If I had a dollar for every time someone told me I was lucky I’d be a millionaire… Okay, maybe not a millionaire, but I’d definitely have a few extra hundred lying around the place. Except they would be in the bank earning interest not just lying around.
I’ve been told numerous times how lucky I am to travel the world, how lucky I am to work three days per week and more recently how lucky we are to be in a position to buy our first home.
This really irks me as none of those things have anything to do with luck!
While it’s not that I don’t believe in luck as some things are really just a matter of luck (like the spot prize I won at the Mud Muster on the weekend – that was pure chance my name got drawn out), but I do believe that many people call others lucky when they have something they themselves wish they could do.
Why I’m not Lucky because I Travel
I’ve traveled to some amazing places (Thailand, Argentina, Singapore,Vietnam, Europe, America, Australia and the UK) but none of those have been the result of luck. I didn’t win a competition, I didn’t inherit a lot of money and I certainly didn’t fit into someone else’s suitcase to get there. Being able to travel to those places were the result of a lot of hard work, saving and not spending money on other things that most other people my age seemed to be spending their money on at the time.
Travel is the one thing I have always known I have wanted to do and made sure I put money aside for it. I also am very frugal when it comes to travel, most people would spend more on a week’s accommodation than I would spend on a whole trip! I did my 5.5 week round the world whirlwind trip for around $8,000 including everything, I stayed in Hostels and brought flights about 9 months ahead of the date I was set to fly. Our Vietnam trip cost us around $3,000 for the BOTH of us including flights. While these numbers may seem big you just need to set a goal and save for it, work out what is more important and if that’s travel then do it.
Why I’m not Lucky because we are Buying a House
If you haven’t heard already we have recently gone unconditional on our first home. This is NOT due to luck! We both joined Kiwi Saver and have been contributing since it first began, we are both eligible for the home start grant from the government and we have both been busting our arses for the last 10 years to save a sizeable deposit. The second reason we are not lucky here is because we made the conscious decision to leave Auckland and return to Wanganui where houses are a lot more affordable. This wasn’t luck, this was a decision we made for a better future for ourselves.
We could have stayed in Auckland and tried to get on the property ladder but we knew that wasn’t what we wanted and that we could have a better quality of life (in our view) in a smaller town. I have nothing at all against those who stay in Auckland, I have issues with these people saying we are lucky to be able to buy a home when it was a conscious decision to go somewhere cheaper. They also have a choice, stay or leave.
Why I’m not Lucky because I work three days per week
This one really rubs me up the wrong way for a number of reasons. Firstly while I am only working three days per week at my ‘day job’ I am also working on our Bootcamp business, both through training people as well as the backend which includes all the planning, social media and website work. I am also working on this blog in an effort to grow it to something bigger and better, while also managing it’s social media accounts and then to top it off I also run my Scentsy business as well, which also has it’s own social media accounts. So while I am technically working three days per week, in reality I would be doing a heck of a lot more than 40 hours per week, especially as Monday & Wednesday are 12 hour + days with Bootcamp sessions and working in the office while generally doing social media stuff or blog posts during my lunch break.
I also get annoyed at people saying I am lucky to work three days per week as once again it was a conscious decision to reduce my hours. I applied for A BUTT TONNE of jobs in Auckland to try to get to part time work, after not finding anything I approached my work ready to resign so I could focus on finding something part time, they were nice enough to offer me part time hours on a flexible basis (which did often end up being full time weeks). We then made the decision to move back to Wanganui for a number of reasons and I made the conscious decision to look for part time work. For three-four months of the year I am full time in the office and for the rest of the year I am largely part time which is great but remember I am only getting paid for part time hours as well, once again this is a conscious decision we made!
Yes, I have it pretty good compared to most of the world, I acknowledge that and I am grateful for that every single day and I’m sure this post will rub some people the wrong way.
I try to keep the ranty stuff off the blog as much as possible because I like the blog to be a positive place but I felt like my views on this matter needed to be voiced.
Remember that sometimes what may seem to be luck to you is often actually A LOT of hard work, conscious decisions, opportunity cost and a slave worker like mentality towards getting what they want.
What things are you NOT lucky for?? – Comment below and let me know, I love hearing from you!
