The Stratagem’s Archive

Category: Personal stories

  • Eradicating A Burden: Eliminating Personal Debt to Ascend:

    The Stratagem’s Impediment:

    Welcome fellow Villainous Co-conspirators, for stumbling into The Stratagem; now, today, I’m going to share a predicament that I, The Stratagem’s creator, am facing right now… this burden hinders all people from all walks of life — heroes, villains, anti-heroes, anti-villains, and civilians alike. It is one of the main foundations for any pursuit. This crippling burden I’m speaking of is called, Personal Debt—a significant amount, and if you think heroes are the only ones to throw a wrench in your plans, you are sadly incorrect.

    Do you have any idea why Personal Debt is a far more devastating force to deal with than any other living and conceptual adversary? Imagine this: you have constructed the perfect plan, a plan so diabolical that it could turn the tides to your favor, and all you need to ensure its construction is possible is money. Every fictional villain tends to steal from banks and incredibly wealthy individuals. If operations, tools, gadgets, and personnel could function on hopes and dreams, or fear and anxiety, what then? No, no, no, money isn’t just a symbol of one’s avarice and greed; it is a tool for fair exchange since gadgets, keeping the Stratagem running, and paying for good help takes money. This is how any business functions.

    We need to make sure that every dollar we owe to Personal Debt returns to us for our own personal use. I personally hate debt, especially debt that hinders the individual’s progress, growth, pursuits, and opportunities. Imagine what it would be like to be free from debt, no longer owing money to financial institutions because of an emergency or surprise expense that you didn’t have cash on hand. You could return to your plans of crafting the life you want to be proud of. In the following paragraphs, I’ll share with you what I’ve been doing to eradicate my personal debt, the resources I’ve been learning and from using, and the progress made since taking on this challenge.

    Have You Acknowledged That Something Is Wrong With This Picture?

    During my journey into financial literacy books, videos, and other resources, the one thing that we need to start with in destroying Personal Debt is to acknowledge it— Acknowledge that there’s a limitation preventing you from achieving your goals and halting your plans. My favorite resource to watch that shows what happens when people ignore their debts, who keep racking up new debt onto existing debt, and thinking it’ll magically sort itself out is from a Netflix show called, “How to Get Rich.” If you’ve ever read the book, “I Will Teach You to be Rich” by Ramit Sethi, or watched his YouTube channel by the same name, he has had guests on this show do just that: ignore their debts.

    I think that ignoring your debts is a horrible tactic and it widens the gap between becoming free from it and remaining its hostage. The best financial resources I’ve come across that’s helped me improve my financial literacy and competency(in no way am I affiliated with these resources) are:

    • I Will Teach You to be Rich: The books, journal, and YouTube channel by Ramit Sethi.
    • The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel.
    • The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason (audiobook Narrated by Grover Gardner).
    • Alux.com YouTube channel and app.

    I had improved with how I use the money that I earn, saved, and invested from jobs that let me hide among the masses. These had been the best resources I could find that helps people who don’t have a business or are not self-employed make the most of what they have. I am not affiliated with these people, just a fan of their work, which has helped me see with more clarity than before. Now, let’s move on to how I’ve been tackling my Personal Debt of $17,000.

    The Stratagem’s Aggressive Payoff Strategy:

    How I started to tackle my Personal Debt was to write down how much I owed and what each of my debts APR(Annual Percentage Rate) for each debts (which includes interest rates and fees) and displaying them prominently. For myself, I have a white board on my desk, so I wrote the numbers down.

    • Short-term debt: $5,000
    • Medium-term Debt: $12,000

    The first thing that I decided to do was to put a stop to using my short term debt. I had paid off all other balances using a loan. I didn’t want to spread my money too thin again. Putting your physical and other means of accruing debt away to not use will take willpower to not swipe and increase your debt. Instead, I changed to using a cash envelope system.

    If you’re unfamiliar with what the Cash Envelope System is, it’s where you take out cash each month to pay for your necessities, groceries, gas, and fun activities or things you want to buy on a budget. Using this system will give you pause where you would have to ask yourself: 1)what can I get with X amount of dollars in my hand? 2)am I buying X because I need it or because I want it? These are the few questions I ask myself when I go shopping and I withdraw between $200-$300/week to spend. How I separate the money each week, especially more than $200, let’s use $300 as easy math:

    • $200 for groceries.
    • $40 for gas
    • $20 put away for, as Ramit Sethi coined it, “Guilt Free Spending”.
    • $20 put aside for funding this blog.
    • $20 for whatever cause I will financially support once I reach $100-$200 milestone.

    The second thing that I decided to do was to get a part-time job; this was a personal choice because my full-time job had our hours cut and my paycheck shrank as well. I went job hunting for 1 month looking on Indeed and applying on the company’s job board before getting hired at a rage room part-time. The extra money, even though I had to adapt to extra workload, had helped with making sure my bills were paid. I’m not beneath working 2 jobs, though I am fortunate that both jobs were flexible and worked with me, no one should not feel ashamed for making such a decision.

