💸 How to Live Your RICH Life

September 23, 2024

Hey guys! Hope you all had an amazing week. I’m writing this issue from Naples Airport after my partner and I spent a week exploring the Amalfi Coast and Naples. Although we’ve been here a few times before, this time we rented a car and got to explore more of the charming coastal Italian towns. If you’ve ever been to Amalfi, or anywhere on the Italian coast for that matter, you probably know how expensive it can be. You’re easily spending 100 euros per meal, 250 per night on accommodation, and 5 euros per hour on parking (crazy, I know). If you follow me on Instagram, you might think I’m some sort of Crazy Rich Asian (great movie btw), but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

If you know me personally, you may know I wear 1-2 pairs of shoes for a solid 2-3 years. I currently drive an 11-year-old car that I bought second-hand in uni. The list of frugal choices goes on (trust me) 😂. However, when it comes to experiencing more of the world, I travel every 2-3 months, stay in 5* hotels in luxury suites, and refuse to take buses or trains to and from the airport (I’m a princess on holiday, I know). But for me, these are the things I truly value. I don’t care about showing off to other people (especially ones I don’t know), I don’t enjoy branded clothing and I don’t want a fancy car yet. I choose 1 or 2 things that I truly value and happily spend on them 3 or 4 times a year, while spending almost nothing on everything else.

No matter what you want to experience in life—whether that’s nice cars, luxurious holidays, or designer clothes—you can, in my opinion, quite easily achieve YOUR RICH LIFE. Even if you get to the stage where you can afford to spend on anything, valuable or not, would you rather be the person who needs to spend £5,000/hour on fuel for a private boat to have fun, or the person who can have just as much fun reading a book in the sunshine on the beach? I’d rather achieve happiness as efficiently as possible. If you know what you do and don’t value, and have no interest in impressing others, quite simply, you’ve won at life.

So in this week’s issue, I encourage you to ask yourself: How do you define your rich life? What do you truly value, and what don’t you value? Is your spending aligned with these things? Are you currently able to achieve your rich life?

👍🏾 Things I’ve enjoyed this week

1. Renting a Car (Holiday Travel Hack): Last time we were in Amalfi, we paid about 150 euros each way for taxis to and from our Airbnb. This time, we rented a car for just 20 euros a day, which worked out cheaper and gave us way more independence. Having the freedom to explore at our own pace was a game changer. On your next trip, consider comparing the cost of renting a car with using taxis or even local transport—it might surprise you how much you can save.

2. Air Arlo (SIM Card): When I’m in Europe, I typically use my home data, but my SIM card provider only allows me to use 12GB abroad. That’s when I switched to Air Arlo, an eSIM card you can download directly onto your phone. It ended up being more affordable for using mobile data while traveling. This isn’t sponsored, but if you use this link, you’ll get a little bonus to kickstart your own travel savings.

3. Mafia Democracy: How Our Republic Became a Mob (Book): This was a really interesting read by an ex-mafia boss from New York City. He dives into the inner workings of the mafia and draws parallels between how the mafia operated and how the US government is run. It’s a fascinating perspective on politics, and if you’re interested in that kind of thing, I highly recommend it.

4. Opal (App): I’ve mentioned Opal in a previous newsletter, but it really came through on this holiday. I blocked almost all my social media apps for the entire trip, except for a few minutes each day. This helped me disconnect from tech and focus on enjoying the trip without distractions. I still had access to necessary apps like Google Maps, but Opal made it easy to step away from the noise. Again, not sponsored, but if you use [this link], you’ll get a free one-month trial of their pro subscription!

📹 The latest video in case you missed it:

📚 Highlight of the week

See, freedom is great if it frees you from leaving your children at 5am so you can drive an hour through a traffic jam to sit in an office building for nine hours. But that same freedom goes to waste if you then just plunk the kids down in front of a playlist of cheap cartoons while you lounge in the corner to scroll Facebook all day.

You need to use it to do things that are even more valuable than the job you just quit. And if you can’t do that, you might as well just keep the damned job.

3-2-1: When to Be Patient, Why We Procrastinate, and the Importance of Early Attempts by James Clear

"My personal rule is that it's a good idea to be patient as long as I'm in the mix.

If I'm taking action, putting in my reps, and trying things out, then I should remain patient and see what opportunities arise. But if I'm not taking action consistently, then I'm not practicing patience. I'm just waiting."

3-2-1: The Value of Reading One Good Book Per Year, and Lessons on Kindness and Generosity by James Clear

"Many people care more about being right than being happy."

3-2-1: On Weaknesses, the Secret to Happiness, and What You Want but Haven't Said by James Clear

"You can ignore your weaknesses, but you can't expect them to not impact you. The weakness of the coach shapes the players. The weakness of the teacher influences the students. The weakness of the parent molds the child."

Resurfaced to me by Readwise

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