I don’t think you’re lucky. I think you’ve made really good decisions and worked hard. You and Kyle have a fantastic situation that perhaps not everyone has but that doesn’t mean that it’s luck. Moving back in with family when you first moved down to Wanganui definitely helped you out and you definitely deserved that help.
People make their own luck.
Hi Amanda, just wanted to say how much I loved this post. I felt very empowered and motivated to read about your achievements. To add my two cents, I also dislike it when people say to me “you’re lucky that you get to attend this and that, and that you get to try products all the time for free etc.”, and yes – it is fantastic, but I have worked my butt off to get to this point, and in reality, I have created this future for myself through hard work, time and effort. Same goes when people say “you don’t need to attend exercise classes, you already look fine” – I feel like saying “how do you think I got to this point, better yet, I am not actually very interested in the aesthetics of exercise”. Anyway, congratulations on the house! So glad you could find something for you and your partner. I am thinking I will probably do the same and move out of Auckland when I feel like diving into the property market.
Agree with Amanda. Some people chose to buy the coffee each day and regularly eat brunch out for example. Simpley you have to sacrific a little to achieve that new house,car or whatever.
Oh man this resonates with me on so many levels. At the end of the day people choose how to spend their time and money, and that means they can’t spend their time and money on something else (unless they have unlimited money of course, which is not the case for the average person). It also pisses me off when some people travel & others say “oh I wish I could do that, but…”. No buts, they’ve just chosen a different path – maybe they eat out more, maybe they have a $30,000 car, maybe they chose to have children & spend their money on their education. It all comes down to choices.
I often get people saying how lucky I am to have three months off during study break. Actually, it’s not really that lucky. We have to do 6 weeks of work experience during that time, unpaid. Then find a job to make up for the lack of money during the study year. It’s hard work. But I chose that path, so I try not to complain (too much!).
Sorry for the ramble, but you just summed up how I feel in a nutshell.
I love this post so much, and too struggle with the idea of being called lucky. I hear it almost on a daily basis “you’re lucky you don’t have to go to work” – excuse me?! I had to leave the full time job I loved because I was having anaphylactic allergic reactions on a weekly basis! How is that lucky?! I now only work 10 hours a week doing the accounts for my parents business, because I can’t risk having those kind of reactions away from home!
I also hate hearing that we’re “lucky” to have a bach and orchard. Nope, saved for that too. Instead of spending all my money on alcohol and clothes, I pitched in with the rest of my family and saved my ass off for a deposit. It definitely grinds my gears when people try to tell me how lucky I am, so I can totally sympathise with this post, and I love it so much. Obviously I am lucky to have a great family – but luck isn’t what has enabled us to reach our goals.
I for one, can say that I’m incredibly proud and honoured to have you as a friend. You inspire me on a daily basis, and I can honestly say that it makes me swell with pride to see you achieving your goals. Having friends like you and Sam are what make me feel lucky. oxoxoxo
I love love love this post…I honestly think you made such great decisions in life and you’d be proud of your achievements. Really an eye opener- this post is. .I can totally understand how you feel and I can relate this to myself..from buying a house to owning a car and travelling a lot…Just like you, I also dislike when people call me ‘lucky’. It goes like this – You are lucky because you are living in NZ leaving your home country. I just don’t get it…Because of my husbands travelling consultant job I had to resign my workplace twice and move with him to a diff country each time… I don’t consider myself lucky to have left two highly skilled job profiles. People just don’t understand it…And, Calling me lucky because I do a lot of shopping… Now, the truth is – I save a lot of money and do some shopping. It’s my own hard earned money that I am spending and I really dislike when I am called lucky for that….Next is about samples that I get for my blog. i hate it when people comment on it..I work really really hard everyday for my blog ! doing blog posts, pictures, managing social media etc…Its absolutely worth it to receive some free gifts from brands or PRs. Even while doing a full time job…After my work, I used to finish of all my kitchen chores and sacrificed some of my sleep time to blog. I still follow it and I really hate when people call me lucky for all that matter… Nobody cares about the hardwork or pain that resulted in it…nothing can come on its own..everything requires a lot of hardwork, dedication etc…I hate it when people forget it…