    Having 2 jobs, though draining, had given me the freedom to use an aggressive pay off method called, The Avalanche Debt Payoff Method. What this means is that you are paying more than the minimum payment towards the debt that has the highest APR. When looking at this from a mathematical perspective, tackling the debt with the highest APR also reduces the amount of interest that could be added on to the existing debt.

    Even though my highest debt is $12,000.00, it would not make mathematical sense if I paid this off first. When using the Avalanche Debt Payoff Method, getting rid of the debt that will accumulate interest fastest will free up more money in the long run. By ensuring that I pay the minimum payment towards my other loan, I’ll be shrinking that loan with less penalties. I’ve been saving as much as $1,000.00 to put towards my credit card debt to pay it down faster. The more money you can put towards it, the faster this burden will be gone.

    A Less Aggressive Option is Available

    I chose the Avalanche Debt Payoff Method because I could pay off my debt aggressively. Thanks to working a full-time job and a part-time job, this option is mathematically sound for my situation. However, for those who aren’t able to use the Avalanche Debt Payoff Method, a less aggressive method is available: The Snowball Debt Payoff Method is used to pay off the smallest debt balance off first and work up towards the highest balance.

    For example, if my $17,000.00 debt were spread across 4 different accounts, using this hypothetical debt to explain this payoff method, you would start by paying off the lowest balance. Then you’d move up to the next balance, until you pay off the next balance, and you focus on the last debt.

    From personal experience, using the Avalanche Debt Payoff Method can feel mentally taxing—you’re seeing a lot of money move from your bank account to pay towards your debt and it can feel as though you’re not making a dent. I’ve thought of many scenarios of what I could be doing, instead of paying off my debts. I could be using that money to:

    • Donate to either a food bank, the blood bank, a school that needs school supplies, to a local library, or a farmer’s market.
    • Buy a nice lunch for my family once a month.
    • Repay my parents money I had borrowed from them for an event I chose to attend last minute.

    These are the things I would do once my debts are paid off. Remember that everyone is facing different challenges and has their own goals. These are mine and I will see them fulfilled.

    This payoff method offers a plethora of benefits that its aggressive counterpart would not. The less aggressive method grants:

    • Bursts of dopamine from eliminating small debts and seeing each debt gone.
    • A sense of accomplishment.
    • Provides an increase of strength to keep pushing through their (financial) challenges.

    This method could also help individuals who are:

    • Working one job.
    • Earn under $50,000/annual salary.
    • Taking care of children, elderly or sick family members.

    For anyone who is already overwhelmed by their debt and other responsibilities, this could offer a sense of accomplishment and as though their situation has hope, instead of seeing it as hopeless.

    Plans Need An End Date

    Regardless of the method you choose to use to pay off your debts, you will need to have an end date for when you will become debt free. Why? Because it gives you something tangible to strive for than leaving it up to chance.

    When I didn’t set a deadline to when I wanted to be debt-free, battling debt felt impossible in the beginning. Not having a deadline drops you into the someday category, the same as how New Year’s Resolutions are: I’ll someday get to travel, or I’ll someday get healthier, or I’ll someday get myself out of debt. NO! Someday, without a goal and a when to strive for, is a wish, not a strategy.

    Go ahead and try it; keep paying your debts without a deadline and see how it feels, then set one. Share how much of a mental shift it is once you’ve tried this out yourself.

    Treat your empire the same as eliminating debt—have a concrete date for when you want to start building your empire, instead of letting it become a someday wish. Otherwise, you will likely be at the mercy of life and nothing will change for you because you followed the same strategies you’ve always followed. We’re not simply Dreamers, Fellow Co-conspirators. We are Dreamers who plans, takes responsibility, and executes on our plans. Now, let’s move on.

    What Happens If You Choose Neither Method?

    If you choose neither method to tackle your debt—then the only thing that will happen would be a longer financial sentence. You need to choose which plan works for your situation and act on it, then you have enough sense to not remain debt’s prisoner.

    You are the only one who gets to decide how to live your life, no one else, especially not some institution who cares about taking as much money from you as possible. That is what we’re here for—fighting for our financial freedom and get back to building our empire!

    Charting Your Course to Financial Domination!

    Understanding your enemy and the damages they can inflict on your rising empire is the first step towards victory. We’ve explored how devastating inaction can be and the immense power the strategies like the Avalanche and Snowball methods. Now, the choice is yours fellow co-conspirators.

    No matter the battlefield you are fighting on, the time to act is now. What course of action are you taking and how you feel about the progress you’ve been making? Share in the comments a glimpse of your journey for other co-conspirators to learn and take inspiration from. Thank you for visiting The Stratagem’s Archives, now build your empire!

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  • 2025 is Nearly Over! A 6-Month Reflection & Projecting Ahead.

    Where Did The Time Go, Co-conspirators?

    The early morning rays had dared to interrupt my slumber. My alarm had futilely blared its presence at 0530, but I laid there, staring at the ceiling, under my warm blanket, and scrolling through the digital void of YouTube for 30 minutes. My plan, a meticulously crafted stratagem for a day off, was to rinse, cleanse, conquer the pavement with a quick jog, the return home for a home workout, shower, laundry, and a decisive jumpstart to my precious free hours.

