Some Relationships Are Not Meant to Last: How I Broke it off with Fiat Currencies and Survive on Crypto Only

in #bitcoin7 years ago (edited)

Breaking The Chains That Bind Us Isn't As Hard As You May Think, Just Takes Action

Around last February I received my income tax return, actually around the same time as my 39th birthday. Looking at this check an overwhelming feeling of how little I earned for the blood sweat and tears I put into my year of work just felt unfulfilling. I am unsure if it was temporary madness, or a moment of clarity but that check to me was worthless and an awakening in me to drive it all into crypto took over. Needless to say since that moment I have not cared to own any fiat or US Dollar ever since, and that was the beginning of a whole new evolution in my crypto experience.

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It appears on many levels how bad the fiat system is once you free yourself from it. There is this crazy inside turmoil for those of us chained to that system. Never earning enough usually for your day job, never able to pay for the goods you would like to own, and worst yet...the system systematically wants to keep taxing it out of you to dwindle down you from every accumulating a safety net of wealth for your future.

The more I walked away from fiat and broke off that relationship, the closer I felt to a reality that there is seriously something wrong within that system if I felt so relaxed and calm without it.

Encouraged to Save, Encouraged to Think Ahead

A weird side effect to crypto that I found, and something lost on me throughout most of my adult life was the power of saving. Under the rule of fiat it seemed so impossible to have a backup savings account. When the bills hit, you just have to sometimes take out of that savings to cover the bills. This is a consistently non stop situation that seems to hit everyone working day jobs under the fiat pay out system. In my life under fiat it got so bad that I just didn't value money right, I always figured well its gone before I have it so might as well spend it while its there. This is a sickness that I believe the system perfectly encourages. Commercialism is so bound to fiat money that it brainwashes users to feel they need and want way too much because your time to obtain is very limited, the swindling on citizens to not hold and save is in mass effect.

As soon as I got full time into crypto though, that side effect seemed to instantly wash away. Maybe its due to the charts on Bitcoin going up and down so much, forever making you want to hold for the next better wave of earnings. Or maybe its just because most of us in crypto firmly believe in a year or so from now the bit you sold maybe a regret later. Whatever causes this it is hugely beneficial and amazing to be encouraged by, because now I am careful with my holdings and only spend on bills when its absolutely necessary, and I only buy products when I have a bit more ahead of its price...this way I don't hurt the bank when I get that new blu ray or tv I always wanted.

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Boosting My Local Economy Unlike Ever Before

I am about to let you in on a little mindset I grown to have since getting my Bitpay card and able to cash out Bitcoin to spend in the real world. Yes, that is converted to fiat there so in a weird way I guess I am 98% surviving on crypto and not completely fiat free but that is only a means to an end, I do also spend online to Bitcoin merchants in my purist fashions where I can.

When I was all fiat I was not able to spend so much. I had to be careful thus probably choking my home towns local economy. My hometown is a lake town nestled near Gainesville, Florida...it is a boating paradise but with an average to small population and far between major cities so the area tends to struggle economically in its own ways. I am waking up to the fact since I got my Bitpay card that I am more able to help the local merchants here through the simple fact I am growing more earnings in crypto and able to go out and about more to support the town with more purchases. Deep down I know the guy at the gas station down the road from me is not pointing me out as some rich bitch giving him so much to put the kids through college but in my own small way I tend to believe I am doing more for him than I would have when I was living fiat only.

Local economies are important, they struggle against the Wal-Marts of the world and my town is still one of the rare ones with mom and pop shops based merchants. Not far away is more corporate businesses, but to me if we lose these mom and pop shops and go all corporate then the little guys in this world lose out. Spreading and supporting our income to struggling business owners is a huge power alone to have. To me crypto could save them and they are a dying breed worth salvaging.

Don't Worry Taxman You Will Get Yours, Haven't Gone That Rogue Yet!

It is important as full time crypto users that we abide the laws of the land. Its sucks and trust me I am not for the taxation on top of taxation that governments reverted back to that our forefathers fought against but in order to fight the battle we must remain free. Doing your battles in prison won't benefit the movement so at the end of the year be sure to report your earnings that you converted to fiat. I am still not fully up on this area so I luckily jot down and screenshot my Bitpay conversions.

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All of us need to be proactive in this area, crypto is testing the limits of what the system will put up with and if we don't walk the gray line then we will all end up lost in this and forced back into that fiat system to never return legally to this amazing advancement and movement in crypto. I am hoping in the end the battle will be won against the theft that taxation is but we have to wait it out and be proactive in the right way to get rid of that immoral conduct of the world governments.

So Take a Chance and Live Free

To end, I want to say to you that if you feel fear to abandon fiat, don't. I have done quite well moving on from it. Am I rich, no I am literally living so simple its insane but I choose that route so I can save and let my future self be comfortable and money worry free. It takes a bit of sacrifice if your at the bottom of the barrel financially but I believe diving in to make a change for the better of your life is well worth the patience and simple living it takes.

The only way we will win this fiat vs crypto battle is by choosing our sides fully. Maybe that is my purist side speaking but I just don't see mass adoption happening if we remain half in both. The challenge here is for crypto users to show the world that this is a better system, but how can you if you don't fully dive in and proclaim this is all we need and show them we live better off of it.

Keep the hope alive and regain your financial freedom!!

~sflaherty

Follow me @sflaherty

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Steve... BIG Kudos on this Post...am glad You & I met so early on, here @ STEEMiT !!

UpVoted & ReSTEEMed... Love the Mark Twain Quotation !!

