Artist Illustrates How Downsizing Can Lead To A Happier Life, And His Comic Goes Viral
Goh Wei Choon and He Ruiming had been friends throughout their studies, however, as time went by they grew apart. It wasn’t until they became colleagues that they reconnected again. Trying to make the most out of their rebuilt bond, they started The Woke Salaryman, a platform that encourages discussions about financial independence and more.
“We were working, and we noticed that many of our peers were recklessly spending their money,” they told Bored Panda. “Some of them were in their 30s with very little savings. We found that scary, and wanted to trigger the young folks in our country to better their financial decisions and lives in general. Along the way, audiences from other countries started to pick up on our page.”
One of the ways The Woke Salaryman addresses its followers is comics. One recent strip, in particular, has really resonated with their followers, highlighting that bigger and shinier things don’t necessarily make you happier.
More info: thewokesalaryman.com | Facebook | Instagram
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
Image credits: thewokesalaryman
“We live in Singapore – one of the most materialistic and consumeristic societies on the planet. Often, people get into meaningless competitions to see who can display more material wealth. This isn’t always good for people’s financial stability. We managed to save quite a bit of money by resisting peer pressure and living below (not above, nor within, below) our means. We thought if people could see that doing this had its benefits, they’d be more open to trying this out,” the duo explained the intention behind the comic.
Here’s what people said about the comic and the themes it explores
93Kviews
Share on FacebookI get the concept but the reality is different. Most workers in U.K. struggling to pay their regular living costs such as rent and bills. We are currently known as the JAM generation (just about managing). As for the young people? No chance of owning homes. Renting is backbreakinly expensive but one has no choice.
Yeah. It Is very complicated problem. Why is it so? It is because our world is ruled by predators. They dont need smart and stable society. Most of leaders have some kind od psychic illness or diagnose. Most of them are poor managers and they focus on their good. They live in a greenhouse knowing sh*t about ordinary people and their struggling. And other part of power is advertisment industry and media. Our world is one big lie and it is so only for happy life of few people....here in eastern Europe we have something like postsocialism where especially healthcare And education is affordable for all. But development of all industries And economics is very slow.
Load More Replies...I feel like the message of this comic applies more to the nouveau riche of this side of the globe, where materialism is what determines one's "spot" in society. it's sort of a pride after gaining all that money and you can finally afford getting all the shiny expensive things you only dreamed about before. once you Upgrade, you suddenly feel that it's beneath you to live how you were, and thus the comic tries to tell you that the pride in the materialism is only temporary happiness. you don't have to spend all that hard earned money immediately. it's better to save and spend with thought.
I disagree, I don't think this advice is just for nouveau riche as you put it. I most certainly am not and I managed to buy a house living super cheap for two years. I did live with my parents and carpooled to work. I never ate out and if I wanted something, AKA new clothes I would explore thrift stores at every opportunity to find it. And I have a rule, it doesn't matter how much I like something I see, the question is can I see myself using it? Will I continue to use this thing for years? Do I already have something that does that? And will it make my life better? Also I will only buy it if I'd been wanting it for a while, never at first sight. This way I managed to put away a 1000 a month into savings for nearly 2 years. I was only 23 and was making a dollar more than minimum wage. I now have a house I'm doing a slow reno (The slower it goes the faster I can earn the money to pay for it) and it's furnished with both given and thrift store furniture. And it's a lovely home :)
Load More Replies...Just don't buy things you can't afford. But if you have the money (saved), buy good quality stuff, so that it will not break soon. Its more expensive to always replace cheap stuff then buying more expensive but good quality stuff once in a while. My phone is broken since July. I am waiting till the phone I like is cheeper and in the meantime I am saving the money for it. And whats with those two year old Nike's in the comments? Is it a crime to wear shoes for more then one year now? I have a pair that are far older than that
Just spend smart. Do research. Just like bigger and newer is not neccessarily better, same goes for the other way around.
Load More Replies...I do indeed live a minimalist life style barely buying anything I do not absolutely need. But that only works if you make enough to pay for rent, automobile health and car insuranced and saving for retirement. Otherwise, it's a pretty pointless argument.
