Assets

Over the last 2 years I have spent almost $30,000 on rent for my apartment. When I move out, I will have absolutely zero to show for from this, I have no equity in the house and I received absolutely zero return on this money. That drives me mad to no end. This doesn't come as a surprise, I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. I wasn’t lead to believe that I would be receiving equity in the house, but boy does it suck knowing that I spent $30,000 on got zero in return.

When I was in 7th grade I got really into reselling Supreme. For those of you unfamiliar, Supreme is a clothing brand that is known for its hyped releases and cult-like following. What that means is that the clothes would resell for more than they cost. The normal retail cost was more expensive than normal brands, but it allowed me to wear the clothes for a little while and then sell them for more than I bought them for. On the flip side, if I bought less expensive, non-Supreme clothes I could never sell them for more than I bought them for, meaning that I lost money from owning them. Not everyone understood this. I had friends say things to me along the lines of “I could never spend $40 on a shirt” or “My shirt is only $25 and is just as cool.” I buy a $40 shirt that sells for $60 and they buy a $25 shirt that is worthless. My shirt was an asset, theirs was not really an asset. What I learned, was that it was financially smarter to buy the marginally more expensive clothes because I was able to wear them, and then sell them for more. Not a bad deal.

Now how does this tie in with rent? That is what I am still trying to figure out. It pains me to no end to have this liability that is a huge chunk of my expenses, month after month after month. How can I make money from my apartment, rather than just flushing that money down the toilet? Airbnb? Storage Rental? Photo Studio? I have no idea personally. My mind right off the bat goes to Airbnb. A couple google searches shows that studio apartments in San Francisco go for about $150 per night on airBNB. So theoretically, if I get 2 apartments in San Francisco, and have one be and Airbnb and one be my actual apartment, that could pay for both of my rents. Am I going to do this? No. But, it is fun to think about.

I’ve realized that when you look at things as assets vs non-assets it provides a lot more clarity into your purchasing decisions. When you can make smart financial decisions that counteract your normal everyday life expenses you leave the hamster wheel. For instance, did you know that people collect limited edition cereal? Do you know there is a resell market for cereal? Grocery Outlet always get these “rare” cereals, so every time before I checkout I stop by the cereal aisle and compare what is on the shelf vs what it is selling for on eBay. More often that not, there are a couple on the shelf that allow me to 5x my money. So what do I do? I buy 10 boxes and then sell them on eBay. I actually make money when I go grocery shopping. Assets come in a million different shapes and sizes. Assets are not just stocks and bonds. They are boxes of cereal, bottles of vintage wine, band shirts for the 90s, they are anything and everything.

Start collecting assets. Your future self will thank you.