g’day
on any given day you will spot the dual cab utes.
jacked up ford rangers. top-of-the-line hiluxes. giant dodge rams that put arnie’s hummer to shame.
$120-150k of metal, rolling past (or over) you like it’s nothing.
because while everyone’s talking about the cost-of-living crisis, tradies are quietly printing money.
white collars miss it completely, because these guys aren’t on linkedin. they’re not quiet quitting. they’re owning the means of production one ABN at a time.
today, these utes aren’t just cars. they’re symbols.
not of wealth… but of control.
because here’s the one thing every single one of these tradies has in common: they work for themselves.
and the ute is a tax deduction.
during covid, thanks to temporary full expensing, you could write off the whole vehicle instantly. $100K+ off your taxable income — overnight. (that scheme’s gone now, but the thinking has stuck around.)
tradies buy assets that do double duty. part tool, part lifestyle upgrade. the ute is a rolling symbol of all of that.
but i’m not here to tell you to become a plumber.
what i am saying is:
there’s a lesson here. and it’s staring us in the face in every carpark.
it doesn’t matter if you’re a graphic designer, a software engineer, or a stay-at-home parent - if you can sell your time, product, or ideas on your own terms, you’ve taken the first step.
you’re not just making income, you’re building optionality.
and if you want to go further and build something scalable, sellable, less tied to your body and your hours (and apprentices leaving you) that’s the next level.
where you don’t just own your job. you own the system.
but until then, I’m in awe.
because every dual cab I see reminds me:
there are australians out there who’ve got ahead and escaped the system. they just don’t talk about it online.
charlie
new video just dropped, on the quiet war inside every australian - builder vs bureaucrat