Whenever I read comics like this, I always take what I learned and apply what I need to to improve my life-style. You see people who make these types of comics are sharing lessons they learned and are just sharing it with the world. To some this seems extremely a "No duh" lesson, but for some others it isn't. You can always take a little something from a lesson you may have already learned or even a reminder of a lesson you once knew. I honestly would be really excited to share with the world if I just learned something and I would want support for it. I appreciate and love this little comic, it's sweet, short, and shares a lesson that many can apply and can be a reminder for others that may be getting to far ahead of themselves.
Tater's word of wisdom: If you need to go clothes shopping, thrift stores and op shops. They are a magical land of cheap but amazing stuff!
In some countries a house may be cheaper than renting, but not in mine. I also think it isn't necessary to move out at young age if you have no money, unless your parents are awful. Stay with them and save something, wait until you have a stable job, if possible. I have little money and I can't even go on holiday, but I have food, clothes and a place to live plus the Internet - I'm quite happy.
I was forced to downsize in 2009 after fighting the banks all of 2008 to keep my house, my business and my possessions, which they took away from me anyway. I was 5 years from retirement, so a new career was out of the question. They left me penniless. I had to sell everything I owned in order to pay off all the bills that mounted as I tried to pay my ever increasing mortgage just prior to my final surrender. I had enough left over to buy a 1978 Class C, which I now live in, while slowly working on getting the engine to work. Now, I am collecting the meagerest amount of social security, for which I worked my a*s off for 30 years, but which was reduced by half of what I would have received had I not been forced into early retirement. Nevertheless, I am calmer and happier now that I have nothing, than I ever was back when I was struggling to follow all the rules and pay all the fees, back when I actually trusted the US banking system, which I never will again.
BALONEY that this is "advice for rich people." Poor people hoard things, spend money to feel "in control," and often buy stuff they don't really need. Paring one's possessions to a sensible size is liberating. I helped a friend sort her kitchen -- she had four or ten of EVERYTHING: vegetable peelers, mixing bowls, and every plastic container that had come into her house in the past six years. We packed all the extras in boxes and put it in her garage, "in case she needed something." After a few months, I asked if there was anything in the boxes she needed, and she said "No." So we donated everything extra to a women's shelter, where women who have escaped domestic abuse need to set up a new home from scratch often have nothing.
A perfect example of the flaw in one-size-fits-all philosophy--as responders have clearly shown. In sort, a waste of time. Editors should not automatically post stuff just because it has pictures. That degrades BP. Yes, the official view is that "anyone can write for BP." OK, but remember it's CAN, not SHOULD.
1. I think one of the hot points of debate is about renting. I believe what OP is trying to say is that IF you're already renting, rent a more affordable unit. And IF you already own a house, why not own a more affordable one? 2. This advice is for the general reader. It is impossible to take into account every specification and combination with regards to the situations in your life. It is extremely narrow minded and self centered of you to assume that this piece is supposed to help only you. Read it, understand it and process the bits that will help you in your life and move on. Stop sulking. Furthermore, it seems that many of the commenters have commented without actually thinking where the piece can contribute in their lives. And it shows. 3. Downgrading is tough, it goes beyond human instinct, it's unatural and it is therefore a choice that most won't even think to have. I believe that was the purpose of the piece, to make known that benefits and ways to downgrade. It's not for
Psychologists and economists, namely Kahhneman and Tversky, have studied this question: does more money make people happier? The consensus answer: Yes, increases in people's income significantly correlate with greater happiness, roughly up to the first $70k in income in a year, before the increases in happiness from additional earnings significantly level off. (e.g. going from $20k to $30k will make people way happier, from $60k to $70k not so much, beyond $70k the increase in happiness is minimal to non-existent).That makes a lot of sense, as at the lower income level increases really change your life. Other psych studies have found that, experimentally, if you give people a lot of money (e.g. giving a working class person thousands per month) causes them to universally report significantly decreased levels of anxiety. So,, does money buy happiness? On some level it certainly does.