    It was already past 0730. This procrastination, a momentary lapse in my crafted discipline, was unacceptable. I shot up out of bed, washed, changed into my workout gear, laced on my shoes, then hit the pavement. What would have been a walk around the block became a determined jog to make up for my poor decision of staying in bed. My body and mind were primed for the workout I had planned the night before, climbed the stairs back to my apartment, locked the door behind me, and grabbed my tools of choice.

    After weeks of strategic active resting, it was time to return to being active. With my kettlebells and bands in hand, I was ready to forge myself through training once more:

    • Dynamic warm ups: 3 minutes
    • Banded overhead presses: 3 sets of 10 reps
    • Reverse Lunges: 3 sets of 5 reps each leg

    Then my main workout consisted of the following:

    • 20 lbs Kettlebell Swings: 1 set of 20 reps
    • 20 lbs Kettlebell Deadlift: 3 sets of 10 reps
    • 20lbs Kettlebell squats with calf raises: 3 sets of of 10 reps
    • Body weight push-ups: 3 sets of 10,11, and 12 reps respectively. The last set, a tactical drop to my knees, was still a victory.
    • Finally, a 5 minute cool down period using static stretches, twist holds, bridging, and fluid movement.

    With my workout finished, I took a lukewarm shower to wash away the smell of effort and tossed my dirty clothes into my basket. Today was laundry day, my precious day off from two fronts of income generation. This was my day off and I intended to be productive.

    Thankfully, my apartment complex offers an on-site laundromat, less than a 2 minute stroll from my unit. I loaded my clothes into the wash, set my timer for 50 minutes, and headed back. As soon as I reached the bottom of the steps, slowly climbing, my mind, normally a fortress of strategic and practical thought, was surprisingly blank. Then, it hit me as though lighting struck,:

    ‘Holy crap, it’s already July 1st, the beginning of a new month… 2025 is almost over…’

    My mind was slowly processing this thought, as I ascended the stairs back to my studio. Once I returned to the safety of my living space, it dawned on me; this is the perfect opportunity. A chance to reflect on the battles I’d engaged in and won(or lost) so far this year, and the most strategic place to document it is here on my blog. This blog, this project, that I’ve talked about starting for years, was now real and a tangible fortress I’d begun building. And I’ve been fortifying it brick by deliberate brick.

    Let’s Pause, Reflect, and Dominate!

    How often have you heard someone say, or heard yourself lament, “where did the time go? Another year is almost over!” And then, the polite (or perhaps subtly condescending) inquiry, “have you met any of your New Year’s resolutions yet?” The “New Year, New Me” mentality is a common recurring trend.

    Whether you kept to your goals or abandoned them because life got in the way, that’s okay! Stepping back to gauge where you currently are in your life isn’t about casting judgement; it’s about gathering intelligence. Reflection is a crucial reconnaissance mission: to chart how far you’ve advanced this year, to discern what shifted or remained stagnant, and, most importantly, to extract lessons from your progress, no matter how insignificant, to project victory within the remaining months ahead. This is NOT an option.

    That is the premise behind “Stratagem’s Archive”; my objectives were to dissect my own campaigns: what I’ve deployed, what fascinated me, my strategic objectives, how I execute each idea, and the tangible results of taking decisive action. Here, I reveal the tactic I’ve tested, how I’ve course-corrected, and the necessary adjustments made to maintain momentum despite changes in the battlefield. Even mere thought experiments are crucial for priming the mind for future opportunities.

    Instead of chalking 2025 as another year of time flying by or wondering what you did this year, let’s take a moment to think over a few questions. Some might be simple, others could reveal uncomfortable truths, because, ‘nothing’, is the typical default answer. Let’s begin planning, strategizing, and constructing our own empire one goal, one brick, and one step at a time.

    The Questions Begin Here: YOU Are Here:

    In the last 6-months of 2025, here are a small list of questions to mull over:

    • What’s changed in your personal domain?: Your relationships, habits, health, or finances?
    • What’s changed in your professional sphere?: Your job, career trajectory, projects seized or surrendered, roles mastered, skills mastered and deployed?
    • Regarding your objectives: Which have stalled? Which were rightly abandoned because they were never your battles to fight? Which goals transformed entirely?
    • What constants remained in your life? Your core values and priorities? Any daily routines, both that served you and sabotaged you?
    • What persistent challenges, or which areas demand immediate, undivided attention?
    • Which aspirations remained unwavering?
    • What were your greatest victories, monumental or minute? Acknowledge them, celebrate them.
    • What were the unexpected challenges or strategic detours? What did they force you to learn?
    • What habits or practices served as powerful allies on your journey?
    • What habits or practices proved to be liabilities, holding you back from conquest?

    A Ruthless Self-Reflection

    “Looking back, what’s one thing that you are proud of the most of, and what’s something you could have approached differently?”

    Self-reflection is not a gentle act; it is a brutal, necessary assessment. It is the individual’s imperative to retrace their personal timeline, to identify moments of strength and precision, and to pinpoint where tactics could have been superior. Some people, in their pathetic weakness, weaponize self-reflection to shame others, failing to practice the very discipline they preach. We are not them. We are here to claim our gains and to extract every possible lesson from the trials of the past.

