Live a Rich life

"Whatever may be said in praise of poverty, the fact remains that is not possible to live a really complete or successful life unless one is rich"
Wallace D Wattles

If there is one thing I am sure about, I hated being poor, although we were luckier as a family than most. My mother was an amazing seamstress and knitter so we always had good quality clothes. My family grew most of their own fruit and vegetables, so we never went hungry, even through mass layoffs and strikes were the norm during my childhood. My father never went down the pits, although his father and his brothers and nephews did, so the miners strike hit them hard, all of a sudden they went from earning lots of money and spending it to earning little or nothing. My aunt said "we can't afford steak anymore" ... my mother turned around and said " ....... we've never been able to afford steak", which rather took the wind out of her sales. It took my parents an entire year to save for the family holiday, but we went away - every year. Nothing was bought on credit - if they wanted something - they did some overtime and saved the money.

Today we live in a world of instant gratification and credit cards, anything can be bought for three easy payments and no interest for ...

My neighbours have no less than half a dozen flat screen TV's and a camper trailer that has never been used. And I know they've re-mortgaged several times to pay off the debts they've accumulated. But the truth is they are pretending to be rich, but are in fact living a poverty existence. I tell you this because you probably live next to someone just like them, in fact you may be just like them.

You may argue that "you" are not living a poverty existence - but I would have to challenge you just a little.

Money does give you choices. But are you living from week to week? What happens when the bubble bursts? Would you be able to survive long enough to pay your bills before you landed another job? That's the kind of poverty mentality I am talking about. Then there is another kind, where you buy the cheapest thing on the menu, never offer to pay for a "round" of coffee's and hoard your money like a miser - saying I'll do that next week, and of course, the next week you are still saying you'll do whatever it was you said you were going to do.

Now I am not rich by any means, and I do still have a mortgage - but I do consider I have if not a millionaire mindest at least it's a tens of thousands-aire one (although I do have quite a way to go) - BUT my daily actions follow my thinking. If I want to be "rich" then I am going to have to be careful about what I spend my money on. But neither do I want to compromise the lifestyle I do lead.

Which sounds like a misnomer - but let me explain how you can live a rich life.

The one secret of success to living a rich life is this:

Spend less than you earn.

That's what the rich do. When they receive money, they know what their budget needs so they put away what they know they can save into a special account, and then they use what is left for day-to-day living. Most people do it the other way round. They spend first and then save what's left... and we all know what's left don't we.

Truth is we should take 10% of everything we earn and put it somewhere safe, don't think you can save 10% yet? Well if you have never saved 10% it will be hard at first. But you need to have the mindset that says I save money. How do you save money - by not spending it of course.

Start with those little purchases, the cups of coffee and the bought lunches. For one week carry on as normal but make a note of what you are spending. At the end of the week, add it all up - what % would that equate to out of the 10%? Do you smoke? How much do you drink? Do you have a magazine subscription you don't have time to read? Each decision adds up to the 10% and before you know it you will have saved several thousand dollars and once you start to see it grow you won't want to spend it. Did you know it takes an average of 20 years to become a millionaire? And you too can join the ranks, and I don't care if you are earning a thousand dollars a week or a couple of hundred, start early enough and you can do it. You can do it by saving 10% of what you earn and adding compound interest and time to the equation. Obviously if you have a damn good idea then the process does shorten, but here's the thing. If you have always spent up to and over what you earn, what happens when you have more money - I'd say you'd be like my neighbours who have all the gadgets and toys and then waste even more money buying new ones. Of all the people who become instant millionaires thanks to the roll of the numbers on the lottery, how long do you think it would take before they were back to where they started. Believe it or not, the average is about 3 years. Sure they may have had a great time, but if they had had the millionaire mindset they could have enjoyed their windfall for the rest of their lives.

As you know I've been working on what I call "ad-hoc" spending purchases for the challenge. Those odd cups of coffee here and there, and no purchases unless they come from a supermarket. Now I am the first to admit I have failed a few times - but by tightening up my ad-hoc spending I have created monetary space to start the process of re-decorating my house without touching any of my capital. And I shall continue with this way of living my life beyond this round of the challenge - because I now know how to live a rich life. It's quite exciting seeing the changes. Yes there are still things I need to do, I am a work in progress just like you. But my thinking goes - I don't want to touch my savings, I like seeing those numbers.

Dump your debt - it's true you can't grow wealth if your debt is out of hand, so if you are working from a negative as I was - it does take a little longer to begin the process, but if you -

Ditch your poverty, instant gratification way of thinking you can -

Live a rich life