I never upsized so downsizing is my life, and I am a happy man. I don't have much but I also don't have any debt, no loans and all I have is mine to keep and share. living simpler is a blessing
Look, Aristotle already pointed out the idea of via media - the middle way. The best place to live is between poverty and wat, on the one hand, and wasteful luxury, on the other. Of course, by his standards, even the most powerful monarchs lived a life substantially less comfortable than even poor people do today.
Advertising plays on people being unwilling and/or unable to differentiate between "want" and "need." We humans actually need very little. I myself am guilty sometimes of feeling I "need" something when I really don't.
Not buying expensive things...but just would like to be rich enough to be out of debt and maybe see about doing charity work.
I pay off a car as fast as possible and then keep it for years. I'm 44 and I'm only on my 3rd vehicle. I live pretty minimalist. I put away as much of my earnings as possible as opposed to using them to accumulate stuff.
I want to be rich, so i can live 110% securily in a small humble house and an enviromentalfriendly car and still donate hundreds of thousands to charity. Lets be honest, afford healthcare and reparations on the house or car eases ones mind.
This sums up the way I've been thinking for years. I just bought my first home, small house built in mid 80's, very modest. I love it! I have just enough space for what I need and not much more. Our friends bought their house about the same time. Twice as big and brand new. WAY too much space for 2 people and spending twice as much as us. I wouldn't trade houses for anything. We have more money to go places and have experiences rather than material things. Our friends basically work to pay for their house. Why? What a waste.
Geez, this advice isn't just for the "rich people". It's literally for anyone a little above the poverty line (where you struggle to buy food). I know so many families that earn just as much or more money than mine, but still struggle with living and paying bills and everything BECAUSE THEY ARE UNABLE TO LOWER THEIR STANDARDS. They buy some nice new clothing or beauty product every month, they like to upgrade their phones once a year, they like buying from the more famous brands, and they seriously think they are "struggling" because they think they "deserve" all those stuff automatically. And I think everyone who is able to comment "Well it's just for the rich" via phone, PC and internet is already "wealthy" enough to be able to cut down expenses when needed.
I realize that this advice doesn't apply to the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich, but along the same lines: the biggest waste of money I see people going broke on is their car. People think they are being modest when they "only" buy a $20,000 car, when there are plenty of $3,000 cars out there that are just fine, but not fashionable. As a bonus, you're helping the environment by making use of something that's still useful. Additionally, you can have cheaper insurance coverage and won't face as much hardship if you get in an accident or something breaks.
But you're more likely to get something that needs repeated expensive repairs, questionable safety and questionable reliability for 3k. It's a c**p shoot. Not really great for most people or circumstances. I actually got my first car loan as an adult far later than most because I didn't want the couple hundred a month payment. I did buy a car that's less than ten years old, and it's been life-changing. I don't have to worry about my car. I don't start panicking at every noise. Reliable transportation is the foundation of any stable life. Don't dismiss it so easily.
Load More Replies...I get the concept but the reality is different. Most workers in U.K. struggling to pay their regular living costs such as rent and bills. We are currently known as the JAM generation (just about managing). As for the young people? No chance of owning homes. Renting is backbreakinly expensive but one has no choice.
Yeah. It Is very complicated problem. Why is it so? It is because our world is ruled by predators. They dont need smart and stable society. Most of leaders have some kind od psychic illness or diagnose. Most of them are poor managers and they focus on their good. They live in a greenhouse knowing sh*t about ordinary people and their struggling. And other part of power is advertisment industry and media. Our world is one big lie and it is so only for happy life of few people....here in eastern Europe we have something like postsocialism where especially healthcare And education is affordable for all. But development of all industries And economics is very slow.
Load More Replies...I feel like the message of this comic applies more to the nouveau riche of this side of the globe, where materialism is what determines one's "spot" in society. it's sort of a pride after gaining all that money and you can finally afford getting all the shiny expensive things you only dreamed about before. once you Upgrade, you suddenly feel that it's beneath you to live how you were, and thus the comic tries to tell you that the pride in the materialism is only temporary happiness. you don't have to spend all that hard earned money immediately. it's better to save and spend with thought.
