Buy Low Sell High

I love asking for nuggets of wisdom, often people will tell me the first thing that comes to their heads, and I kind of love that. I get to hear what they’re currently thinking about or at least something that has stuck with them. So when I heard “buy low sell high” from a family member, I knew there was something there.

I want to break down the phrase, the idea it’s getting as is that anything you buy you should try and purchase at a good value, whether it’s a low-cost item or a higher cost item, you should almost never be paying more than the quality/value demands. There are some exceptions such as with fundraisers but that’s a different conversation.

The next half is “sell high”. The first thing I thought of was fixer-upper homes, and flipping items for profit, but I also realized this could also be thought of in the regards that you should leave something in better shape than you found it as much as possible (read: be a good steward of what you have, and take care of what you own).

When you buy things, look for the best deal you can manage, sometimes you won’t get the best deal, say if you need a new car in a pinch, or you need groceries and don’t want to wait in line at Aldi. You also shouldn’t buy things just because they’re on clearance/sale unless you need them. In that case: go you! When you sell, make sure you wash the clothes and dishes, clean the car, wipe the electronics (physically and digitally), and prepare and pack up the home. Hand something off to someone in a way that is respectful to both of you.

When you have this mindset, you can know that you have great intentions with every purchase and sell.

As I was writing this I realized that it’s referring to stocks and bonds mostly. This is certainly important but a little bit more straightforward in practice. That being said, when the market isn’t doing so great, and you have money is probably a great time to buy. Sometimes though, even when the market does seem great you should also consider the long haul, but I’m no broker so I think I’ll leave that there. That said, talk to someone who knows more about what they’re doing if you want to invest in stocks and bonds.