Here are 9 commandments to stacking that cash!
9 - Set a budget Budgets are this awesome thing that plenty
of people struggle sticking to.
There are a lot of people out there who don’t even do a budget.
How’s that saying go, failing to plan is planning to fail?
The thing is, that budget has to be realistic too.
Think of budgets as dieting.
The more they’re impossible to follow, the more likely you’ll end up splurging in the
end!
Living on a budget doesn’t mean only eating instant noodles and drinking wine from a bag.
Living on a budget means managing your money the right way so you can live comfortably
while at the same time, being able to save for the future so you don’t have to make
a living at age 70.
To come up with a budget you’ll actually be able to follow, track your living expenses
down to the cent for at least 3 months.
That way you’ll know exactly what you spend your money on.
You’ll be able to where the money goes, and more importantly, what you don’t need.
Once you set and know your budget, you’ll be able to make much better decisions.
If you can’t make a realistic budget, then you’ll have to follow the next commandment
coming up!
8 - Focus on Earning When we want to have a big amount of money,
we have to flip things around.
I know I just went over not spending too much, but too many people make the mistake of focusing
WAY too much on ways to save money.
Instead, shift your focus to the part where you get to MAKE money.
What’s the most money theoretically someone can save if they make 100 thousand dollars
a year?
That’s right, 100 thousand dollars!
Is there a limit to how much money someone can make?
No!
The sky’s the limit.
You have to focus on ways of creating new income streams in order to be wealthy.
First you gotta earn, THEN you save!
While you should be focused on saving, you also shouldn’t spend life being scared of
spending money on the necessary things in life.
It’s also okay to splurge a bit here and there as long as that adds value to your life.
The thing is, you just gotta be reasonable with your spending.
Getting that fifth thousand dollar handbag or 500 dollar designer belt you don’t really
need is keeping you back from letting your money work for you.
But getting your daily cup of coffee that makes you happy and makes your day much more
productive is the right decision to make.
7 - Don’t spend more than you earn It sounds so simple, doesn’t it?
Yet there are many people out there burying themselves in debt, spending more than they
earn or living purely paycheck to paycheck, spending exactly what they earn.
And it doesn’t matter whether they make 50 grand a year or 500 grand a year, these
guys are in the same boat!
It’s very easy to fall into the trap and overspend more without even being aware you’re
doing that.
Think about all the times you get bored and you start doing some online shopping because
you’re bored.
A hundred dollars here, a couple hundred there.
It all adds up!
The key is to be able to keep what you earn!
Ultimately, you want to make your money work for you.
There’s a reason why Warren Buffett earned 99% of his wealth after the age of 50.
If you ever wonder where did all your money goes, just keep track of it.
Write down every expense you have in your phone.
There are plenty of apps to keep track of your spending habit.
Or you can even keep a notebook in your pocket.
The simple process of doing this will make you think twice about buying unnecessary things,
and it’ll give you a true look at what you spend your money on.
6 - Only buy it if you have the cash When I say pay in cash, I DON’T mean that
you can’t use your credit card.
Who doesn’t want to earn points on their AMEX card?
What I mean is, when you use your credit card, you better have the cash on hand to pay it
off at the end of the money.
What you don’t want to do is accumulate debt!
There’s always one rule when it comes to buying anything: If you can’t afford to
pay cash for it, then you can’t afford it.
The only time when that doesn’t hold true is if whatever it is you buy appreciates,
such as a house.
The same rule goes for a car, which is a luxury.
I understand that everyone needs a car to get around.
But there are plenty of good, solid cars that can be bought for less than five thousand
dollars.
It’s just crazy how there are people who make 60 or 70 thousand dollars a year and
they buy 30 or 40 thousand dollar cars!
Having lots of payments and handing your paychecks over to the bank is NOT the way to build wealth.
Instead of wasting time and energy on things you can’t really afford, step back and take
a look at the bigger picture.
Are there any extra expenses you can cut out without feeling like you’re missing out
on something, such as cable TV?
Does someone really need that all-inclusive cable package that’s 250 bucks a month?
You’d have to watch a TON of TV to justify that cost!
But seriously, if you’re broke, why would you want to spend all your free time watching
TV anyways?!
5 - Have the right money mindset There are plenty of people out there looking
to make money but don’t really get anywhere.
Their mindset is to think “what’s in it for me?”
instead of the other way around, where they should be thinking how they can add as much
value as possible to someone else by solving their problem.
The first step starts with knowing that if you want money, you can make that money and
deserve to have that money.
If you put in the effort, there’s no reason why you can’t make money.
Once you start believing you can get what you want, you’ll change your actions to
make it happen.
The absolute worst people are the people who complain about other people making so much
money, yet do little to nothing to improve their own situation.
If you don’t want to be rich, awesome!
Enjoy what you have and be happy for other people.
If you do want to be rich, then you gotta take action.
There are so many people who like to point out injustices or just complain, and that’s
all they do.
We get it, life isn’t fair.
Not everyone gets to be a trust fund baby.
However, someone with the right mindset will make things better for someone else and get
what they want.
4 - Buy a car you can afford Buying a car deserves its own section because
it’s one of the most expensive luxury items people purchase that’s masquerading as a
need.
If you live in the US, you need a car to get to work and to get around in general, unless
you live in New York City.
A car is definitely needed.
However, leather seats and a sunroof aren’t exactly necessities.
The rule here is simple.
Spend no more than 1/10th of your gross annual income on the purchase price of a car.
If you want to stack that cash, absolutely DO NOT go and spend the median new car price
of over thirty thousand dollars if you make the median income!
Costs of ownership is the another big reason for this rule.
We’ve got auto insurance, maintenance, and other things such as parking and traffic tickets.
The thrill of owning a brand new or used car lasts for only several months, but the pain
of paying the same car payment lasts for years!
Treat the 1/10th rule of car buying like a game.
You’d be surprised to find how many different type of cars you can buy with 1/10th your
income.
If you want a $30,000 car, get motivated by the 1/10th rule to figure out a way to make
$300,000 a year.
3 - Be willing to work hard Having a lazy day or even a lazy week once
in a while isn’t that bad – you’ll burn out if you don’t.
The thing is, good things don’t happen to people who’re just waiting around waiting
for things to happen.
If you want to get rich, you gotta be willing to put in the hours to make things happen.
And it’s not just putting in any sort of hours.
You gotta work smart too.
Basically you have to be efficient in your 24 hours.
You’ll want to be working a job that can teach you new skills and grow as a person.
And don’t be afraid to take up a second job to keep earning and saving.
When you’re earning money, it means you’re not spending money!
Once you have a bunch of money, money will be working for you, instead of the other way
around.
2 - Be able to adapt While it’s true your parents wish you all
the best in the world, you probably shouldn’t listen to the advice your parents gave you.
Going to college, getting a degree, and finding a job isn’t as easy as it used to be.
Things have changed over time and the world is a very different place 30, 20, and even
10 years ago!
Something that worked well back then doesn’t mean it works out in today’s world.
So instead of looking backwards, shift your focus to the present and find out how the
most successful people today earn income.
Certain skills will never be out of demand, such as sales.
But there are plenty of skillsets that you learn in school that’s going to be obsolete
if they aren’t already with the advanced technology available today.
College isn’t the surefire ticket to a job these days.
Why?
If everyone has a degree, how are you going to stand out to an employer?
If you’re deciding on whether or not to go to school, just run the numbers and see
if the ROI justifies going.
Unless you get a full ride or have someone nice enough to pay for you, only a few degrees
justify the cost of going to college
1 - Work for yourself If you really want to get rich, you basically
will need to own your own business.
You always want to be the guy signing the paychecks, instead of the guy getting the
paychecks!
Now, more than ever, with the changing world, you need to be entrepreneurial to be financially
secure.
When you work for someone else you're putting all your eggs into one basket that you don't
own or hold.
If you have to have a job, you’ll definitely want to have more than one stream of income.
The days of job security working 20-30 years at a company are all but over.
In order to do business for yourself, you don’t need to be some kind of an entrepreneurial
genius to make this happen.
Instead, you just need to think of building a business that solves problems or adds value
for someone out there.
Too many people think they need to reinvent the wheel.
Instead, focus on an idea that already exists and make it more efficient to get that cash
flowing in!
Here’s what’s next!