I disagree, I don't think this advice is just for nouveau riche as you put it. I most certainly am not and I managed to buy a house living super cheap for two years. I did live with my parents and carpooled to work. I never ate out and if I wanted something, AKA new clothes I would explore thrift stores at every opportunity to find it. And I have a rule, it doesn't matter how much I like something I see, the question is can I see myself using it? Will I continue to use this thing for years? Do I already have something that does that? And will it make my life better? Also I will only buy it if I'd been wanting it for a while, never at first sight. This way I managed to put away a 1000 a month into savings for nearly 2 years. I was only 23 and was making a dollar more than minimum wage. I now have a house I'm doing a slow reno (The slower it goes the faster I can earn the money to pay for it) and it's furnished with both given and thrift store furniture. And it's a lovely home :)
Load More Replies...Just don't buy things you can't afford. But if you have the money (saved), buy good quality stuff, so that it will not break soon. Its more expensive to always replace cheap stuff then buying more expensive but good quality stuff once in a while. My phone is broken since July. I am waiting till the phone I like is cheeper and in the meantime I am saving the money for it. And whats with those two year old Nike's in the comments? Is it a crime to wear shoes for more then one year now? I have a pair that are far older than that
Just spend smart. Do research. Just like bigger and newer is not neccessarily better, same goes for the other way around.
Load More Replies...I do indeed live a minimalist life style barely buying anything I do not absolutely need. But that only works if you make enough to pay for rent, automobile health and car insuranced and saving for retirement. Otherwise, it's a pretty pointless argument.
Whenever I read comics like this, I always take what I learned and apply what I need to to improve my life-style. You see people who make these types of comics are sharing lessons they learned and are just sharing it with the world. To some this seems extremely a "No duh" lesson, but for some others it isn't. You can always take a little something from a lesson you may have already learned or even a reminder of a lesson you once knew. I honestly would be really excited to share with the world if I just learned something and I would want support for it. I appreciate and love this little comic, it's sweet, short, and shares a lesson that many can apply and can be a reminder for others that may be getting to far ahead of themselves.
Tater's word of wisdom: If you need to go clothes shopping, thrift stores and op shops. They are a magical land of cheap but amazing stuff!
In some countries a house may be cheaper than renting, but not in mine. I also think it isn't necessary to move out at young age if you have no money, unless your parents are awful. Stay with them and save something, wait until you have a stable job, if possible. I have little money and I can't even go on holiday, but I have food, clothes and a place to live plus the Internet - I'm quite happy.
I was forced to downsize in 2009 after fighting the banks all of 2008 to keep my house, my business and my possessions, which they took away from me anyway. I was 5 years from retirement, so a new career was out of the question. They left me penniless. I had to sell everything I owned in order to pay off all the bills that mounted as I tried to pay my ever increasing mortgage just prior to my final surrender. I had enough left over to buy a 1978 Class C, which I now live in, while slowly working on getting the engine to work. Now, I am collecting the meagerest amount of social security, for which I worked my a*s off for 30 years, but which was reduced by half of what I would have received had I not been forced into early retirement. Nevertheless, I am calmer and happier now that I have nothing, than I ever was back when I was struggling to follow all the rules and pay all the fees, back when I actually trusted the US banking system, which I never will again.
BALONEY that this is "advice for rich people." Poor people hoard things, spend money to feel "in control," and often buy stuff they don't really need. Paring one's possessions to a sensible size is liberating. I helped a friend sort her kitchen -- she had four or ten of EVERYTHING: vegetable peelers, mixing bowls, and every plastic container that had come into her house in the past six years. We packed all the extras in boxes and put it in her garage, "in case she needed something." After a few months, I asked if there was anything in the boxes she needed, and she said "No." So we donated everything extra to a women's shelter, where women who have escaped domestic abuse need to set up a new home from scratch often have nothing.
A perfect example of the flaw in one-size-fits-all philosophy--as responders have clearly shown. In sort, a waste of time. Editors should not automatically post stuff just because it has pictures. That degrades BP. Yes, the official view is that "anyone can write for BP." OK, but remember it's CAN, not SHOULD.