    The prompts above are merely catalysts for your mind to begin its strategic dissection. Countless resources exist – on the internet, in texts, through insightful individuals – if you possess the cunning to seek them out. It demands profound inner strength to gaze upon your past self, your words, and your actions, and to maintain that gaze when the easy path is to recoil in shame, blame, or guilt. Your willingness to engage in this means that a profound shift has occurred within you – a shift you may not have yet the words for. It demands to be acknowledged, flaws and all, because it finally commands a portion of your attention. And it knows you need its guidance to comprehend what has truly changed and what your next move must be.

    The following prompts further insights, designed to converge disparate ideas and unveil something previously inconceivable—something insightful, enlightening, something uniquely yours. It originated from within you; now you have to give it a voice. It is ready to be shard with you, its creator. Document your answers in a journal, a notes app, or an audio recording. This is your historical record, a tangible marker of, ‘this is what I once believed and thought’ versus ‘I no longer wholly agree; something has transformed, and here is what it is.’

    • What was your biggest victory in the first half of 2025?
    • What’s one habit that you will cultivate or ruthlessly eliminate?
    • What’s one area of your life do you want to be more intentional, more dominant?
    • What’s one thing that surprised you the most?

    Engagement: Share Your Intelligence

    Through your period of reflection and assessment, what small insight have you gleaned? Or, what single word would you use to describe the first half of the year for you? Share your intelligence in the comments below.

    We Still Have Time Before 2026 Arrives People!

    Do you comprehend the absurdity of hearing individuals declare, ‘it’s too late to achieve their New Year’s resolutions,’ when only a month or three has passed? Six months into the year, however, presents a significant chasm from January. Yet, consider the undeniable truth: 2025, like all other years, still contains an immense window of opportunity before its official end. While it may be July 1st, at the time of this writing, this year is far from over.

    It’s like being on a malfunctioning escalator and calling for rescue. The escalator may have ceased its ascent, but you are not stuck. It has simply transformed into stairs, and it is time to activate those legs and climb!

    • Look over your original (year long) goals? Are they still relevant? Do they need adjusting based on your review?
    • Break down your larger goals; how might they be broken up to fit into a 3-month and 6-month actionable steps?
    • Remember: focus on the 1-3 areas that you want to work on for the rest of the year. Any progress, despite the length and duration it’s been cultivated, can show more than simply saying you won’t make any.

    Let’s say for example that you want to focus on your health and well-being. How would you be able to group this together? Could we posit that we could group exercise, nutrition, and sleep together? For example: could you take a walk for 5-10 minutes, eat 1 fruit a day, and sleep 10 minutes earlier? Starting small gives you a foundation to build upon until you are able to increase the amount of healthy habits and it becomes an automatic practice, not a punishment.

    This idea can be thought of the same way with other activities and goals: learning new skills, a new language, entering a new industry, pursuing a relationship or repairing one, the possibilities are endless! However, given that we all have so much attention throughout the day, giving your attention to a small amount of projects would help keep you focused and delay feeling overwhelmed. Give it a try and see what happens when you dedicate your attention to 1-3 projects than 3+ projects with the amount of time we have left in this year.

    In order to reinforce these habits and practices to become automatic, set up a monthly or bimonthly review to see how much progress you’ve made so far. It gives you a sense that you made strides from who you were to who you are now and consistent effort and reflection keeps you accountable. It gives you a sense of being responsible for yourself and your actions to keep making progress. The biggest thing here is to remember; plans are guidelines, not strict rules. Plans can be adjusted when known and unknown variables shift, when life gets in the way, and something isn’t working anymore. Being flexible with your goals is just as valuable as it would be for professional pursuits.

    What Are You Willing to Do Now?

    Given how quickly time has flown and we’re already beginning the month of July, I had given myself time to reflect on my own accomplishments, lessons, and goals so far. For instance, my biggest wins I’ve had so far this year were: moving out of my family’s home and living on my own. I wanted to know what it was like to live on my own and be responsible for myself, not because I was kicked out or I wasn’t happy at home. I’ve grown to become reliant on myself, evaluating my interests and values and priorities and relationships in my own environment had been eye opening. It got to the point where I’ve had to say goodbye to relationships and hobbies that were no longer mutually respectful between myself and those I was friends with.

    The main lesson I’ve learned came from making financial choices without thinking things through and without doing the math. I’ve accumulated over $5,000 in credit card debt with rent, expenses, recurring programs, and a paid program to help me find my dream job. They’ve compounded and I still had the mentality that I was still living at home with little consequence and thought and my credit card has an APR of 25.26%. That’s huge for someone in a low income bracket, but that was my choice.

    Prior to moving out, I also took out a $13,000 personal loan with an 8.70% interest rate to help pay down a different credit card that had a $7,000 balance on it for car repairs I couldn’t pay upfront. The 19% APR was killing me and I despise being in debt, so a personal loan made sense living at home, but not so much living on your own. I took it upon myself to work a full time job and a part time job to aggressively pay down my debts. My goal is to avalanche the most funds towards my $5,000 balance first because of the APR, then allocate those funds to pay off my personal loan. By doing the math, I’ve projected that I’ll be able to aggressively pay off my credit card by the beginning of November to the end of December, 2025.

