Last time we talked about the consequences of living a life of financial fraud. Today I want you to start living a money lie…yes, I am confused like that…just ask my wife…but this is a good kind of lie, the one that gets you rich!
You Now Make 50% of Your Salary
Starting today you need to reduce your salary. I don’t want you to actually get rid of the money, but I want you to live as if you don’t make it. I’m sure at some point in your life you made 50% of what you make today and you survived so can you do it again? Then can you keep and invest the other half of your money?
I Can’t Do That
Well if you say you can’t do it, then yes, you can’t and you have failed. Nice job.
Yes you can do it, there are lots of people that do it but if you don’t start early it does take some time to get your life and finances in order to accomplish the goal but isn’t it worth trying? Being able to save and invest half of your salary will change your financial life forever. I know it has for my family.
Baby Steps to Save Money
You need to start with baby steps. Most people take on a major goal in life frequently and almost always fail. You can’t run a marathon if you can’t even do a simple 5k. You can’t save 50% if you struggle to save 5% so start there. When you start with a smaller goal and accomplish it then work your way up.
If you run and train and accomplish one race then you gain confidence to increase your goal The more you do it the easier it gets…it is the exact same with finances. It takes time and practice and dedication. If people can run marathons or save 50%, so can other people.
I Want To Do That
Would you like to keep half of your money? What prohibits you from doing so? Are your obligations and debt too high? Is your income too low? A combination of both income and debt.
We need to get away from I can’t do it so I want to do it and then actually do something about it other than a daydream. It’s time to kick out the lazy or the fear of the unknown and just start trying to be wealthy.
Read Part 1 of Living a Money Lie: What Do You Expect When You Aren’t Honest With Yourself Financially?
Stuff Should Not Validate Your Life, If It Does, What Kind of Life is That?
Many times we try to make ourselves feel better by buying stuff. Instead of taking the time to save and have a plan we fulfill our need for instant gratification by using credit. We compound our debt by adding more to it to take away the pain of our financial situation. We are drowning and instead of a life jacket, we decide to add on some extra weight that takes us even more underwater.
What Is It Like To Save Half of Your Money?
My wife had an awesome paying job…it was much higher than mine when we got married. We knew that she wasn’t going to work forever so instead of living off of what we both earned we just lived on my salary and saved her salary.
Our savings grew like crazy! We were already heavy savers to start with and we just combined our super-saver powers to create one amazing marriage about making and saving money! Just imagine taking two good salaries and being able to save one of them…yeah it is that good.
When our daughter was born my wife stayed home and we lost one salary.
It was no big deal because we were already living with one salary, but our savings dropped. However, I was promoted into management shortly after, and then we were back making what we did before and could continue growing our savings.
Now It’s Time To Invest
Saving is awesome, but investing and making your money work for you is even better. You don’t do anything and your money does everything. We now have an annual increase of around $30k a year just from investments, that doesn’t count what we put in each year.
Granted it’s been a sweet six years in the marketplace, but it is what it is. Life is sweet and man does it grow fast the more you save. 3% doesn’t seem to get you anywhere or seem worth the time and effort, but change it to 25-50% and it is financially life-changing!
How Your Life Changes
We don’t worry about paying the bills. Bills are 20% of income. When an emergency comes up we don’t worry because we have money saved. The daily stress of money is gone. We still have issues and challenges in life, you can’t get rid of life, but nowhere near someone in debt. We control our money now and it doesn’t control us.
We love our money even more. Instead of getting excited about new things, we get excited to save more and keep more of our money. I hate giving money to others for stuff and things I don’t really need.
What Is Stopping You
So why can’t you do it? Why won’t you do it? If you truly want it, then to try it out. Remember baby steps and once you have success you will love it, then take it up to the next level. I don’t know anyone who ever says, “Why did we save and make so much money?”
