Owning Furniture Does Not Make You an Adult

New Furniture is a waste of money.

If you can answer any of these questions with "Yes" then don't buy new furniture.
-"Do I live in an apartment?"
-"Do I want to move in the next 2 - 5 years?"
-"Am I single?"
-"Do I define myself by things other than what I own?"
-"Do I have less than $25,000 in the bank?"
-"Do I enjoy traveling, drinking alcohol, or generally being fun?"

Get your furniture cheap and used. Until you own a house or own an apartment furniture is just a depreciating asset. Don't ever finance furniture. It's a depreciating asset. It offers you no return on your investment. I was able to get the majority of my furniture off of Craigslist for very little money. I've also been fortunate to have a roommate who owned furniture so I didn't have to go out and buy it. Furniture says nothing about you unless it is antique or you built it yourself. If you do have a chance to purchase furniture that will appreciate in value, this could be a long term, albeit boring, investment.

Guard your Grill

Congratulations if you own a grill (the one you wear in your mouth). This is an incredible waste of money but I'm sure the amount of respect you command on the mean streets of your high school hallways was worth the purchase. I'm talking about the other kind of grill.

Guard what you say about others.
This may seem like common sense on the surface but it's one of the easiest bits of advice to ignore. High school, your sports teams, work - all of these places are filled with people with big egos and bigger mouths. You probably can think of several people off the top of your head you do not like and enjoying talking negatively about. You need to fight the urge to get caught up in the gossip game.

Don't get caught up in the gossip game.
It's enticing to want to talk poorly about people you don't like. However, you will quickly lose the respect of your peers and all that doo doo (what?) you talked will come back around to haunt you. It is guaranteed if you share your low opinion of someone to someone else, they will go blabbing all over the school. This will quickly catch up to you, leading to social problems in the most brutal social scene of all - high school. If you have a problem with someone, just tell it to their face.

Don't trust anyone in your social circle.
Besides your absolute best friends, and in high school even they are not a guarantee, trust no one in your social circle in high school. Teenagers will constantly sell each other out just for their own benefit of advancement up the social ladder. If you have a secret you don't want anyone to know, you better not tell anyone. In high school, you are at the point of brain development where you are entirely egocentric - the world revolves around you. (Wikipedia this). This means people will do whatever necessary to benefit themselves first, neglecting all other consequences. I had almost every good friend turn on me at one point in high school. This made me question what "good friend" means. Some of those people remain my good friends today. Notice I said almost, that means that a few stayed loyal. Some people are just cut from a better cloth. If you find friends like this, make sure you keep them on your side.

Listen first, speak only when necessary.
You'll begin to notice that the elite of the popular crowds do not run their mouths. They tend to be very guarded with who they trust and what they say. They also tend to be very guarded with how much they talk. This is because these people have learned to be self disciplined. Think of your words as currency. The more you flood the market with currency, the less value it has. If you take the approach of being a listener and speak only when you have intelligent and thought out words to add, your reputation will quickly grow. People will see you as someone they can trust. This is a very good thing.

Keep secrets.
Besides your own secrets, you will learn many secrets throughout high school if you know how to listen. Drunk kids at parties, people with less self-control, stoners, emotional girls, all are great sources of information. Once your reputation has grown, more people will trust you with more information. Keep this information guarded. Information is power and leverage. Once you have enough of it, you can command a lot of control over people. The popular crowd tends to engage in activities that are often illegal and immoral. Information about drugs, money, sex, abortions, thefts, steriods, cheating, etc will be entrusted to you. Use this to your advantage when necessary. Just remember, all those people who like to talk trash about other people to you are probably saying the same things about you behind your back. It's just the nature of the beast in high school.

Your Threads

Congrats if the word "threads" means something to you.

Clothes make the man right?... Actually yes. But not the ones you think. I believe that every article of clothing you wear should make some kind of statement about you. Guess what - that Abercrombie Beach Volleyball Team shirt does not say dick about you. Unless you play for the actual A&F beach volleyball team, don't wear this ridiculously pompous piece of crap shirt. It sucks. It says nothing about you and chances are it probably smells bad from all that A&F crap cologne anyway.