    As soon as I’m able to deal with my credit card, I’ll focus on my personal loan and use the same aggressive approach. I’ve projected that I’ll be able to pay this off, even with a small interest rate and monthly payments, by next year June-July. Working two jobs, eating poorly or nothing after a certain time, and getting very little sleep during my work week is the price I’m paying to get out of my debt. I could use those freed up funds to invest more into my Roth account, build up a bigger emergency fund, and have money to spend guilt free each month. I’m much more conscious of my spending and I’m doing what I can to make sure I won’t make the same financial mistakes again. I’ll be much more prepared next time with the funds ready to be deployed than needing to borrow again.

    Finally, the area of my life that I want to be more intentional in are with my friendships. I briefly mentioned that I’ve had to say goodbye to friendships that were no longer mutually aligned and weren’t supporting both parties involved. I’ve learned what my values and boundaries are and they had been repeatedly violated when I clearly stated something was not okay or I wasn’t available then made myself available to make other people happy and myself miserable. It was a matter of when to move on and I chose to let go this year then let things continue the course it was on.

    I’m currently debating with myself about handling a decade long friendship. I don’t see myself being valued or included into my friend’s life anymore, so

    I’ve been reflecting about what to do next; the two of us are on different life paths, we don’t have much in common anymore from when we were two broke college kids, I felt unheard when I expressed my needs and values and how it felt being around my friend and his girlfriend. I adore his girlfriend, but she’s not responsible for my friend’s actions, or lack thereof, and I’ve expressed that she shouldn’t take away my friend’s autonomy to communicate with me on his own terms. I want to have an adult conversation, but that isn’t going to be happening anytime soon.

    I’ve shared my thoughts, set my boundaries, and I’ve just been distancing myself from this friend. I had shared that I am busy with work and I’ll get back to either of them when I’m available, but I’m not ready to have that conversation yet. If I don’t then, I could regret it for the rest of my life. If I don’t then, then I better prepare myself to lose something and someone I held with high regard. Right now, I just see the shell of the people we used to be and our dynamics has grown in different directions, it’s one sided and not sustainable anymore. But that is my problem to face, so that will be a conversation for another time.

    Wrap It Up Here, P2A.

    In conclusion, keep these reflections and plans in mind, they can help with whatever you are pursuing or with what you want to pursue. It’s almost like what Tow Mater from “Cars” told Lightning McQueen about his ability to drive in reverse without crashing; “I don’t need to see where I’m going; I just need to know where I’ve been.” If you don’t know where you’ve been, then how can you know where you’re going? Food for thought. Thank you for taking the time to read this long one, and I’ll see you in another one!

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  • How I’d Spend $1 Billion in 24 Hours (A Personal Thought Experiment).

    Financial Freedom On A Timer:

    “If, one day, you wake up and suddenly find someone standing in your sleeping quarters, hand outstretched, and you see an intricately beautiful heavy platinum black card, what would you do?

    Most likely you’d go back and forth between feeling confused to needing to deal with a potential threat in your home, right? Even if the situation is strange and the stranger in your space hasn’t presented themselves as hostile.

    So, let’s say for the sake of argument, that you remained calm; you’re looking at the card in the stranger’s hand, then up to the stranger’s face. In a calm and even tone the stranger, gesturing to the card, says, “In this card rests 1 Billion dollars ready to be used without delay.

    The only conditions you have to meet are two: 1)You have 24 hours, upon accepting this card, to use the whole 1 Billion dollars in that time frame; and 2) You are not allowed to purchase any of the same item twice.

    Should you fail to fulfill these requirements, everything you had purchased will be revoked and you will be left with nothing. Do you accept?”

    If I were to find myself in this situation, truthfully, I would jump at the challenge to see what I would do with 1 Billion dollars.

    Why would I call this a challenge? Let’s consider a few points: 1) you were told that you literally have 24 hours to spend this money should you accept the card; 2) every purchase will be revoked, taken back, should you fail to spend the entire amount or purchase the same item twice; and 3) I personally struggle to imagine what 1 Billion dollars could look like in real life! I’ve only ever seen over $15,000 at once, in one point in my life. So, excuse me for not having the cognitive bandwidth to see 1,000,000,000 in my mind’s eye.

    Anyways, that is the challenge set before you; what would you do if you were presented with this opportunity? I know that I would take this chance, so, to give you an idea to think about your own choices, I’ll share with you what I would do in this situation.

    Starting From Home:

    Immediately, once that platinum card is in my hand, I’ll set a timer for 24 hours on the dot, then begin the ‘1 Billion Dollar Challenge.’ I would start at home with my immediate family:

    I’d retire my parents early, giving them 3 million dollars each, then my uncle 3 million to do as he pleases with, and I’d give a budget of 2 million dollars to renovate my grandma’s home; level her property, add extra security, dump and sort through all of the stuff being hoarded in the patio, and become an eco friendly home.

    Extending outward towards other family would be on my mom’s side of the family: I’d give 1 million dollars to my aunties, 3 million to my other grandma so she can finally put herself first after all these years. Then I’d hire a financial institution for $10 million to educate my younger cousins about financial literacy and competency.

