Good morning.
Last night I went through all of my Fiat debt and Bitcoin holdings. I'm absolutely embarrassed by the Fiat debt. It's astronomical for me.
However...
At least now I can see the reality and the numbers. Regardless of what "others are doing" it's my trap that I've entered and now I recognize my slavery for what it is.
So...
I make it part of my spiritual journey to liberate myself from this slavery. The tools are available and I have the freedom to use them.
The Good News...
I had already figured out how to use GnuCash to track my Bitcoin and I'm glad that I revisited this in combination with my Fiat usury. I've learned that at my current holdings I would have to hope for a Bitcoin buying power of $1,000,000 just to break even! That means that in today's USD buying power I would hope that doesn't change but it will. They will increase the supply of USD.
So my debt is USD defined and my current earnings are in USD which my earnings have to pay for current and future USD prices.
Interest rates, inflation and taxes will increase. My Bitcoin will also increase in buying power but it currently will not outpace my debt. I have to increase my stacking and I have to increase my paying off of my Fiat debt.
Using GnuCash I was PLEASED to see that It actually can be done! I can budget. I can see the data and I can respect my earnings instead of pissing them away and hoping for a miracle.
I'm able to work. I'm able to work faster than the value of my debts and the increased price of Bitcoin. This means I must cultivate my Bitcoin and earnestly reduce my Fiat debt... Totally possible.
I'm hearing people say that a "speculative attack using Fiat debt" is possible. You're fooling yourself. You are not that smart. I've already been there and if I wasn't FIAT smart to begin with, how could I be with Bitcoin? The answer is that I still have to keep score even if the game is rigged.
I've wanted to do a write up on using Bitcoin with GnuCash so maybe I will.
43 sats \ 1 reply \ @javier 4 Apr
GNUCash helped me like 10 years ago, altough I had not much debt, but was in a precarious situation. Fortunatelly I found the final solution: Bitcoin, the economic liberty giver.
Fiat enforces slavery, because it is debt. Bitcoin enforces freedom, because it is anti-debt.
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I've used GnuCash for a long time. In 2019 while shitcoin and Bitcoin learning I figured out how to track and that's where I gave up on shitcoin and went into Bitcoin only...
I still thought in 2020 that I'd be a genius and go in FIAT debt accumulating Bitcoin but I didn't respect the whole process and for this I must hone my mistakes and accumulate wisdom.
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Yes you can speculative attack using fiat debt but the speculative attack needs to be the only thing you are using debt for. Your income needs to cover the rest of your spending. If you are piling on debt in multiples of your income and for a speculative attack it is going to be hard to come out ahead in the end. If you are just piling on debt, which your income can service to buy bitcoin you should be ok provided your income doesn't change.
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60 sats \ 4 replies \ @Fabs 4 Apr
What's a "speculative attack" referring to? Racking up debt to buy one big chunk of Bitcoin at once, thus speculating that you'll profit more in the future since you bought more at once?
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That kind of sums it up. It's more of a get the debt when you know the price of Bitcoin is cheap. Like Michael Saylor did in 2020.
I was lucky to grab it at cheap prices, too but then I was careless, also.
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It's speculating that the rate of bitcoin appreciation in fiat terms will exceed the rate of fiat devaluation and cost of servicing the debt.
Unfortunately unlike Michael Saylor stackers can't issue more equity to buy bitcoin, betting that the price of bitcoin will outweigh the dilution. But they can take on debt to buy bitcoin like Saylor does. However, it is a risky proposition because corporations are structured to protect shareholders from personal responsibility in the event of a bankruptcy, and individuals are not and you can most certainly not borrow at rates as low as Saylor and with the types of terms Saylor gets.
As an individual to execute this you would need to be highly confident in your income, ability to borrow at reasonable rates and ability to service the debt comfortably. You don't want to have to sell your bitcoin at the bottom of a bear market to meet debt obligations.
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60 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fabs 4 Apr
Thanks, clear.
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Well said.
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Exactly. "Speculative attack" doesn't mean going into debt to buy a jet-ski while stacking a few dollars a week in BTC.
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Or emotionally acting without considering all expenses avenues.
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Guilty as charged.
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At least you know where you went wrong. Course correct and all will be good.
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No need to be embarrassed. Relish that fiat debt. That's how the fiat wealthy got wealthy. That's how fiat governments operate. All that moralizing "debt is bad" bullshit is the way they keep you out of their game. Try to find a really rich fiat guy without debt.
