Personal finances
My favorite speaker mentioned that reality beats any fantasy, and he gave a nice example. You know the pixie dust the fairy sprinkles to turn a coach into a pumpkin? Very impressive, but what about the dust on this earth that life comes from?
But I had been working full time on a volunteer project related to a nonprofit organization I am a bit passionate about. (General information at tprf.org.) I had sold my property to finance this without a second thought. I was glad I did. It was the time of my life.
When the finances finally went low and it was time to get back to work, I headed back to my country. Driving to the city where I was going to start all over again, I had a little fantasy, about a place where I could get free rent. Reality couldn't beat fantasy in this case. How could you beat free rent?
I bought a newspaper and got one of the cheapest rooms in the rooms for rent section. It was an interesting place. One person, Jim, was renting out the side of a duplex that wasn't large, but it had a finished basement with 3 bedrooms. He rented these out and one upstairs, to help pay for the rent. The finances were closely balanced and he wasn't making money.
I enjoyed the place. One day Jim thanked me for always paying the rent on time. It was obvious not many people did that. I was happy to thank him right back for the low rent. The situation was close to ideal and I was starting to put money together again, hopefully to go back to the volunteer project.
Jim got a higher paying job in another city. (Good move! 
) He asked if I would want to take over the place when he left. I really would have preferred that nothing changed, but moving would be a pain in the neck and taking over seemed better. I agreed and took over.
One room was a problem. It was 3 times as big as the other rooms, and trying to get an appropriate amount of rent for it wasn't easy. Finally I added a wall to divide it into 2 rooms. (Jack of all trades, and master of toilet tank mechanics. )
They both rented in a week. Now I could still offer rooms at the lower end of the rent scale, but I started to make money. A couple of the renters were super clean. If there was a stray germ somewhere, they just had to wipe that spot clean. I appreciate clean more and more myself, but they had me beat. My time managing the place took about 2 hours a month at the most. I had to admit, reality beat my little fantasy.
It took awhile, but now I am a volunteer again, and deeply appreciate the privilege. That's my idea of blowing all my cash on a good time. Even if it's a short story, it's nice when it has a happy ending. I should add that I wouldn't expect this from any other volunteer project. I have done volunteer work in 2 other situations without that kind of enjoyment.