    Maybe reach out to the folks at ‘I Will Teach You To Be Rich’, regardless if my cousins are over 18 or under, I want them to be smarter, competent, and confident with their finances. They’d be capable of taking care of themselves financially, while I’d put 1 million dollars in a trust fund for each of them, even as adults, because I’d want them to rely on themselves and learn than splurge and curse me out for not gifting them more money.

    Expanding Outwards:

    After taking care of my immediate and very close extended family, I’d turn my attention to donating 1 million dollars to every library in the state. All of them. My dad took me to read and borrow books as a kid and I still enjoy libraries and book stores as an adult.

    Libraries are very valuable, as it is a public and free resource to people who might not have access to the internet or printing services. Books are also valuable, in my opinion, because you can learn from other people without having to have met them in person. Gain their insights and the lessons they learned throughout the years and be able to read it whenever you want.

    Next I would branch out to other outreach programs: 1 million dollars each to the 4 main food banks, 1 million dollars to the Blood Bank, 1 million dollars each to the 5 major affordable housing projects in the state, 20 million dollars split between The American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Hazards Awareness and Resilience Program, and every other natural disaster relief programs.

    Though I’d use up to 10 million dollars in a great lawyer firm to ensure these funds are being used for as is intended than potentially pocketed by someone on the inside.

    What About Education?

    That is a great question! Education is important, though I am a little biased when it comes to the means of learning. However, one thing that I can understand is tackling debt, any of it. In the state, the student loan debts exceeds 4.7 Billion dollars, WAY more than the allotted amount, but the thing I would do is donate 2 million dollars to pay off the current graduating class’s debt across our universities and community colleges.

    1 million would be used for scholarship programs for the next class pursuing higher education, and 1 million dollars to update and improve the current programs and clubs available in the school systems.

    Not just with higher education, but education in general. From pre-school to high school, some kids might not have the means to attend class or have the necessary supplies they need, and I’m a sucker for art and writing supplies. I’d donate 10 million dollars split across all the schools in the state, from every pre-school, elementary school, intermediate school, and high school too.

    Enough to get the kids what they need and to help parents support their children as well. A little help goes a long way, but I would also likely donate 10 million dollars to the Board of Education, with the help of a great lawyer firm, to update the school’s curriculum, like really?

    Schools need to be, not only better equipped, but need to practice what they preach too than just preaching their lessons without real substance behind them. But I digress.

    Are We At 1 Billion Yet?

    Okay, so given everything that I put down thus far, let’s see how close I am to hitting 1 Billion dollars. PLEASE, DO NOT FEAR NUMBERS! NUMBERS ARE HELPFUL BY SHOWING YOU WHERE YOU’VE GONE AND BY HOW MUCH!!! Anyways, let’s do some quick calculations:

    • 3 million * 2 (both parents) = 6 million.
    • 3 million * 1 (uncle) = 3 million.
    • 2 million to renovate grandma’s house.
    • 1 million * 3 (aunties) = 3 million.
    • 3 million * 1 (other grandma) = 3 million.
    • 1 million * 10 (cousins) trust fund= 10 million.
    • 10 million towards financial education
    • 1 million * 51 (libraries) = 51 million
    • 1 million * 4 (food banks) = 4 million
    • 1 million towards Blood Bank
    • Split 5 million across 5 housing projects
    • 20 million to HHARP
    • 10 million towards great lawyer firm
    • 2 million towards student loan debts
    • 1 million for scholarship programs
    • 1 million to update school curriculum

    Did I scare anyone away from all of the numbers yet? No? Okay, good, let’s keep going. So, with what I currently have listed above, I would end up with… let me grab my calculator real quick… if I input the numbers correctly, then I would have used $132,000,000. $1,000,000,000 – $132,000,000 =$868,000,000. That would mean that I would have 868 million dollars leftover to use…

    Man, did I grossly underestimate how much I would allocate money towards each program. These numbers are imaginary to me, even if this is a thought experiment. Guess I have to think harder about what else I could use the money on, huh?

    What To Do With The Remainder?

    I thought long and hard for what to do with the remaining 868 million dollars and, let me tell you, it wasn’t easy coming up with ideas of where to allocate funds towards.

    It was a constant back and forth between increasing funds in the list above or looking up other obscure charities or something. Then it hit me; where else could the money be used?

    And I came up with more places to donate money towards, so please bear with me and another list. Here are the other places I had thought of and we’re going to jump straight into bullet points:

    • 2 million towards my part-time job.
    • 2 million towards a BJJ academy I attended.
    • 2 million towards WEBToons content creators. (I WANT A LOT OF STORIES I THOROUGHLY ENJOY TO KEEP GOING!!!)
    • 2 million to a text based game company called Choice of Games LLC, Hosted Games LLC, and Hearts Choice LLC. (Soon I’ll learn to use their code to make my own game!)
    • 360 million towards improving the state’s infrastructure: roads, bridges, etc. (Road work SUCKS here and needs to get fixed NOW.)
    • 50 million to St. Jude’s children’s hospital.
    • 50 million towards cyber security programs for myself and my family for online and in-person privacy and safety. (DeleteMe, NordVPN, etc)
    • 10 million each to the hospitals across the state.
    • 70 million to hospice and elderly care.
    • 50 million to Alzheimer’s and Dementia research and treatments.
    • 150 million towards outreach programs for other countries in need of food, water, shelter, basic necessities, and to rebuild their lives from the ground up.
    • 50 million towards the cultural centers, history and art museums, memorials, etc.
    • 50 million towards native programs.
    • 6 million to the Humane Society and animal sanctuaries.