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I'm with you, but my realization is that to think I can do a speculative attack without understanding my spending habits of the currency -- that is the liquidity that loses power fast but keeps a score on a sheet -- in other words, I'm not so smart to accumulate Fiat currency debt without keeping a score on my spending...
I hope that makes sense. It's my own realization and also I need to pay attention to my Bitcoin, too!
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Here's something I have done for years. This is not financial advice and I'm not recommending anyone else do it. If you have decent credit, you get 0 % finance offers for credit cards in the mail. If you have a lot of credit card debt at high interest, those offers can help. BUT, and it's a big but, keep this in mind: 1 They are not really 0 %. They charge anywhere from 3-5% up front. It's still a good deal, particularly if the pay back term is more than a year. 2. Set up an autopay for as much as you can afford monthly, and always in excess of the minimum payment due. If you don't make monthly minimum payment, you will lose the interest benefit immediately. 3. Make note of when minimum payment term ends. Then, either plan to pay off the remaining principal before that date, or roll the balance into another 0% offer.
I have bought bitcoin using this method more than once.
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I did this but I lost focus and I could not keep score anymore. I had to shut out all the media and wasted energy. This was 2020 to 2021.
I'm excited to have a good view of my mistakes and what I can do to move forward.
It sounds like you were keeping very good score. This is critical. I venture to class myself as retarded.
Getting rid of the chaff is important.
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 4 Apr
Yeah, it's hard. I'm obsessive about this stuff. It's just the way I am.
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I'll just tell you what the train felt like like as it grazed my face.
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Oh yes. I understand. I played the game for years. Playing with 0 percent interest offers, watching my spending closely, and, most importantly-autopays! It helped me not screw up my credit rating.
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I'm humbly listening.
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139 sats \ 6 replies \ @siggy47 4 Apr
I'm no expert. Everyone my age thinks they're an investing genius, because the government has been artificially inflating the assets we own for 50 years.
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LOL ..the truth so funny! the humbling feels
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It's humbling to get older and realize how many of the ways that you think were you being a virtuous genius are kind of like that -- hitching your coattails on something you didn't control, getting benefit from it, then looking around contemptuously at all the idiots who didn't fall into the same good fortune.
There's definitely a place for really owning your mistakes and your successes. But the more common mistake by far, in my experience, is to misattribute them.
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It took me a while to learn this, both blaming and patting myself on the back. I have retired friends now who blame themselves that they didn't prepare well financially, though their hard earned assets have been slowly stolen from them.
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This makes me think of the old, wise master who said, "Stay humble, stack sats."
But really in Sanskrit the phrase is/was "Sat Chit Ananda." Which is "Truth, Awareness, Bliss."
Well said!
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I think it goes back much further. Robert Breedlove's piece on "Masters And Slaves of Money" is a good exercise on understanding debt and money supply.
For me the key is that keeping score is still necessary because I've assigned my signature to that and thus I'm going to work it out one way or the other, unless there is a jubilee.
The lending and dumping of cheap money is also as much my responsibility by demand or accepting it.
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"debt is bad" is not bullshit. If you look at the rich, they get interest rates no average person would be able to get, they get debt forgiveness, they structure businesses and organizations that can go bankrupt while some other business has all the money. You need a damn good lawyer if you really want to play the games that they play.
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This is true. But what I've done that has been positive is I contacted Discover and Chase and I said that I'm way over my head. Discover closed my account and have me 0 percent to pay everything off. Chase sent me to a consolidation service and they got me 1 percent. My student loans (from 2003!) are 2.75 percent. This happened from me just reaching out and talking.
The nice thing is that Bitcoin is helping to perform a balance against. I also need to do the math and see what it would take to erase the slavery.
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20 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 4 Apr
Wow! That is excellent! I can learn from you. Hopefully we won't need to play the system once bitcoin takes over , but if not, you have a jump start on playing their bullshit game.
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I think people, most people are very honest but they are in a system of levers and pulleys and the few in charge of the variables are not disclosing the truth. I also believe in an occult aspect but regardless... There are my actions and surprisingly by asking for help I have received a bit of good fortune.
And also by accepting that I need to keep score and not just the powers to be, I need to accept that I'm playing the game and that I need to keep score and that I need to not be a slave.
