How the Past Year Strengthened my Financial Mindset

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At the end of a certain period in time, it is always helpful to reflect on that period and evaluate. We, as human beings, tend to often do this at the end of each year. This year is not different. And for this post I would like to zoom in on the financial side of things. Might as well, right? Especially since I'm not going out partying tonight or anytime soon. At the moment of writing this post it is still 2PM on the 31st on my side of the world. And with a wine glass in my hand I think back to the period that is about to end.

Financially, the past year was quite an interesting one, to say the least. It was a rollercoaster of ups and downs, that will probably continue on for some time in the new year. Living in a third world country that has had the most corrupt government yet in the past 10 years, me and my fellow citizens were already playing the game with a significant handicap.

The economics of a developing country are heavily tied to and therefore influenced by the exchange rate between the US dollar and the official local currency. Especially when import outweighs export. This means that when government mismanages (read: steals) national funds, the exchange rate increases through the mechanics of economics and the local currency therefore devaluates. This is exactly what happened. In the past ten years the country's funds were mismanaged into the ground and the past year we have really begun seeing the effects, like a ticking time-bomb just exploded.

10 years ago the exchange rate was 1 USD = 3.4 SRD (Suriname Dollars). At the start of this year you had to pay up around SRD 7 for 1 US dollar. And the past year alone that rate shot up to 1 : 20. That should paint the situation a bit for you. So shitty politicians aside, at the start of the year we also felt the economic shockwave of the pandemic that hit on a global scale. That didn't bode well for many already living below the poverty line. This brought with it some interesting and chaotic economic situations and events. One absurd one was the rise in popularity of many different Ponzi schemes, which many locals fell for, despite the warnings from me and others not so easily fooled.

A positive blimp on the spectrum was the local increase in genuine interest in cryptocurrencies. I've had close friends and family asking me to explain not only the financial side but also the technical, blockchain, side of things to them. The same has probably happened in many other developing countries, based on my observations here on Hive. This glimmers hope as there is no time like the present that traditional financial institutions are trying to screw us over. Might as well enter the crypto space and be your own broker.

For me personally, it has been an interesting year. I consider myself lucky to be in a field, software development, where I am less financially effected by the aforementioned troubles. As a matter of fact, the company I work for has done slightly better financially the past year, even though we had to fully develop from home for a half year or so. This granted me various personal financial plusses.

The past year has also thought me to be more responsible financially. With prices increasing twice and trice, I learned how to budget efficiently, without limiting my own quality of life too much.

Another financial plus this year has been me discovering decentralized social media in the form of Hive. This happened in August and has had a certain impact on my financial thoughts and goals as well. Especially after coming in contact with the LeoFinance community.

Crypto is not the only part of my long term financial plan, as you should never put all your eggs in one basket, but it plays a significant role. Funny enough, it has been more reliable and/or predictable in 2020 compared to traditional means of finance. Sure, the year may have been a shitty one. But on a personal level that year has helped me grow my financial intellect and strategy. As the saying goes: Analyze, Adapt, Overcome. And now that Bitcoin has decided to be green again, the sky is the limit. Banks? Where we're going, we don't need banks, Marty. :)

Cheers to a Financially Successful New Year!

How has your year been financially?

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