Written by Phil Covington
Founder, ABCIncome.com
(c) copyright 2005 GRPMAX, L.L.C. & Phil Covington
Original URL: http://www.abcincome.com/articles/
It is only coincidence that Christmas is rapidly approaching as I write this article about socks, because I’m not talking here about, “stocking stuffers,” the kind some people fill with gifts. No, I’m talking about the lowly sock, the kind you actually put on your feet!
There is this brilliant young man on the Internet, Alex Tew, whom some of you have no doubt heard of by now. He came up with the wild idea that became the enormously successful, “MillionDollarHomepage.”
His main goal was finding a way to pay his college tuition, and maybe do a few nice things for his parents. But one of his MAIN goals in thinking up his million dollar idea was also to buy a new pair of socks, and he did! In fact, thanks to the money that he made with his idea he ended up buying quite a few new pairs of socks, and that’s where this story starts to turn to you. Not quite yet, though.
You see, I have my own sock story to tell. And, yes, believe it or not, this all relates to your financial comfort and well being. Trust me, even if you currently feel no need to buy new socks, you’ll soon see how you can apply the same principle to many other things in your life.
My sock story dates all the way back to the 1980s, when I was searching for the perfect men’s dress sock that fit well and wouldn’t wear out so fast. And eventually I found it, by way of a now defunct fine shoe store. During one visit they had their best men’s dress sock on sale for just under $2.00, so I bought a few pairs. It turns out they were the best fitting, most comfortable, longest wearing dress socks I’d ever owned! So, I went back and bought more.
The next year I noticed that the same socks again went on sale for the same great bargain price of just under $2.00. On that occasion I bought all of the socks the store had in stock. The chain’s salesman was even nice enough to offer to check around to see if any other stores in Michigan might have a few more socks left, and to ship them to me.
Well, by now I knew that I was truly on to a good thing. So, the next time the socks went on sale I immediately once again bought the store’s entire inventory, and, requested all remaining inventory from all of their other stores! I did this every year thereafter until the store went out of business some years later. And, I’m pleased to say that it didn’t even cost me anywhere near a million dollars!
What’s the point you say? Well the point is that the hoard of quality new socks that I had accumulated was enough to last me for almost the next 18 years!
Still not quite getting it? Here’s the real point, and how it applies directly to you, or anyone, about almost anything. Often times in life people run across something they really like, or really need, or both, but pass up a great opportunity either because they can’t afford it, or they feel guilty about spending the amount of money that it requires.
To this day I have yet to find a men’s dress sock as good as those I bought in the 1980s, and certainly not for less than $2.00 a pair. My only regret is that I didn’t figure out a way to have purchased enough to last a lifetime!
Did you know that one of the best ways to save money is by buying things when you don’t need them? And, no, please don’t read the wrong meaning into what I just said. I’m NOT talking about buying things you DON’T need. That is indeed usually a very bad practice. No, what I’m talking about is buying things that you DO need, or want, or both, but purchasing the item WHEN you don’t really need it or have to have it at that particular moment in time.
For instance, a great way to find some really low prices on your summer wardrobe is buying at the end or beginning of the season, or even right now, in the dead of winter. Likewise, you can probably find some really great buys on winter clothing (or skis) by shopping when it’s not winter!
It’s the same thing people often see with airline tickets and vacation packages. Travel during peak season, and you pay the highest price. Travel during off season, and even luxury travel and accommodations can become very cheap indeed. You can even save money when buying a car that way. In fact, recently a friend purchased a very expensive new car who wasn’t even thinking about or shopping for one at the time, but because he came across a deal that was simply too good to pass up. He bought the car from a bank after its owner couldn’t make the payments. It’s not that he couldn’t use the car, because he and his family absolutely can use it, but it’s just that he wasn’t actively shopping for a car at the time he ran across the deal.
However, because his financial situation was such that he could afford to buy the car WHEN the opportunity presented itself, he drove off with a very nice vehicle indeed, that most others have no doubt paid more than TWICE as much for!
The old saying that the poor get poorer while the rich get richer IS true, and for many reasons. Just one of those reasons is because people with more financial means (whether rich or not) are in a better position to take advantage of opportunities when and where they present themselves. Those with lesser financial means are instead more likely to have to settle for whatever they can find and afford at the time.
People who have not yet reached their financial goals are also more likely to suffer from, “price dyslexia,” which means they are more likely to make decisions from right to left, instead of left to right. For instance, have you ever gone to a nice restaurant, but instead of simply sitting down and enjoying yourself you start by reading the menu backwards, from right (price first), to left (the food you are really interested in)? Isn’t it nice too when you can take someone to dinner (maybe even their whole family) and tell them to feel free to order whatever they want?
Somehow those are issues that I have a feeling Alex Tew won’t be dealing with as much, at least not for now, as he’s definitely proven, at an earlier age than most, that he has the all important, “million dollar mindset.”
If you don’t happen to have a million dollar idea of your own just yet, you can learn a lot about how to get there by browsing the articles section of ABCIncome.Com.
Oh, by the way, another thing that sparked this article was a conversation that I had recently with one of my nieces. She too, it seems, had also accumulated a hoard of treasured socks that, in her case too, lasted almost 18 years! She and I were quite relieved to learn that we were not the only ones afflicted with Sock Accumulation (and savings) Syndrome :)
