What do Wealthy individuals do that people living paycheck to paycheck do not?
I have sat with quite a few millionaires and learned this one cool thing. 99% of wealthy individuals did not inherit their wealth. Yep, that is right, they built it from the ground up.
One of the ways that wealthy individuals do this is by using a Budget. Yep, I used the B-word! I know that your hearts is beating faster and palms are getting sweaty, but keep reading.
The majority of people believe that budgeting as the equivalent of torture device that they don’t have time to mess with. People believe the B-word as a taboo discussion topic when it comes to family resources. I get it. I fought against using budgets until I took a class that helped me understand that if I tell my money what to do, it actually does what I want it to do.
When I learned how freeing budgets can be, I was pissed at myself that I didn’t do this when I graduated college. I would have had so much more money at the end of the pay period and would have been able to invest more money. Had I started earlier on investing into retirement I would have millions more when I retired. Not a million…Millions! Click this link to see how compound interest works.
My wife and I started out our marriage with the monthly budget meeting and the monthly budget has helped our communication greatly as a by-product. Communication is huge in relationships. We go through all of the line items including clothing budgets. What has been nice is that my wife gets a set amount of money that she can use to buy whatever clothes (shoes) she wants whenever she wants. It is freeing. Yes, budgeting can be freeing for you and your loved ones. A total contradiction to what people think about budgets.
She can use her money to buy whatever she wants with it. If she decides to buy a whole bunch of coffee, she is free to do so without me condemning her because it is her money to budget for whatever she wants! Have you ever had a fight over your significant other buying something that you haven’t agreed on? It sucks having those fights and ending up on the couch for the night, or worse the cold shoulder!
Budgeting has been one of the single most effective ways for my wife and I to prepare for emergencies, taking vacations, date nights, etc. This past Spring, we had to pay for the foundation for our house to be fixed which cost tens of thousands of dollars which we were able to pay cash for because we budgeted. It has brought us closer as we talk about our future dreams and budget to make it a reality. That is right budgeting gives you HOPE for a better future.
We give the kids a budget for clothing and after school activities that they can manage how they choose. They just need make sure they can afford it. If they don’t have enough money, then they don’t do the activity. Now the emotion is taken out of the discussion and the focus is on saving up so they can do that activity in the future. My hope is that they will keep budgeting for the rest of their life so they can retire with even more money that my wife and I.
What is keeping you from sitting down and doing a budget?
Do you not have the time?
Does it seem like you don’t know where to start?
What if I told you that if you emailed me, I would send you a FREE excel file that you could budget. It does all of the calculations for you.
Would that be helpful for you?
If you want to become wealthy and have HOPE for your future, email me today and I will send you a copy of the budget file we use so that you can get on the road for a better future.
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
www.kevinsidebottom.com