I’m sure it could be explained away as the workings of my subjective mind. Just my imagination. But it sure seems like my luck is better when I have money in the bank, ready money, cash on hand — as opposed to living paycheck to paycheck.
I don’t just mean that having ready cash allows me to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves (“luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”, as Seneca the Younger tells us). I mean that I actually seem to be more unlucky in the sense that bad things happen when I don’t have much money in the bank, but somehow those bad things seem less likely when I do have, say, at least $1,000 in an emergency savings account.
Take, for instance, a car repair. The sort of thing that I can’t do myself.
At times when I haven’t had any money in my savings account and was spending everything that was coming in for rent, food, gas, and the other essentials … that’s when my car wouldn’t start one day and after getting it towed to the garage I’d hear that it needed over 1,000 dollar’s worth of repairs to make it go again.
But, if I’ve got plenty of money in my savings account (I mean, at the same credit union where I keep my checking account — not my retirement savings) and I find money left over each month after I pay all the bills … if the car won’t start then … the news from the garage is that the car only needs some $100 part and it will be good as new. And that’s when I’m glad that I have all the money for any repair that might be needed.
It’s as if Fortuna smiles on me if I’ve saved money for those emergencies, but she punishes me when I have nothing saved.
At other times when I’m working on some DIY project, some lucky thing happens and the whole things ends up costing less than I had expected. Like going to the store and getting something for free for filling out a credit card application. Or, after seeing you working around your house, your neighbor offers you something for free.
Again, Fortuna smiles on me when I work for myself (and pay myself, instead of paying someone else).
Well, it sure seems that’s the way it works.
Those Who Act Are Favored by The Goddess of Good Luck.
The song:
