My View on Money…
Money is a sour spot for a lot of people. People often complain about their financial situation, yet they refuse help with it. That said, here’s my view on money.
1.) Financial freedom is about priorities.
I don’t know what “financial freedom” means to you, but to me it means not having to worry about paying the bills. It means financial “emergencies” are no longer emergencies – they’re planned for. This goal is achieved with two simple priorities:
- Spend less than you earn.
- Prioritize what’s important in your life.
Spending less than you earn sounds basic and simple, but why doesn’t everyone live that way? Once you spend less than you earn, you begin to accumulate… wealth! So that’s one of the principles my wife and I live with.
So what are financial priorities? If you want a hot new Mercedes more than you want a big savings account, that’s how you’ll prioritize. If you want to be wealthy more than you want a Mercedes, you’ll set your priorities differently.
My Electrical Engineering degree cost approximately $42,000. After about $20,000 in trusts and scholarships, I was left with $22,000 to pay off. I worked my ass off in college to pay for the degree mostly with cash. What I couldn’t pay for in cash, I paid for with loans. Those loans were paid off within five months of graduation. My wife and I are still debt-free. Now you know my priorities.
2.) The only limit on your income is you.
If you tell me that your income is limited by your yearly salary and bonus percentage, I have news for you. You don’t have to work there. You can do anything you want to do. Do you want to open a hot dog stand? Chances are, if you’re good at it, you’ll make a killing at that hot dog stand.
Maybe after a few months of running that hot dog stand, you decide to turn it into a franchise. Hello, my green friend! (The green friend is money… *sigh*) After a few more months, chances are you’ll be bringing in huge amounts of profit. And it all started with you making the decision to sell hot dogs.
I live in America, and this is the country of capitalism and entrepreneurship. If you want to succeed like crazy, there is no better country to do it in. Look at Microsoft, Apple, and Wal-Mart – just to name a few. Don’t give me excuses. Show me effort, and your results will come.
3.) Earning loads of money doesn’t make you evil.
I hate all this talk about “the evil rich”. Here’s the deal: some people are corrupt, and some aren’t. If you think that earning a lot of money will make you evil, you’re wrong. If you’re evil, lots of money will make you more evil. If you’re good, lost of money will make you great.
If you think your friends will alienate you for being successful, change their minds. You can’t control people’s perceptions of you, but you can control the way you present yourself.
4.) Being a cheap-ass is of the utmost importance (to me, at least)
I talk a lot about how to save money. I’m a huge fan of not paying retail for anything, and I don’t ever plan to. Ever. That means that when I reach my first million, I’m still not going to pay retail. Rich people stay rich by living frugally.
If you don’t start living frugally now, you’ll likely never be rich. But you have to remember that “rich” only means what you want it to mean. You get to define “wealth” in your life. Regardless of what wealth is to you, if you don’t start living like a cheap-ass now, you probably won’t feel financial security any time soon.