them. It's a tough lesson . . .and I've seen people take the class more than once. It's a shame.
The mortgage industry in the U.S. is still looking bleak. The interviews on TV are making me sick. Listening to these folks that do not want to pay their mortgages because their house is no longer worth what they paid for it.
Funny, when values were going up 5-10% per year, I didn't see any of those folks offering to increase their mortgage to reflect the higher value. 
Bottomline . . .these folks took out a loan that had a three year fixed rate, then turned into an adjustable rate. They knew the payment was going up in three years. Problem is, they bought new cars, new furniture, new appliances, and did some landscaping during that three years. When it came time to pay the higher payment, their debt picture had changed to the point that they no longer could pay the payment. Anyway, the nicer cup caught up with the most of them.
Be happy with what you are and what you have. Live within your means, it's a longer term of happiness.
Good post Scott!
Being a mortgage SPAM! and spending 25 years in the loan generating business, I've seen far too many people attempt to live outside their means. It's a short lived happiness that typically ends in bankruptcy. It's sad to see good folks that just can't seem to be happy without running up their debts to the limit. The limits eventually explode on them. It's a tough lesson . . .and I've seen people take the class more than once. It's a shame.
The mortgage industry in the U.S. is still looking bleak. The interviews on TV are making me sick. Listening to these folks that do not want to pay their mortgages because their house is no longer worth what they paid for it.
Funny, when values were going up 5-10% per year, I didn't see any of those folks offering to increase their mortgage to reflect the higher value. Bottomline . . .these folks took out a loan that had a three year fixed rate, then turned into an adjustable rate. They knew the payment was going up in three years. Problem is, they bought new cars, new furniture, new appliances, and did some landscaping during that three years. When it came time to pay the higher payment, their debt picture had changed to the point that they no longer could pay the payment. Anyway, the nicer cup caught up with the most of them.Be happy with what you are and what you have. Live within your means, it's a longer term of happiness.
Good post Scott!
I'd rather wear out than rust out.
Perception trumps intention.
2006 Exomax w/Agingcrossbower Custom Stock
20" Easton Powerbolts w/125gr Trophy Ridge Stricknines & 2"Blazers
Boo Custom Strings
2006 Vixen
Perception trumps intention.
2006 Exomax w/Agingcrossbower Custom Stock
20" Easton Powerbolts w/125gr Trophy Ridge Stricknines & 2"Blazers
Boo Custom Strings
2006 Vixen
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sumner4991
- Posts: 6989
- Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2006 12:16 pm
I must add . . .in all fairness, what does "living within your means" really mean to you? It's seems like an easy enough question. However, a lot of people think the loan officer at the bank knows if you are within your means when they grant you a loan. Well, that isn't always the case. For example, the bank will allow you to use overtime pay to qualify you for a loan. But, you may know the overtime is being phased out in a couple of months. It's not like you can take a class on this stuff . . .what is DTI, LTV, TIL, or GFE. How do closing costs and fees affect your balance? How about those late charges, how are they calculated?. . .no one ever asks about those when getting a loan.
Lets say that the bank grants loans to people that have a 55% debt to income ratio. That may be fine if you make $5000 per month, but, super stupid if you make $2500 per month. Also, most banks do not consider how many dependents you have when granting a loan.
I could go on and on . . .basically, "living within your means" is different for each of us. The banks have created a society that is dependent on credit. If everyone decided to return to a "cash only" means of payment, then the U.S. economy would come to a hault. "Living within your means" ,to me, means that you are very cautious about taking on any debt.
They should offer a class about credit. Proper use of credit. How a credit rating affects your life. What a credit bureau looks like and what the scores mean. What affects your credit score.
Lets say that the bank grants loans to people that have a 55% debt to income ratio. That may be fine if you make $5000 per month, but, super stupid if you make $2500 per month. Also, most banks do not consider how many dependents you have when granting a loan.
I could go on and on . . .basically, "living within your means" is different for each of us. The banks have created a society that is dependent on credit. If everyone decided to return to a "cash only" means of payment, then the U.S. economy would come to a hault. "Living within your means" ,to me, means that you are very cautious about taking on any debt.
They should offer a class about credit. Proper use of credit. How a credit rating affects your life. What a credit bureau looks like and what the scores mean. What affects your credit score.
I'd rather wear out than rust out.
Perception trumps intention.
2006 Exomax w/Agingcrossbower Custom Stock
20" Easton Powerbolts w/125gr Trophy Ridge Stricknines & 2"Blazers
Boo Custom Strings
2006 Vixen
Perception trumps intention.
2006 Exomax w/Agingcrossbower Custom Stock
20" Easton Powerbolts w/125gr Trophy Ridge Stricknines & 2"Blazers
Boo Custom Strings
2006 Vixen
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Grizzly Adam
- Posts: 5701
- Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:36 pm
- Location: Decatur County, Indiana
Some of us ask about such things, Scott!sumner4991 wrote: ... no one ever asks about those when getting a loan.
"Living within your means" ... to me ... means that you are very cautious about taking on any debt.
They should offer a class about credit. Proper use of credit.
My wife and I put the capital "C" in Cautious concerning debt!
And I do teach a class about taking on debt ... was working on some counseling questions including that topic just now!
Thanks for sounding the warning bell in a world of storm!
Grizz
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sumner4991
- Posts: 6989
- Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2006 12:16 pm
Grizz . . .that's interesting, who do you teach the class to? Seems like all the teaching comes from the "school of hard knocks". Credit counseling takes place AFTER people get into too much debt. I'm talking about having the class in High School, before credit is an option. Do they offer that anywhere? My girls are still in Middle School, so I may be behind the times.
Scott
Scott
I'd rather wear out than rust out.
Perception trumps intention.
2006 Exomax w/Agingcrossbower Custom Stock
20" Easton Powerbolts w/125gr Trophy Ridge Stricknines & 2"Blazers
Boo Custom Strings
2006 Vixen
Perception trumps intention.
2006 Exomax w/Agingcrossbower Custom Stock
20" Easton Powerbolts w/125gr Trophy Ridge Stricknines & 2"Blazers
Boo Custom Strings
2006 Vixen
sumner4991 wrote: They should offer a class about credit. Proper use of credit. How a credit rating affects your life. What a credit bureau looks like and what the scores mean. What affects your credit score.
I was fortunate to have been exposed to all of the above while in college. I was a marketing major with a minor in finance. But before I gained all this
"schoolin", I was given life lessons by my parents about living within your means. I knew what it was like when Christmas got a little lean cause taxes were due on the property. My mom and dad didn't even believe in lay-a-way as a means to purchase items much less credit.
What type of examples are being set for many of the kids today? They see their parents whip out the old visa at every turn.
Worse yet, what type of example does our government set? If I came home one day and said to my wife "honey, we are fifty grand in debt, but don't worry, I have a plan. I am going to borrow a hundred grand, pay off the fifty grand, and blow the other fifty like we just won the lottery" she would have me committed. Well, get ready to receive your stimulus checks in May or June and begin spending! I didn't see it, but I guess Uncle Sam won the lottery when I wasn't looking.
The fall out from the sub prime lending is far from over in my opinion. It is going to get into the pocket of each and everyone of us in one form or another.
The days of parents teaching fiscal responsibility are in the past. How can they teach something that they themselves have little to no understanding. Scott, you hit the nail on the head. Fiscal responsibility must be taught in high school in the junior and senior year.
And they better start fast while there are still some of us around paying property taxes so we can still have the high school.