I Was Broke Because I Wanted To Be
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***Updated 4/6/2021***
When I was forty years-old, a friend asked if I wanted to invest in a commercial real estate deal. He was assembling a partnership to purchase a small retail building. At the time, I was a property manager, and my friend was a broker.
Investing in commercial real estate had been a goal, but my finances were a mess. Unfortunately, I had to wait. I couldn’t admit my poor financial situation, so I simply asked my friend to think about me for the next deal.
That embarrassing moment ignited a desire to be in a real estate deal. But to achieve that dream, there was one thing I needed to do—grow up.
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 1 Corinthians 13:11
Here comes some embarrassing stuff…
For years, I had a room full of comic books, toys, and vintage video games. I’m not bragging—far from it. Many people have more extensive collections and have spent more money. Looking back, I’m embarrassed at what I had accumulated and how much I spent doing it.
Friends who saw my various collections compared me to The 40-Year-Old Virgin, a reference to the movie starring Steve Carell. I hated when they said that. First, it was an embarrassing reminder that my collecting had gotten out of control. Second, I disliked being teased about things I liked.
I read comic books while in junior high school but quit after entering the tenth grade. There seemed to be more important things to spend money on (a car, for example). However, when the Army sent me to Germany, there was extra cash in my pocket along with free time to read. It was there I rediscovered comics and fell in love with them. When my tour ended, I returned home with a habit in tow.
My addiction grew to an average of $25-$40/week at my local comic book shop. That was a significant number at the time as I worked a minimum wage job. But that spending went on a credit card, so it didn’t seem real. Besides, my local comic book shop was the most fantastic place for a nerd with plastic money.
That simple love for comics soon perverted into “investing.” The ’90s were ripe with comic book speculation. Buyers believed they could snag an issue that would fund their retirement or put their kids through college. The comic industry pushed variant covers to get fans to buy three or four versions of the same book. The publishers hyped mega-events to create a frenzy and encourage new buyers to enter the market. Even I bought three copies of the “Death of Superman” (Superman #75) because of the publicity surrounding it. Before that day, I never bought a single Superman issue.
My collecting habit spiraled out of control. From comics, I moved onto trading cards. Then I started buying collectible toys. I even bought magazines about toys to know what to look for when visiting antique malls, thrift stores, and garage sales. I no longer acquired toys because I liked them. I did so because I thought they would increase in value. Joy was replaced by greed.
When I discovered retro-gaming (those video systems from when I was a kid), I went over the edge. Collecting those items allowed me to go down memory lane. As a kid, my family had an Odyssey2 (an Atari 2600 knock-off). In high school, I had a Commodore 64 computer. Soon, I bought consoles for almost every gaming system ever made—Atari, Coleco, Intellivision, Nintendo, Sega, Vectrex—you name it. I either had it or was trying to acquire it. I filled a room with shelves just to display these systems. It was madness.
For a time, I cleaned up my act courtesy of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace. I needed to stop spending so I could get out of the financial quagmire I found myself in. As part of that, I took a break from collecting. I diligently practiced Ramsey’s envelope system and worked myself free from over $46,000 worth of debt.
However, like a smoker who returns to the habit worse than before, I returned to collecting with a vengeance. With less debt, I suddenly had more money for comics. But the scene had changed while I was gone. So much more was available online.
During this time, my income had also risen, so I was no longer interested in buying “regular” comics. I wanted the “good stuff.” That sounds like an addict, doesn’t it? By the way, the good stuff in the comics world is expensive and rare. Therefore, it’s kept behind the counter and can only be viewed with a clerk nearby. Buying those items made me feel special.
I bought comics that were professionally graded by the Certified Guaranty Company (CGC). Some of these books were $500 or more. I purchased CGC-graded copies of Iron Man #1 and #2, Conan The Barbarian #1, Fantastic Four #48 (the first appearance of the Silver Surfer), and many more. Those CGC comics alone cost me several thousand dollars—money I had no business spending.
Another embarrassing financial admission…
Shortly after my friend approached me about jumping into his real estate deal, I read Larry Winget’s You’re Broke Because You Want to Be. Winget’s basic premise is that you would make different choices if you didn’t want to be broke.
I always struggled for money but couldn’t figure out why. Reading my history above, it may seem obvious to you why that happened, but when someone is stuck in the middle of a problem, it often takes a person from the outside to help them see the issue.
While reading Winget’s book, I would nod dumbly along but not apply much introspection to the things he espoused. When he wrote about personal responsibility, I agreed. Hell, I’m a responsible guy, I thought—just look at my life. I had no freaking clue.
Then Winget wrote, “... I have noticed from working with people who have real money issues that most have huge DVD collections. So if you see yourself getting too many, you might want to stop and think about it.” I stared at those two sentences in horror. Then I reread them.
A pit grew in my stomach.
One of my proudest accomplishments was my collection of over 660 DVDs. I’d show my friends and beam at their amazement. It was stupid and shallow, but that’s where I got my validation.