Thanks Again Steve 4 everything You & Jonelle are doing to help the minnows AND those less fortunate than ourselves...

         ~~~ KEEP STEEMing On !! ~~~

Glad you liked, I felt its a good thing to lead by example and show people there is nothing to fear with taking the risk to back crypto full on. I just hope it encourages that in those debating to make that change

wow hell yes man well done.

I appreciate the enthusiasm lol....we all have to take charge for ourselves, have hopes the more I share my sacrifices to move fully to crypto more will feel no fear to adopt fully and get this movement steem rolling ahead. Really thank you for the support on this one

Your a saint my friend haha this is why I love steemit. Thanks for sharing that as you have - I want to do the same and I'm actually scared.. I have the crypto to do it but the double taxation for me in NYC is keeping me from moving all of it over every time. Keep us updated here on your journey I'm going to learn from your ways!

Trust me I was scared as well, it was a huge risk to finally say I am done but it seems so far more beneficial than negative, well so far...God knows what the government will do later on but we are in the legal clear for the moment to boost ahead with crypto. How do they double tax you? That is not cool at all and unconstitutional. Are they taxing you on buy ins and sell offs in NY now? Australia had that issue and the people there made a stink about it and I believe now they are getting that changed.

haha you're a brave dude! Time will only tell there, thats true right now is time to get after it while we can. It sucks, not so much there taxing crypto its my state of income plus crypto because I'm self employed..

25 - 30% income tax
15% NY self employment tax
15% Capital Gains on Crypto (the two 15%'ers are where I feel the burn)

For now its just a killer storage of value for me - honestly better I don't touch it for now lol its been paying off well these last few years ;)

I guess you would say I am self employed but FL hasn't yet called crypto monetary, they are working towards that in legistlation but for now I don't have to have a business licence for trading, mining, and blogging here. They get ya when you turn it to fiat but that I have to worry about at the end of the year and just proclaim my earnings. That will probably hit me hard so I am trying to accumulate a little side Bitcoin to cash out to pay them idiots lol

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Thanks @screenname you do work hard here and glad you do.

yeah man, you have some BALLS. Im sure you are one of the first ones to initiate a movement in the future that gets rid of fiat, and who knows whats connections that will create for human kind. You are a hero today and maybe one of the ones remembered in the future history books.

I really appreciate that, don't really feel a hero, more just a guy coming to terms what isn't working is not for me anymore lol but i do agree, we should all really kick off the movement side to this together and show them we mean more business that their system is no longer moral nor for the people. I really hope more just realize to fully walk from fiat is not as scary as it seems, honestly my life has been so much less stressful since I decided to do this. All of us are heros. In my eyes anyone that uses crypto is a pioneer for real freedom

A recent and valuable find for me in the steemit community. Thanks for another great read mate @sflaherty. And for helping me with some of my own life goals. Seems like we feel the same about a few things in life?

https://steemit.com/mainsteemmedia/@beachbuminvestor/joining-in-the-panic-sell-maybe-you-should-consider-panic-selling-your-fiat-that-stuff-has-been-going-down-for-years

An important read for anyone worried about this correction. At least in my opinion.

Fish

Just upvoted and checked it out. Very spot on there my friend. Fiat is doomed lol...so glad I cashed out my tax return to crypto and said goodbye for good lol

lol, with you brother. I should have my tax return in about 2 weeks. Why did this correction have to happen now? I could have cleaned up buying on this correction. Oh well, next time. It won't be the last one, that's for sure.

Just so you know BWA business model gives 70% of net profit either back to the sport or Indigenous communities in Australia. I like the idea of robbin hooding this shit (lol). And love that social responsibility is important to you in wealth creation. Speak soon bro.

Never know, I been in crypto a while and the old days a correction could take a long time, so you may luck out and get that cash while its super low then it skyrockets back up on you after your low buy in on BTC. I will say this, I been looking at the charts and when this fires back off I suspect a new all time high coming. When we don't know but when this goes its probably going high as hell. They got the Segwit consensus stuff ironing out and August soft fork looks to be the way, this summer it may bounce around but end of summer, its on I believe. Horde it now for a great fall and christmas lol

Couldn't agree more mate. I have had a few friends ask me when this or that coin will "take off"? I always encourage my followers to think of "where it might be going" not when.

Any money I've invested I've already said goodbye to. Sure I hope to see some great returns over the next 3 to 5 years just by being early in this space......but I'm not counting on it, and neither should anyone reading this convo. Only invest what you can afford to lose.

Wise words. Though losing here is not really a thing, its only if you sell lower than your buy in. You really only lose if your not patient to wait a market out or you invest in a really crap coin that is not going anywhere which a lot of us older guys have already weeded out a ton of them lol. Main thing now is read a lot, know what your getting into and be patient. Never sell under....I rather be a bagholder on a coin and invest elsewhere and break even when it returns to my original buy in then sell myself short

Thanks for posting and promoting human freedom.

Real change starts by a single voice shouting, "NO".

I couldn't agree with you more. We have to take charge first in our own lives to defend what we feel we want of value and spread it out by proclaiming hey this works for me and it can work for you. Once more listen then it spreads. I am here for the movement vs the money, money can come later after the work is done...but freeing people financially must happen first too...more wealth in this with people pushing to change the world will make them have to listen

I like your reasoning here Steve!

Thanks, it can be done but you just have to jump at it and do it I guess. Its not an easy transition but pays in the end to take that risk, least from what I seen in my own life

Well it sure is fun learning about it all too!

It is, so much to soak in with all of this, kind of makes every day like a new adventure lol

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