Ladder or Shovel?

Climb to wealth or Dig to poverty?

Here is my inaugural comic strip for “Ladder or Shovel,” which shares the same name as my Substack. I hope to illustrate my thoughts, opinions, and experiences to help you see money like I do. Maybe you’ll even learn a thing or three.

When I was a kid (in the eighties), silly kids used to say you could dig a hole to China. Determining when to spend, save, or invest money can be difficult. I want you to take a giant step back and think. Are the people who are accompanying you on this journey helping or hurting?

Thought exercise: You have crippling credit card debt, and coincidentally, you get an alert that your credit card has had its limit raised. Shortly after, a friend asks to borrow a couple hundred dollars for their broken-down vehicle. Explaining your debt situation and lack of cash, you are peppered with solutions to the problem afoot. Are the solutions presented going to help you get out of debt? Or are they going to include creative ways that you can loan your friend money? That example is the living example of the ladder-or-shovel analogy. Will the people around you help you climb or dig?