Brad must have told me this at least once every day, but I never got it, of course until it was too late. For those who may not know, Brad is the one that invested an enormous amount of time, energy, and stuff into making The Lazy Susan happen. He has taught me more than I will ever be able to repay him. He ran The Lazy Susan from start to finish, and without him, my short lived dream could have never happened. Brad is a great friend to me, and I hope someday I can be the same for him.
Brad saw the colossal crash coming, and did everything in his power to prevent it. Unfortunately, I never saw how big or fast the train was coming until my ticket was purchased and I was on board. I remember one day when we were going over numbers and he saw all of my receipts for Auto Magic. “Joel, you have to stop, just stop.” I assured him that the money wasn’t coming from the business; I was just keeping the receipts for a tax write off. “It doesn’t matter, you have to stop.”
How right he was. It doesn’t matter what the source of the money is, you have to quit thinking you are Donald Trump. You can’t have the best of everything, drive the nicest car, and have the best looking bathrooms, when you are not Donald Trump!? When you can pay cash for it, and it is budgeted before the month starts, then you can have it.
Look at my picture on the home page. That is me at the pre-season game with the St. Louis Cardinals at the brand new Hammons Field, in the inaugural season for the Springfield Cardinals, AA affiliate for St. Louis. I am wearing my $32 fitted hat, purchased at the stadium (couldn’t be seen in the $8.99 knock off available at Wal-Mart). I had these awesome season tickets, eight rows up, right behind home plate. We loved going to games all last summer. We will be paying for them for the next four years now.
Whether I was talking to advertisers, vendors, or sales people, I definitely thought I was someone I wasn’t. I thought that I could have whatever I wanted because I owned some great business. We had to have the best of everything, and we did, we just didn’t need the best. Unfortunately, no one could convince me of that at the time. At least me and Donald Trump have one thing in common. We have both gone broke on a business venture, the difference is The Donald filed for bankruptcy when he went broke. I am definitely not Donald Trump!
Joel,
Your testimony is powerful and I sincerly thank you for your time and effort and most of all your honesty.
God is using your testimony in my own life. Please know that.
I read everyday and will continue to read every day. I will be sending friends, family and anyone else I can to do the same.
Comment by Mark Hunsaker — March 21, 2006 @ 2:10 pm
Thanks Mark! I have been amazed by the responses I continue to get both on and offline. God Bless!
Comment by Joel — March 21, 2006 @ 2:14 pm
Joel,
We all learned from the experience of The Lazy Susan. I am proud of your actions now and the example you will be to others in business!
Wish you were still in Springfield!
Your friend,
Brad Moncado
Comment by Brad Moncado — March 21, 2006 @ 8:02 pm
Wondering about Trump’s bankruptcy, I found some info at Wikipedia.
Comment by Amy — March 21, 2006 @ 8:41 pm
Man, what a story. I know what it feels like to be in debt. Just know that God is definitely using it to tell you about His grace for you and your family. We love you guys and are praying for you. E-mail me and let me know what’s up.
Comment by Scott — April 16, 2006 @ 1:32 pm
That’s what I’m talking about, bub! Budget it, buy it and be done with it. Sounds like you helped to put the “sense” into dollars and cents. Way to go!
Comment by DEBTective — September 2, 2006 @ 7:06 am
Thank you so much for this site. During the first two years of running a consulting business, I made a lot of money. So I spent a lot. Later, when I wasn’t making so much, I still spent a lot. I acted like I was entitled to the best - restaurants, massages, a new car. How foolish! Thank you for this blog.
Comment by MB — January 16, 2008 @ 12:12 am