1. I think one of the hot points of debate is about renting. I believe what OP is trying to say is that IF you're already renting, rent a more affordable unit. And IF you already own a house, why not own a more affordable one? 2. This advice is for the general reader. It is impossible to take into account every specification and combination with regards to the situations in your life. It is extremely narrow minded and self centered of you to assume that this piece is supposed to help only you. Read it, understand it and process the bits that will help you in your life and move on. Stop sulking. Furthermore, it seems that many of the commenters have commented without actually thinking where the piece can contribute in their lives. And it shows. 3. Downgrading is tough, it goes beyond human instinct, it's unatural and it is therefore a choice that most won't even think to have. I believe that was the purpose of the piece, to make known that benefits and ways to downgrade. It's not for
Psychologists and economists, namely Kahhneman and Tversky, have studied this question: does more money make people happier? The consensus answer: Yes, increases in people's income significantly correlate with greater happiness, roughly up to the first $70k in income in a year, before the increases in happiness from additional earnings significantly level off. (e.g. going from $20k to $30k will make people way happier, from $60k to $70k not so much, beyond $70k the increase in happiness is minimal to non-existent).That makes a lot of sense, as at the lower income level increases really change your life. Other psych studies have found that, experimentally, if you give people a lot of money (e.g. giving a working class person thousands per month) causes them to universally report significantly decreased levels of anxiety. So,, does money buy happiness? On some level it certainly does.
I never upsized so downsizing is my life, and I am a happy man. I don't have much but I also don't have any debt, no loans and all I have is mine to keep and share. living simpler is a blessing
Look, Aristotle already pointed out the idea of via media - the middle way. The best place to live is between poverty and wat, on the one hand, and wasteful luxury, on the other. Of course, by his standards, even the most powerful monarchs lived a life substantially less comfortable than even poor people do today.
Advertising plays on people being unwilling and/or unable to differentiate between "want" and "need." We humans actually need very little. I myself am guilty sometimes of feeling I "need" something when I really don't.
Not buying expensive things...but just would like to be rich enough to be out of debt and maybe see about doing charity work.
I pay off a car as fast as possible and then keep it for years. I'm 44 and I'm only on my 3rd vehicle. I live pretty minimalist. I put away as much of my earnings as possible as opposed to using them to accumulate stuff.
I want to be rich, so i can live 110% securily in a small humble house and an enviromentalfriendly car and still donate hundreds of thousands to charity. Lets be honest, afford healthcare and reparations on the house or car eases ones mind.
This sums up the way I've been thinking for years. I just bought my first home, small house built in mid 80's, very modest. I love it! I have just enough space for what I need and not much more. Our friends bought their house about the same time. Twice as big and brand new. WAY too much space for 2 people and spending twice as much as us. I wouldn't trade houses for anything. We have more money to go places and have experiences rather than material things. Our friends basically work to pay for their house. Why? What a waste.
Geez, this advice isn't just for the "rich people". It's literally for anyone a little above the poverty line (where you struggle to buy food). I know so many families that earn just as much or more money than mine, but still struggle with living and paying bills and everything BECAUSE THEY ARE UNABLE TO LOWER THEIR STANDARDS. They buy some nice new clothing or beauty product every month, they like to upgrade their phones once a year, they like buying from the more famous brands, and they seriously think they are "struggling" because they think they "deserve" all those stuff automatically. And I think everyone who is able to comment "Well it's just for the rich" via phone, PC and internet is already "wealthy" enough to be able to cut down expenses when needed.
I realize that this advice doesn't apply to the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich, but along the same lines: the biggest waste of money I see people going broke on is their car. People think they are being modest when they "only" buy a $20,000 car, when there are plenty of $3,000 cars out there that are just fine, but not fashionable. As a bonus, you're helping the environment by making use of something that's still useful. Additionally, you can have cheaper insurance coverage and won't face as much hardship if you get in an accident or something breaks.
But you're more likely to get something that needs repeated expensive repairs, questionable safety and questionable reliability for 3k. It's a c**p shoot. Not really great for most people or circumstances. I actually got my first car loan as an adult far later than most because I didn't want the couple hundred a month payment. I did buy a car that's less than ten years old, and it's been life-changing. I don't have to worry about my car. I don't start panicking at every noise. Reliable transportation is the foundation of any stable life. Don't dismiss it so easily.
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