Other than my occasional stint with Angry Birds, I’m not normally into playing games.
But one evening my kids convinced me to play Plants vs. Zombies, and I’ve been hooked ever since.
Plants vs. Zombies strikes the perfect balance of being not too hard to make me frustrated, and not too easy to make me bored. So even though I’m fighting a violent battle against flesh-eating zombies, I find myself surprisingly relaxed doing it. It’s the perfect way to unwind and let my mind wander.
And while my mind wanders, I sometimes find clarity. Like the time I realized the zombies symbolized bad messages I was telling myself. I had to fight them off so they wouldn’t consume my brain.
Another time I realized that Plants vs. Zombies was speaking to me about paying off debt. Here are the lessons I learned during one enlightened session.
Lesson 1: I need to plant my money.
The premise of the game is simple:
- The zombies are coming to eat your brains.
- Your only defense is putting warrior plants in your yard to kill them. The pea plant shoots peas. The chili pepper makes a trail of fire. The walnut acts as a wall…you get the idea.
- In order to plant your warrior plants, you need to collect suns.
- To collect suns, you need to plant sunflowers.
There was one particular level where the zombies were coming too fast and eating all of my plants. I couldn’t replenish them quickly enough. After several times failing, it occurred to me. I needed to plant more sunflowers. More sunflowers mean more suns, which mean more ammo.
In the same way, I need to be planting my money so it gives me more money. I need to invest it in a way so it gives back to me. Though I’m focusing my efforts on paying off debt now, I look forward to the day we can start planting more money for returns.
Lesson 2: I need a strategy.
My three-year-old son can play Plants vs. Zombies all day and fail miserably every time because he isn’t old enough to understand strategy. You can’t just choose the coolest looking plants for your arsenal, you have to choose the ones that will get the job done. You can’t plant them anywhere, you have to plant them strategically.
Likewise, if I’m facing a pile of debt, I need a plan to attack it. It won’t kill itself, unfortunately.
Lesson 3: I need backup. And I need backup to my backup.
One strategy I use in PvZ is putting up a line of walnuts as a defense. Sometimes I’ll have two lines of defense.
I realized this setup was eerily similar to my system of two emergency funds. Life is going to throw a lot of zombies at me. An emergency fund (or two) is the best way to hold them off.
Lesson 4: I need to throw everything at it.
A-Rob plays PvZ too, and his approach is a little different. Instead of putting up a defense, he focuses on building an impressive offense.
It’s almost comical to see the way his shooters take up the whole screen, killing the zombies before they barely can set foot on his yard.
I sometimes feel like our approach to killing debt is similar. Any extra money we get goes straight to the cause. Over the past few years we’ve cut expenses so we can throw even more at those evil zombie debts. We’re throwing snowballs, and fireballs, and peas, and corn kernels, and…did I take the metaphor too far?
Are you paying off debt? How’s it going?
February 6, 2012 at 7:26 AM
I love how many things can relate to finances and debt. Weight loss, eating, video games. This post is awesome!
February 6, 2012 at 11:50 AM
LMAO. I LOVE that you compared your finances to playing Plants vs. Zombies. It’s a good comparison too! I’m still definitely on the defensive right now, but I’m looking forward to working on a strong anti-zombie offensive soon ;)
February 6, 2012 at 3:49 PM
Wow, this is great. When I first downloaded Plants vs. Zombies, I played it for about two weeks straight. My wife eventually had a talk with me about how I needed to put down the game and come to bed.
Hmm, perhaps that’s another lesson? Though entertainment is a fun part of our lives, we need to remember that other aspects of our lives need to be paid attention to?
February 6, 2012 at 10:25 PM
best analogy ever.
that is all.
February 7, 2012 at 12:08 PM
Haha love this. On top of making me want to reflect on my finances, it makes me want to start playing pvz.
February 7, 2012 at 2:02 PM
How cute, I love this comparison. It’s kinda fun to compare financial goals to various pop culture references. We did one around christmas time about what your favorite holiday characters can teach you about finances: http://blog.readyforzero.com/financial-lessons-from-your-favorite-holiday-characters/
Hope you’ve got more like these coming up!
February 9, 2012 at 2:33 PM
I am sorry to announce that I will no longer be reading your blog. Why? Because now that I have discovered Plants vs. Zombies (thanks to you) I will no longer have the time.
Joking aside, I have been lurking here for some time and wanted to let you know that I really enjoy your blog. Thanks!
February 9, 2012 at 5:47 PM
Hahaha. May Plants vs. Zombies bring as much enlightenment to you as it has to me. ;)
PS: Thanks for coming out of the shadows!
February 9, 2012 at 5:58 PM
What a great analogy. I think this is a great plan of attack on debt. ;) I can use this strategy for saving. If I can keep stock piling extra income into my savings account, and make sure I use my money to make money, I’ll meet my goals!
February 14, 2012 at 11:32 PM
I’m ridiculously late on this one – had to star it in my reader so I wouldn’t forget to come back to it!
I LOVE this post. LOVE. IT. Plants vs. Zombies is one of my favorite distractions. And of course, after reading this, I had to put on my therapist hat and analyze my on PvZ strategy.
I try to balance offense and defense, though I admit a strong offense seems to get faster results. I always plant two rows of sunflowers and I ALWAYS have walnuts or tall nuts in my arsenal. But I’ve started using just one wimpy plant (like a regular pea shooter) and beefing up with the more expensive plants. And I learned that those spiky poop ball things are great in front of a walnut or tall nut – the zombies take damage like crazy.
Anyway, this is actually very much how I started attacking my debt problem last year. I began a debt snowball while simultaneously starting an emergency fund. It wasn’t enough to get rid of the debt; I had to protect against future debt as well. Along the way, I learned that throwing extra money at the debt would get me to my goals faster. I am so proud of myself for realizing this after reading your post! Thanks so much – this was one of the better PF posts I’ve read in a long time.
February 15, 2012 at 3:26 AM
This is a great analogy (I love PvZ too – could never get into Angry Birds). You can’t do everything at once, and you need a good strategy to win!
February 23, 2012 at 10:55 AM
Wow I need to check out this game! It’s great when games can teach us about personal finance. Definately like the idea of planting dollars to create more dollars. I look at each of my dollars as an employee that I can either use to obtain something or I can put to work in a stock earning me dividends. The more employees (dollars) I put to work the more other employees (dollars) they bring in for me.