If you snowboard, get snowboard shirts. If you play lacrosse or football, represent your favorite teams or wear shirts that say you do these things. If you like music, wear your band's t-shirts. If you suck a life, get a shirt that says “I Love Emo.”

Wear clothes that make people stop and look at them. Find a brand most people don't know about and wear it. A good example is Vestal Watches or Utopia Optics. They make sweet gear for extreme athletes.

Wear clothes that make people laugh or question themselves. Political shirts, funny shirts, and intelligent shirts will start conversation and get you noticed. Check out BustedTees.com. Those Hollister Polo Shirts will be outdated in a year, trust me. Certain brands scream I AM IN HIGHSCHOOL!!! You will not wear these very long. A&F, Hollister, American Eagle etc are all like this.

Your First Party - Part III

So the night is going well.

Party games.
Learn to play beer pong, flip cup, and some card games before you show up. They'll help you meet and connect with people which will make you have fun.

Don't overdo it.
You can not socially afford to throw up or black out. Let others over-drink for you. There can be a time and place to get crazy, but this is not that time. You are not ready yet! If you are the guy who ruins Suzy Swanson's dress with your vomit, everyone will know it Monday morning. If you break Johhny Football Star's leg when you fall on him, you will get slapped with a lawsuit! If you burn down Jimmy Rich Kid's vintage-sports-car-filled garage - you will go to jail! And Jimmy will not invite you back to his parties. D'oh!

Your First Party - Part II

You are what you drink.
It may be tempting to reach into that cooler and grab a tall frosty Mike's Hard Lemonade. But then again, if Mike's Hard Lemonade is tempting you, then maybe so is slapping Johnny Football Star's ass. The point is, Smirnoff Ice, Mike's, Zima, all these are girl drinks. Don't touch them. Men drink beer. When there is no beer, Men drink Scotch. When the scotch is gone, Men go hunting and pillaging for more beer and scotch. End. Of. Story. No flavored 70 proof "peaches and cream" vodka should ever touch your lips. It's proven to decrease testosterone and semen while leading to feelings of rejection and the desire to talk without making sense. Oh my God! So that's why girls act the way they do when they are drunk!

Your Party Outfit
First of all, if you are calling it your "outfit" you have more problems than deciding what kind of beer to drink. Your clothes say a lot about you, but not nearly as much as marketing majors at Calvin Klein actually want you to think. Instead of investing a lot of money in clothes, invest that money in your body. Ever notice that the models wearing the clothes could make a homeless Mexican's sombrero and siesta blanket look good? You can make a simple tee-shirt look incredible if you are in good shape. No need to go buy a $300 D&G cashmere sweater so Suzy Swanson hooks up with you. Buy a shirt that says something about you! Go To The Gym! Then drink beer and scotch. Then watch hair sprout from your chest!

The return

I took some time off to catch up on career moves.
I'll return with a quick "What I'm listening to"

check out:

Lil Wayne Feat Eminem - Drop the World

A car (part 2)

Part 2 - Your post college years.

When you graduate - you may be tempted to go buy or lease an expensive car.

Don't do this.

Several reasons.

1.) Having a car ties you down. When you are young (22-39), you will want to be able to pick up and move around at any time. Your friends will move around. You may meet different girls in different cities. Owning an expensive car will lock you into debt and will be hard to sell.

2.) After college, girls care less about cars and more about where you live and what you do. Most girls you meet will be successful and not as impressed by a flashy car just yet. Unless its very flashy (ie porsche, ferrari, etc), and then you probably don't need to read this blog anyway.

3.) When you are 22 - 28, you have to start saving for a house and retirement. If you don't understand the concept of compounding interest, then google it and understand that is where you make all your savings work. Don't throw money at an expensive car. Not yet. Wait until your budget is settled. Things can change dramatically when you are young.

4.) Freedom. Pure and simple, the less bills you have, the more freedom you have and you can move around and enjoy life more. You can change careers or take time off for extended months.

5.) Buy a car you can pay off in 3 years. That means you are looking for something around $14 - 16,000.