    So, let’s run the numbers again and see where I’m at. Time to pull out the calculator! With everything totaled up above at the ‘What To Do With The Remainder?’ Header, it’s going to come out to $867,000,000.

    So $868,000,000 minus $867,000,000 equals to $1,000,000 leftover. I’d say this is looking pretty good, but what about the remaining $1 million you ask?

    It’s pretty simple, especially if you had put yourself last for as long as you can remember. However, in my opinion, it’s easier to know what to do with any crazy amount of money when working backwards.

    Now The 1 Million Dollar Question:

    Given that we hadn’t accounted the 24 hour time frame, that’s okay, we can put that on the side for arguments sake.

    Let’s turn to the, now, $1,000,000 question and what to do with it. I’d say that I would use it for myself and I already know what I would want to do with it, so, below will be my list:

    • Invest $4,750 towards my contributions for 2025.
    • $600 towards a disc and digital PS5 with the disc games: Bloodborne, Elden Ring, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and whatever else I’d like to play.
    • $900 towards 3 travel size WiFi router with an encrypted VPN installed for myself and gift my parents. (Spitballing for quality and quantity.)
    • $100,000 towards a 2023-2024 Honda Hatchback Civic Sport, fully paid off, with tinted windows, an adjustable backseat to sleep fully stretched out than scrunched up, with a small collapsible fan, and front and rear dash cams.
    • $100,000 to my Dad to get him a new car, fully paid off, of his choosing and retire his Corolla and the Dart I have.
    • Put $300,000 into my High Yield Savings Account.
    • $300,000 into my 401K if I could put in post tax money. If not, then I’ll open an HSA or something akin to it.
    • $13,750 towards fixing my health, teeth, vision, sleep, nutrition, and overall well being.
    • $20,000 towards improving my wardrobe and clothes. Maybe even work with Cassandra Sethi from Next Level Wardrobe.
    • $1,000 towards getting a new IPad with all of my learning app subscriptions on, including this WordPress app, a stylus, and a drawing program for drawing, making stickers, etc.
    • $3,000 towards solar powered batteries and chargers, USB cords, for home and for my car, 1 case of canned goods, 1 case of potable water, 5 one gallon of varying brands of alkaline water, a propane stove, and varying brands of small propane tanks for potential storms and blackouts.
    • Give $16,000 to the small community I’m currently living in to give back to a closer cause.
    • $300 for the Daily Stoic’s 8 medallion bundle.
    • $39,700 towards updating my bed, desk, chair, portable home gym, and creating my personal portable “villain’s lair in plain sight’ aesthetic I always wanted.
    • $5,000 each to support the works of those I personally follow, but couldn’t do so before: The Bioneer, Jaxblade, HistoryByMae, Tales from the Stinky Dragon, Alayna Joy, Kevin Zhang, Einzelganger, The Daily Stoic, MindValley, and The School of Life.
    • $25,000 to someone who could help me improve my own skill set: writing, WordPress, fitness, nutrition, business, art, and whatever else could help me broaden and bridge my own skills and knowledge gap.
    • $12,000 to pay towards my debts
    • $1,000 budget to buy groceries and necessities for the month.
    • $5,000 for my dogs to have durable and warm beds, replace their kennels to be able to withstand rain and wind and heat, and give them better quality dog food.
    • $5,000 to support my cousin’s local pet store.
    • $1,000 into my ‘use this’ savings.
    • $1,000 to take my family out to a nice dinner. Maybe Red Lobster or Cheesecake Factory, while using the remainder to use as a tip.

    Pretty much, with the last 1 million dollars, this is how I would split the money up. Even though I gave money to other people, it’s still my choice, and there are debts that I would like to pay back and this is how I would want to do it.

    What Was The Point Of This?

    That is another excellent question, thank you for asking it! The reason this whole article came to be was because I had seen a video on YouTube called, “COULD YOU SPEND $1 BILLION IN 24 HOURS” by Alux.com and it gave me something to think about.

    I had encountered this first from Ramit Sethi’s ‘I Will Teach You To Be Rich Journal’ where the questions asked, ‘what would you do if you came into a windfall of $1,000’? Of $100,000? Although, $1 Billion was a more exciting and challenging number to think over than $100,000, don’t you think?

    The possibilities at your fingertips, the creativity that could spawn if you stopped and gave things some thought than none eat all, can be very enlightening. Enlightening how?

    You see, everything above had been a culmination of days, maybe even weeks, of ruminating, drafting, figuring out what I value, and it was a struggle when I got my family taken cared of first.

    This thought experiment can show you what you value and in what order of importance you’d put them in. I’m not saying that you should put yourself down for prioritizing some things and people over others, no one is wrong unless what you value does harm to other people.

