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Turning Cash to Thrash – 1

Posted on | June 22, 2010 | 1 Comment

Turning cash to thrash is a skill we are born with. At the root is the desire for instant gratification. We browse the shelves in a shopping mall, admiring the gleaming array of merchandise, see the one we really like (budget or no budget, list or no list), and then BOOM! – it lands in our trolley as our eyes scan further. Eventually, we drag our now overloaded shopping cart to the check out without a clue what the total will come to. We wait with bated breath as the cashier asks if that will be all.

The cash register rings and the total (result) is announced. Too late to back out now. All eyes are on us. With a bold face, we hand over our debit or credit card, and march exultantly to our car with our shopping cart load of thrash. Mission accomplished – cash to thrash.

Why are we in love with turning our hard earned cash to thrash?

My words my offend some, but my choice of words is deliberate (no offense intended). Most of the stuff we buy is thrash, junk, doodads. Granted, not on the date of purchase, but forward 3 – 5 years later, please show me where there are, if not gone with the wind, or covered in a cloud of dust. Even our prized large screen TV is thrashed in less than 5 years by the latest technology in town.

Consider if you put that money in stocks (that crash and recover), real estate investment, funding your business, learning new money earning skills, attending an investment seminar, buying self development books etc, 3 – 5 years later, you can show the money or asset or both. Instead of diminishing, it grows. Instead of making you poorer, it makes you richer.

Why are we in love with thrash, sorry things? Why do we prefer thrash to cash?

The Ten Year Rule
This is my invention. It may exist somewhere, but I made this one up. This is how it works…

Look at your intended purchase through the eyes of ten years to come.

Will it exist by then?

If yes, in what shape? Will it increase in value of become junk?

Does it make sense? Does it fit my personal financial plan?


For a brief moment, lets apply the Ten Year Rule on our existing possessions. The kitchen or sitting room is a good place to start. Imagine it is ten years from now. Will anything be left standing? With respect to the sitting room, I can guarantee you, what you will see is an empty room. The TV, curtains, furniture (unless you love antiques), DVD, sound system, you name it, will be long gone, replaced by a current model. Same with computers, phones, play stations and other gizmos.

Now ask yourself, what about the money you used in acquiring these items? Show me the money. Your guess is good as mine, gone with the thrash, given as charity or sold for a token. The cycle continues. If all your earnings end up in the thrash, you are literally throwing money away. How will you become richer than you are if all you do is throw your money away? Can you eat your cake and have it?



Can one get by without generating thrash? Of course no! Life has to go on, but when you know that all these luxury brand top of the range items you are acquiring will soon end in the thrash, then you will think twice.

Take a look at your appliances. Do you use all the functions it came loaded with? Why spend so much on it, only to use it at the basic level, when the basic models are far less cheaper? The one that amuses me the most is the microwave oven. Anytime I am shopping for a microwave oven, I go for top of the range, with the most functions. Upon getting home, all I use it for is warm food from the fridge/freezer. Why did I waste all that money on grille etc, when I could have simply picked the basic model with dials rather than button? Pride?

In the days of VHS (before DVD), video players and VCRs came in many systems, Pal, NTSC etc. Some boasted of 21 systems, with programmable recording. Trust me, again I went for top of the range. Again, right till DVD came and consigned VCRs to the thrash, I only used one system – PAL, and never programmed any recording. Why throw the money away (cash to thrash)?.

The knowledge that we are busy converting our cash to thrash should stop us in our tracks, hopefully. How can you through money away and still get to keep it? This skill is prevalent in the poor, middle class and celebrity nouveau riche (rags to riches to rags – like Iron Mike and Co). The rich minimize thrash, buy things that retain value, appreciate in value and generate a net positive cash flow. That way, they get richer while the poor and middle class spend themselves deeper into a hole

The only way to escape the cash to thrash trap is to minimize your thrash to bare necessities, hold onto your cash and acquire assets. Start accumulating cash and assets rather than accumulating thrash. Do a reality check by applying the Ten Year Rule on your intended purchase. That aso ebi, costume jewelry, shoes, latest lace material and head gear, fashion accessories, blackberry, latest laptop, game consoles, latest model foreign luxury automobile etc, what will become of it in ten years? Are you giving wings to your money to fly away for good, or are you holding onto it, to create the future of your dreams?

Cash or Thrash?

The choice is yours…

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One Response to “Turning Cash to Thrash – 1”

  1. Tweets that mention Turning Cash to Thrash : Financial Freedom Inspiration Nigeria -- Topsy.com
    June 22nd, 2010 @ 8:27 pm

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Christine Brandt, Usiere Uko. Usiere Uko said: Turning Cash to Thrash: Turning thrash to cash is a skill we are born with. At the root is the desire for instant … http://bit.ly/b2Bpbw [...]

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