7 money lessons from “A Quiet Place.

Linda B. and I went to see “A Quiet Place” recently and it was as frightening as I’d expected it would be – even though I already knew a couple of major plot points, due to having read a couple of spoiler-filled articles. (Will I ever learn?)

Even when I knew what was going to happen, “A Quiet Place” genuinely scared me. That’s because these weren’t jump-scare moments or, worse, the torture porn that passes for suspense/horror these days. The underlying emotion was fear.

Fear that we can’t protect our children, or teach them enough to survive in the world. Fear that we won’t have enough to eat. Fear that we’ll lose the ones we love.

Those are some grade-A terrors, all right – and given all the recent bluster about nuclear weapons, they’re not exactly unfounded.

I, of course, also found personal finance lessons in the movie. That’s how I roll.

For those who aren’t familiar with “A Quiet Place,” the film turns the old Giant Bugs From Space trope into something deeply unsettling. It’s easy to laugh at schlocky horror films like “Them!” or “Starship Troopers” because, well, we’re looking at bad CGI of giant ants and arachnids. (During the trailer for “Starship Troopers,” I turned to Linda B. and whispered, “Quick, Henry, the Flit!”)

“A Quiet Place” is very, very different. It shows us a seemingly unstoppable outer-space species that feeds (quite literally) on our inability to communicate without sound.

Haven’t seen the trailer? Allow me:

In an era of movies featuring inane dialogue and a whole lotta things getting blowed up real good, “A Quiet Place” is a standout because it contains only 90 lines of spoken dialogue. The rest of the communication is through American Sign Language, since one of the children is deaf.

Even so, I found seven examples of money advice that spoke louder than words.

1. Silence is a useful life skill.

The ability to move silently and communicate without speaking is the only thing keeping the Abbotts alive. The only places they can talk are a soundproofed basement and next to a waterfall. Naturally they aren’t chatting idly on those occasions, but rather saying things that need to be said.

In the working world, the ability to keep your mouth shut is golden. Sometimes that’s biting your tongue when you’d like to tell your supervisor what you really think of him – but knowing you need to keep the paycheck more than you want to tell off the boss. Zip it until you’ve got a new job to go to, please.

Another good thing about silence: It lets you hear. If you speak less and listen more, you’ll learn a lot. Talk when it’s necessary, and make your words count. That higher-up might take notice that you’re a solid worker who doesn’t BS her way through meetings or waste time in water-cooler chat.

2. Be a generalist.

The parents in “A Quiet Place” can use firearms, operate ham radios, grow and catch food (and store it safely), survive long winters, forage for essentials and, if necessary, deliver a baby without a doctor (let alone an epidural). In short, they’re survivors.

Not everyone can live off the grid, but everyone should be able to do more than one thing well. You’ll save money and be better prepared to withstand adversity if you know how to cook, clean, care for your yard, look for the best deals, do a little sewing and make minor household repairs. Gardening for food is a good idea; so is preserving the harvest.

That goes for the workplace, too. Someone who knows how to do more than one task is better suited to survive layoffs than someone who has just a single, specialized skill. To quote from Robert A. Heinlein’s sci-fi novel, “Time Enough For Love”:

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

3. Wing it.

The Abbotts work with what they have. Large farm animals all gone, those noisy things? Get your protein by weaving fish traps from saplings. Afraid your footsteps will be too loud, even if you’re barefoot? Lay down a pathway of sand. Kids need entertainment? Retrofit the board game with pieces that don’t make any sound.

We all need to work with what we get, even if we don’t like it much. So you’ve got money issues. What are you gonna do about it? Maybe take in a roommate, look for part-time gigs on sites like SideHusl and 1099-Mom, sell your car and buy a used one, haunt thrift stores in search of items you can sell on Craigslist.

Even if you don’t bring in much money right away, doing something is better than doing nothing. To paraphrase Mother Jones: “Don’t mourn, boys – improvise.”

4. Sometimes you have to do what scares you.

Marcus Abbott doesn’t want to leave the (relatively) safe house for the unknown terrors of the outside world. But his dad insists, and his mom agrees: He needs to know how to fend for himself in case something happens to his parents.

There will be times in your life when you are in money trouble or outright crisis, because of entrenched economic and/or health issues or because things suddenly go south (job loss, illness, whatever). It’s all right to be scared. It’s not all right to stay stuck. Get moving.

5. Learn all you can.

Marcus also doesn’t warm to the idea of taking fish from the trap and killing them. But all knowledge is useful, especially if it means not starving to death.

All financial knowledge is useful, too, even if you’re not in a position to use it right away. Can’t invest yet? Learn about it anyway, so you’ll be ready later on. Ditto things like retirement planning, life insurance, entrepreneurship, online banking, rewards credit cards – the more you know, the more prepared you’ll be to make the best choices once your finances improve.

6. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

At one point in the film is a moment of absolute crisis: some Abbott family members are trapped in a small room with one of the monsters. Not to give away too much of the plot, but one of the kids does something that’s both brave and terribly risky in order to try and save the day.

Some people who are in money trouble crumble under the stress, and wind up moving back in with their parents or making rash financial decisions. For example, I once interviewed a young woman who declared bankruptcy at age 20, even though her debt was relatively small. She later regretted the decision, because it trashed her credit and left her unbanked for years.

Others facing financial troubles fight to survive: selling everything they can, working multiple jobs, hustling for any extra cash and cutting expenses to the bone. I did that myself, both as a young single mom and as a middle-aged woman in a protracted divorce.

Sometimes it all seems like too much. You’re tempted to give up and let the financial monsters win. But that means you lose.

Fight like hell for what’s yours. Fight for your future. That might mean serious pain and/or a huge leap of faith. But don’t go down without trying your hardest to survive.

7. Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

When the Abbotts planted food crops and installed solar panels, it probably wasn’t because they expected intruders from beyond. What’s more likely is that they were aiming toward self-sufficiency. For some people, producing one’s own food and living even partly off the grid is a major goal.

Then the giant bugs landed. So much for hoping for the best. But the family went deep into preparation mode, with tricks such as painting footsteps on the non-squeaky parts of the floors and setting up fireworks to distract the invaders.

Financially speaking, we all hope for the best. We hope to earn enough to stay afloat and have comfortable retirements (maybe even early ones). Some want to be rich, some just want to make a living without taking one away from somebody else.

None of it will happen without some preparation. Generally speaking, money doesn’t just land in our hands when we’re ready to receive it. Sure, you might inherit some or win the lottery, but even then you have to make smart financial choices. Even if your grandpa left you a fortune or you made a killing on Wall Street, prepare to live as though you weren’t loaded. Things change. Just ask Martin Shkreli.

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7 thoughts on “7 money lessons from “A Quiet Place.”

  1. The Birds was one of the scariest movies ever. This seems to be of the same terror. I should have waited to read this and watch those two minutes until it was daylight. If this opens on April 6, how did you see it?

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