    Then that can be harshly judged, but, again, I digress and I’m biased. Personally, this was easier for me to work backwards anyways and I know that I wouldn’t need or want too much stuff anyways.

    I know what I like: video games, comics, books ranging from finances, philosophy, psychology, fitness, and high fantasy (which I still have a huge backlog to get through)even books that push me to think about the other side of the argument, pens, notebooks, stickers, mechanical pencils, colored pencils, listening to music, taking a walk around the block, supporting those who supported me, being supportive in general, having my own space and privacy and autonomy in person and online, and accessories from games, and I make sure that I’m building up an emergency fund, investing in my retirement.

    The point here is that giving something like this some thought not only shows you what your values are, it presents an opportunity to start planning. To think about the building a solid foundation, an actionable plan, to ensure that these ideas can become reality than simple wishful thinking.

    For example, if I wanted to take my family out to eat at a decent restaurant, then I’d have to plan out how much money I’d like to accumulate, how long it would take to build up if I put aside $50 per paycheck, and then set up a reservation somewhere where everyone is off from work and able to hang out.

    If I wanted to support the Blood Bank, then I’d see where the closest donation center would be and give blood once or twice a year; If I wanted to support the libraries and book foundations, just like with the family dinner example, I could volunteer my time or donate money to help keep the place running however I could with my current salary.

    You start with where you currently are and can start to ask yourself questions, like; ‘if I could do this for longer and contribute more, then what could I do to increase my [volunteering time, donations, etc.]? What could I do now that would get me closer to X and Y?

    I had started a “charity envelope” where I would put in $20/biweekly or per month, if I could spare it, so I could eventually choose where to donate it to.

    No small thing is ever inconsequential as they eventually lead up to bigger things. Give this thought experiment a try! If $1 billion is too much then work backwards to move forwards:

    • What if I came into an extra $100? What would I do with that money and how could I earn this?
    • What about $1,000?
    • $5,000 cash windfall?
    • $10,000 is in your possession?
    • $100,000? $1,000,000? Until you reach $1 billion in real life?

    While we might not have 24 hours to burn through whatever money we earn or gain, it’s all about perspective, planning, adjusting, and taking action because we will never know where life will take us or how it’ll end. But if we never gave something a try, then the answer will be an elusive and could crushing, “I wish I had done X or gave Y a shot when I had the chance. So, take that chance now while you still can. Who knows where things could lead, when, and how. Thank you so much for reading! Stay tuned for the next one.

    If You Made It To The End

    If this post gave you something to think about, feel free to quietly like, share, or subscribe to the Archives. No pressure—your presence matters, and even a tiny wave is warmly welcomed.

    Tiny Wave

    Other Money Related Posts

  • The Courage to Start: Doing Something Uncomfortable Before It’s Too Late

    Welcome — However You Found Your Way Here

    Why Starting Feels Uncomfortable (and Why That’s Okay)

    When I first thought about starting my blog, discomfort wasn’t just a passing feeling—it was a weight. Thoughts swirled in my head:

    “You’re falling behind in life.” “You’re stuck in jobs that only keep you afloat.” “Why aren’t you building something of your own?”

    That spiral came from something as small as reading a chapter of The Opposite of Spoiled by Ron Lieber. Suddenly, I was face-to-face with questions I had avoided for years.

    Life in the Grind: Between Gratitude and Restlessness

    I’ve been lucky in many ways:

    • I live on my own in a small studio.
    • I have steady full-time work with benefits.
    • I pick up part-time hours on top of that.
    • I see family often, and I’m not alone.

    But I also know the grind: 3AM alarms, long commutes, and sitting in traffic wondering if this is all my life will be. I should be grateful (and I am), but envy and restlessness creep in. I want more—more peace, more freedom, more of a life that feels like mine.

    Why I Finally Chose to Write

    I knew I couldn’t keep waiting for the “perfect time.” If I didn’t start now, I might never start at all. A blog felt like:

    A break in my exhausting routine. A way to sharpen my voice and courage. Proof that clumsy and done is better than perfect and never begun.

    This space isn’t about being polished—it’s about being present, learning, and creating even when it feels uncomfortable.

    The Dragon We All Face

    Many of us wrestle with that question: “Am I doing enough?” The truth is, it’s never comfortable to face it. But discomfort is a sign of movement, of growth, of slaying the small dragons that keep us from even trying.

    I don’t have the answers yet. But I know this: starting, no matter how small, is already a victory.

    A Note to Fellow Archivists

    If you’ve found your way here—whether in the early morning hours, on a restless night, or during a pause in your own journey—know this space is for you too. This little archive is a safe place to reflect on your path, even if it doesn’t fit neatly into life’s expectations.

    If something here resonates, I’d love to hear your thoughts. And if you’d like to walk alongside me, subscribing means you’ll also get my Letters from the Void—personal reflections and early glimpses of projects I’m building behind the scenes. And a copy of The Stratagem’s Manifesto as a thank you gift from me to you for subscribing.

    Because sometimes, finding each other in the noise is proof that we’re not as alone as we thought.

    Other Articles

    If you’d like to explore more about doing things even though you’re not ready to comfortable to, I have other articles below too check out:

    Gifts From The Archives