The road to prosperity

1. Responsibility

The control of your life is in your hands, take it on. Of course, everyone has a factor that can hinder it (it can put a very serious barrier to it).

Look for role models, people who have been successful in a really difficult situation. Look at what they did to get from one to two. You can also see from their example that you can get up from a virtually impossible situation, it only takes a little longer.

See what you can do for yourself and do it. This is not necessarily a financial area, you may be taking an (even free) online course instead of watching TV or just developing yourself in some other way. But you might as well pay attention to your diet so you have enough energy and don’t die out already by noon.

You can do these parts even without money, completely in your head. The whole thing is based on this, if you deal with your own life situation with “it’s not my fault”, “I can’t do it”, “but I didn’t succeed 25 years ago”, then practically unnecessary for you to do anything.

2. Find your Why.

Why do you want to live better?

The question may sound strange, but is important if you’re running away from something or heading for something. In the first case you can easily get out of the frying pan into the fire, in the second you can plan a route. Just like when you tell GPS where you want to go, wher you do not just say “get out of here”.

The why for you should be as detailed as possible. Believe me, the road to prosperity is by no means straight, and an elevator is usually not an option available at all. So the fact that you know, you see, you feel your why, that’s what drives you from the lows.

This is the point where you can return to, after all, you won’t necessarily be able to say very specifically on your very first try. If that’s all your why, for the “Why would you want to live better?” question, because you should have a super car, you can although can start, but expect difficulties. Why do you need a super car? What inner values do you serve with it? If you just want recognition, you can achieve it without a super car before your own car drives you bankrupt. If you need a good car to use as a tool when you want to help someone, that’s another level.

3. Planning, budget

Many people would also be able to live on a fairly good level from their existing salary. You may not be able to go to the Bahamas for 2 months each year, but you could create a stable standard of living. To do this, however, you need to know what you are cooking from. How much you earn, how much you spend.

Look at your own budget. What is the amount you took home. This should include everything that is revenue.

I mean, for example:

• if you have a second job, so is the amount that comes in from it
• if you have a small webshop reserved for a hobby, how much of it comes in usually
• is there any cafeteria

After that, look at what the money is going for. Take it all in turn:

• maintaining the house (here break down the home loan and the utilities as well)
• own food
• clothing
• car maintenance (this includes car loan)
• item by item everything you spend on

That’s when it will probably come out if you spend more on something than you can afford. Be very honest with yourself, really review your finances with penny accuracy. If you do not do this, you will be building a bug in the system from the beginning.

Pay attention to these “tiny” things, while you plan:

It can be a point of reference at a car, for example, if you know what the frames are when your own car doesn’t keep you poor. You’ve read about what kind of car you can afford before.

If something is more than “it should be,” don’t trash that item 100% because it’s easy to bounce back, but set a healthy limit for it on your budget.

For example, if you have gone on holiday / bought a gift so far, you should obviously buy a gift, go on holiday, but within a framework that you can afford yourself.

For many people, loan repayment “exceeds the limit”, there is a solution for this as well, e.g. credit redemption.

To stay beyond your own limits, you can use the Silver Moon budget planner. This will tell you what to do with your loans in proportion to your income. You can download it here.

4. Live within your limits.

This is one of the hardest parts. Go step by step, develop new healthy financial habits. Be extremely patient with this step, but at the same time be disciplined.

Many people tend to compete with their neighbor, to show that his grass is greener. Well, if you really want to live in prosperity, then this race is not your track. It only goes bankrupt because it has more than anything.

If you’re usually characterized by impulse buying, i.e. “I saw it and I couldn’t leave it there,” or just “that cookie smiled so nicely on me,” there are several options open to you.

1. On the one hand, look at why you want to live in prosperity. Is this more important to you than a cookie? If so, it won’t be (so) hard anymore.
2. Hold a “cheat day” regularly. This can be monthly or possibly weekly. Then the flag stands on the beautifully smiling cookie. On the other hand, don’t forget to include the fraudulent day in the budget for how much of a budget you are free to scatter. Then stick to this frame.
3. Use cash first, credit card second, and forget credit card. I know a lot of people look at me for why they carry cash, just grab your credit card, and you’re done. But then you feel less of the weight of the purchase. It is completely different to “snatch” a card than to take out real (paper) money.

Those who really built wealth from scratch took this point very seriously, even if the neighbor’s grass seemed to be greener for a long time.

It’s easier to live within your limits if you review your insurances to see if there are any that you can get cheaper. The same is true for your loans.

5. Increase revenue

And now we come to the part that many people would have done in the beginning. By the time you get to this point, you can already manage your money properly. You have the discipline to keep what comes in, and it won’t flow out of your hand almost immediately.

Increasing revenue is not necessarily another job. You don’t have to work 28 hours a day.

It can even happen by working for a higher wage than before. But even by working on the money you have already saved. That is, even with a properly selected investment.

Planning is also important in this part, especially if you’re thinking about investing. It matters what time frame and what tool you choose. We are happy to help you with this, you can send a message in the Contact menu.

6. Smile sometimes

It all makes no sense if you just work like a mule.

If I had written this article very strictly through the eyes of an economist, the fraudulent day could not have come to mind. But have fun, take care not only of your financial but also of your mental health. These two are mutually reinforcing. The better you feel in your skin, the more opportunities you have to do so.