Analogy of a Frog and Personal Finance

If you were to pick a frog and put it into shallow hot boiled water, the frog will instantly leaped from the pot and jump out to safety. (As any right minded creature will do). However, if you were to pick up the same frog a little later and then put it into a shallow cold water, the frog will not react to it and will be comfortably be sitting there as it is a cold blooded animal. But, if you were to do an experiment (if you are sick enough to do this, though), heat up the cold pot with a very, very slow fire with the frog still sitting in it. The water will eventually rise up to 100 degrees. As any cold-blooded animal, the frog’s body will adapt to the rising heat and will adjust its blood temperature to the environment. Eventually, when the water reaches boiling point, the frog will die as a result of adapting itself to the environment without even realizing it.

So, what’s personal financing has have to do with the frog story? A lot. People who started off their career start just like the frog in the shallow cold water. The money they received by the end of the month is enough to get by since their requirement for life is low. But, as your career and salary increase so does your desires and lifestyles. As you start to buy your first car, buy your first house, started to use credit cards, your lifestyle will change incrementally but not as fast as your salary increase. As same with the frog, you will not notice that you have a debt problem since the increment is not sudden. And when you realize it, it is too late and you will end up with a huge pile of debt.