PART THREE
MAKING MONEY WORK FOR YOU
There are people who have money and people who are rich.
It seems pretty obvious that having lots of extra money will help you become more successful. It isn’t so much that you have the money, but rather that the money doesn’t have you—or for that matter, that the lack of money doesn’t have you. It is just as unattractive to make your life be about the lack of money as it is to make it be about the abundance of money. The goal here is to make money a detail in your life, not the main concern.
Easier said than done.
Lack of money is the most common reason (perhaps “excuse” would be more accurate) people use to explain why they aren’t happier or why they aren’t doing what they love to do. I’ve heard it plenty of times. “If I only had more money, I’d do XYZ, and then I’d be happier.” I’ve seen the very same people get more money and not do the thing they thought they wanted to, but instead remain just as miserable. It’s clear that more money is not the key to happiness. On the other hand, less money isn’t the key to happiness either. The trick is to learn to manage your money so that you have enough, can stop worrying about it, and start feeling a sense of freedom with respect to your finances.
There are basically two ways to create extra money: spend less and earn more. Follow the ideas and suggestions in this part, and you will soon be on the way to financial freedom (Tip 29). I’m not talking about being able to pay your bills by yourself; I’m talking about having enough money saved and invested or enough income streams that you don’t have to work for a living. You may choose to work for a living, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to.
Now that may sound completely impossible to you at this point, as you sit there with your massive credit card debt, mortgage, and car payments. If so, don’t skip around through the money part. Do the tips in order. Just like lifting weights, sometimes what looks impossible is easy if you work up to it in small increments. Financial freedom is possible for just about everyone—even you.