Winget then wrote about a woman who had over 200 DVDs in her collection. He held her up as an example of being out of control. I had three times as many. To make matters worse, I was proud of it!
To this day, I still remember the utter embarrassment from reading Winget’s thoughts on large DVD collections. In all the personal finance books I’ve read, there has been a more motivating passage than that.
Turning It Around
My friend’s invitation to participate in his real estate deal and Winget’s book helped me find the motivation to change my spending habits. That meant no more comic book acquisitions. I cut off my DVD purchases. There would be no more antique or thrift store runs in search of elusive collectibles.
Over the next several months, I set about raising cash by ridding myself of my various collections. On eBay, I listed toys, vintage games, antiques, and more. Anything that could be considered a collectible was sold.
I marketed my professionally graded comics as well as any non-graded collectible issues. It was amazing how fast they sold.
The run-of-the-mill stuff (in other words, not valuable) was listed on Craigslist. I sold almost 3,000 comics for $300. I’d listed them for much more, but an offer of $300 was all I could get. Those were the last of my comics, and I wanted them gone, but 10¢ per issue was heartbreaking—what a waste of money.
Daily, I updated a spreadsheet of the things that sold. That way it felt like progress was being made. I showed it to a friend who was also having some financial troubles. Interestingly, he also collected high-end comics but hadn’t saved very much. They say birds of a feather flock together.
BOWEN STATUES FEATURING (L-R) DAREDEVIL, PUNISHER, BLACK WIDOW, AND BULLSEYE. YES, THIS IS SOME OF THE STUFF I COLLECTED.
My friend paid me a 10% commission to sell his graded comics. I gladly sold those books and added that earned fee to my investment fund.
All the selling on eBay and Craigslist felt like a second job. I came home at night and immediately checked to see what items had been traded during the day. Then I packed up the things for delivery. The next afternoon, I would run to the local post office and mail everything. It got so the clerks knew my name and would ask what items sold that day.
At the end of my eBay run, I raised almost $11,000 from selling my collectibles. Did I make money on them? Some, yes. However, I lost far more than I can imagine. I couldn’t even start to count how much money I lost on the run-of-the-mill comics.
Even the DVD collection is astounding to think about. They all weren’t purchased new, so calculating them at $10 per DVD means over $6,600 worth of discs sat on a shelf doing nothing. That’s a startling number to contemplate.
Shortly after this time, I went through a divorce. I offered my soon-to-be ex-wife the entire DVD collection. I didn’t want to fight about stuff—it didn’t seem worth it. After we finalized the divorce, she gave me half the movies in a gesture of kindness. Even though there were some great movies in the collection, there were also many fantastic duds. Why had I purchased terrible films? I have no answer beyond the fact that I could.
Those DVDs have been boxed up in my basement for several years. With streaming services so prevalent, I don’t know if they’ll ever come out again.
That’s over $3,300 spent on DVDs that are now worth almost nothing.
What Happened After I Raised Those Funds?
Shortly after my forty-first birthday, I bought my first commercial building in a partnership structured by my broker friend. He had a small three-bay retail building under contract for $200,000. He wanted to bring in four equal partners then raise the rest through financing. Luckily, I had the money made from selling my collectibles. I jumped into the deal for $12,500.
That building has since led to two dozen more. My financial picture flipped from negative net worth to over seven figures.
The process of selling my stuff put me on a path to better financial behavior. I worked harder and saved more. I focused on getting somewhere better. I didn’t know where that was when I started, but I knew it had to be better than where I had been.
The buying of toys, collectibles, and other items stopped. Those things were never going to fulfill me. Purchasing stuff was an indicator of a deeper problem.
When a person is unhappy, they may do things to disguise the root cause. I had been the problem of my dissatisfaction for too many years. I’d spent a lot of years collecting stuff to hide it.
It was time I learned how to control myself.
LESSONS LEARNED
The Real Problem is Often Between Your Ears.
To reach my goal, I had to stop blaming others. I was the problem. I was the one who had to change.
I was my own worst enemy. I put myself into bad situations by not saying no to stupid purchases.
Before my situation could change, I had to change.
Look Around For Opportunities to Raise Cash.
To get out of debt, you must go the extra mile to raise cash. Whether it’s a second job or selling your stuff, do what you must do.
I honestly believed those comics and toys meant something special. At the time, it seemed painful to get rid of a CGC 9.2 Iron Man #1. But I never think about them now.
I only convinced myself of their perceived value, so I could keep acquiring more.
There Are Better Ways to Spend Your Time and Money.
I wasted time and resources accumulating stuff. For a while, I assured myself that those things would appreciate. Some did, but most didn’t. If I had invested the money correctly, I would be years ahead.
There are plenty of distractions out there. Some are new, but others have been around for years. From baseball cards to non-fungible tokens (NFT), from beanie babies to collectible beer cans (yes, that was a thing), we can waste our time and money chasing things that won’t provide long-term security or cash flow.
Are you having trouble with your finances? Maybe it's time you try Larry Winget's You're Broke Because You Want to Be.