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My student loans have a low interest rate which is why I’m in no rush to payoff principal. Recently my payment was reduced from 200 per month to 50. I will be done next year. 20 year loan fixed rate
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I guess my tip of the hat is too communicate that keeping score of the numbers, even if they are not fixed values is the way to succeed.
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20 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 4 Apr
But you can play too. Start small with a small credit card balance. Pay it off in time. Take a small bank loan even if you don't need it. Pay it back on time. You will be amazed at how quickly you're flagged as credit worthy. Your available credit will go up and your interest rate will go down.
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Once I get a good picture maybe I will but I am working spiritually and practically. I also want to help others to see the real picture instead of speculation via over confidence.
I'm working on a budget now, too. The reality is that my income is not much better than it was in 1997. That's a hard nut to crack. My voting power has been dwindling. I also have contributed by not being mindful. With inflation my earning to buying power is actually less. I was a lot younger then too.
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What is GnuCash?
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Thanks
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You're welcome.
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @PlebbyG 4 Apr
I did a speculative attack awhile back and just made a huge spreadsheet.
If you track the interest rates, monthly payments, etc... then you can track how much bitcoin would have to increase in order to break even, etc. I've already come out ahead.
Point being, if you do a lump sum purchase of bitcoin NOW given a set monthly debt repayment amount, you can acquire more bitcoin than if you just DCA'd the same amount, especially over a halvening. Think long terms of 5+ year payoffs. Yes, interest rates are high, but bitcoin will rise in value more than enough to make up for it!
Just don't over-extend... but if you're already DCA-ing $200/month, for example, then just get a loan for $200 a month and drop a huge purchase.
Am I missing something???
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You are keeping score and that's how you can do any type of strategy.
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My Bitcoin will also increase in buying power but it currently will not outpace my debt.
Bitcoin increase ~25% per year, over the past 10 years. How much debt and how little Bitcoin do you have, that your BTC wealth isn't outpacing your fiat debt?
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That's my snapshot. Kind of like a report card or the phenomenon of observing something and changing it's direction.
If I did not or do not head the warning of data then my carelessness will outpace in combination of ignorance and empty cultivation any gains I could have. So I must be mindful and careful.
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @flat24 4 Apr
Thank you for sharing your reflection...I will be waiting for that BTC with GNUcash article to read it
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I think I have some good knowledge and experience with this. I need to make something simple but useful.
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @pillar 4 Apr
I'm glad you've found gnucash and it's helping you see through your finances clearly, but I fail to see what's the issue with the speculative attack. Would love it if you could guide us through that.
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It's my own perspective and ignorance that would make the attack more of a mouth service than a strategy. So, if properly done with adequate data tracking and careful spending it would be successful.
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Because you're moving in tbe right direction, soon you'll come out of this trap situation.
Bitcoin is the best solution for such misery.
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Thank you!
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You went into debt to buy bitcoin? Can't you just pay the outstanding debt with future gains?
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I was already in debt and I thought I was smart so I increased that debt but I did not fully keep score and I became reckless. So, no I could not outspend and not would I want to. I foolishly invested my Bitcoin in other things that did not work out and I also ended up wasting FIAT instead of conservatively dollar cost averaging.
That was my epiphany of understanding that if 1 Bitcoin could buy $1,000,000 USD THAT WOULD NOT BE ENOUGH because maybe a car costs 1,000,000 USD.
It's all about balance. That's the beauty of GnuCash, anyway, is being able to see the big picture.
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10 sats \ 3 replies \ @Fabs 4 Apr
Hm, and now you're practically waiting to break-even on it, for which Bitcoin would have to reach astronomical prices? That absolutely sucks squared.
Care to share what you invested your bitcoin in?
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I tried to do mining via a mining retailer. I bought two miners and the facility didn't pan out. To make a long story short. I would have done better to save my Bitcoin and just stack.
I was given the option to sell my miners back but Bitcoin doubled in value so I was only given the Fiat Price!
Also getting hyped up on the purchase and neglecting my regular needs...
Then, to be honest, giving up and not caring but making worse decisions based on emotions and not data!
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @Fabs 4 Apr
Hm, clear. Thanks. I hope you can get back on your feet faster than you expect!
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Thank you, brother. I feel good about seeing things as they are. I'm very frugal with my spending and I can see a good outcome. I still have much to learn.
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