A few years ago I found myself up to my eyeballs in debt. I searched and searched for all the tricks on how to get myself out of debt and to growth real wealth. I kept looking for a magic formula, but the truth is, there is no instant magic formula. There is, however, a series of SIMPLE STEPS that if you follow them, they will produce wealth in your life over time and thus make you RICHER.
The concepts here are very simple and easy to grasp, yet millions of people have a hard time implementing them into their lives. The reason, the steps involve changing your behavior. Which is often a challenge in and of itself.
Let’s take a look at 4 simple ways to be richer:
- Spend Less Than You Earn
It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Yet it would seem most folks are burying themselves in debt or living purely paycheck to paycheck. It’s said that the average American makes $1.25 and spends $1.50. That is scary. If you can’t live on what your making now, how do you except to live on more money? You won’t be able to until you learn to spend less than you earn first.
Simply spending less than you earn will create a snowball of positive effects.
Here is a principle that has helped me: Delayed Gratification. If you can’t afford it now, then don’t buy it.
- Stop Wasting Time
**Time is money, and when you manage your time well, you manage your money well too. **How much time in the day do you waste watching TV? That is time that could be spent investing in your future and earning you money. Stop wasting your time with things that add no real value to your life and only drain value from it.
Second of all, I know you think trading dollars for hours is a good idea, but it could also be costing you money. Your time is valuable, are you using it wisely?
Also, ask yourself What is your Time Worth?
- Eliminate (and Avoid) High-Interest Debt
High interest debt is a terrible idea, and even low interest debts are a terrible idea. Let’s count the ways debt sucks.
The higher the interest rate, the more money you flush down the toilet. Leave a $1,000 debt on a credit card with an 5.5% APR for a year and you lose $55 – not good. But if you bump that amount up to a level that’s typical for credit cards – say, 19.9% – you’re up to $199 a year. Gone. Poof. Vanished. Straight down the crapper.
The more debt you have, the more money you are flushing down the toilet. Say you have $5,000 debt on a credit card with a 19.9% APR, that means you are losing $998 a year. Do you enjoy just giving the credit card companies free money?
A required minimum payment each month reduces your freedom. With that $5,000 debt you are paying about $100 every single month as a minimum payment. That’s $100 you could be saving for a down payment. It’s $100 you could be saving towards early retirement. It’s $100 you could be saving towards your dream vacation.
Instead your freedom is gone, eaten by the debt monster.
- Stop Trying to Impress Other People
Stop spending money to impress other people. If you have an $800 dollar car and put $2000 dollar 24inch rims on it, chances are you’re busy trying to impress other people. This is a waste of your money. When you are not trying to impress others and simply content with yourself, you will find yourself saving loads of money.
Here is a simple question to ask yourself: **DO YOU WANT TO LOOK RICH OR DO YOU WANT TO BE RICH? **The world is obsessed with image. We are bombarded on a almost non-stop bases by media and advertisers that you have to look a certain way, dress a certain way and act a certain way. It’s all crap to steal your money!
Most people are just posers. You don’t have to be one.