Become Wealthy - the subject that appears to have such mystery to it!
While there is no single road to getting there, One Stable Principle is in place for those who keep their wealth over a lifetime: Live beneath your means.
Spend less than you make. Don't spend more than you can afford.
If you want to create wealth, you have to learn to do this. It doesn't matter if you make $10,000 a year or $1 million, if you don't learn how to master the step of spending less than you earn, you'll never create lasting wealth.
Are you living paycheck to paycheck? Feel like you are treading water? And, no matter how hard you try, you never seem to get ahead?
A method to start getting out of the trap of not getting ahead is to master the difference between needs and wants.
First, it's important to realize that wants and needs are not the same. This may sound over-simplified, but if you look at where you are spending money you may find that you have some "wants" that you may consider as "needs".
Take a step back and view the times that you have said "I absolutely need (fill in the blank)" when in reality the meaning was "I really want (fill in the blank)".
Take the time to critically look at your current lifestyle and what are the true needs versus those things that are convenient wants will go a long way in saving you money and enabling you to spend less than you make.
Let's take an example of your TV. Is your TV a need or a want? Even though it can be rationalized as a necessary part of your life, the truth is that it is more than likely a want. In most cases, it is probably an affordable want (The exception may be if you decided you had to have that 50 inch state of the art plasma television with the price tag of a small car).
The question is whether the digital cable TV, 6 premium channels, satellite dish, the on demand movies, the DVD player with movie selection, etc are all also affordable wants?
What may be a want for one person may be a necessity for another person. For example, let's take a look at a computer. If you make your livelihood on the computer, then a computer is a necessity for you. If you only use a computer to play the latest online games, then it's a want.
Knowing this, we can still make some pretty good guesses as to what are wants and what are needs for most people. Shoes (and clothing in general), water, bed, car, lunch, healthy foods, supplements and furnishings are good bets to be needs. Basic transportation to make a living is a need.
A 4 wheel drive sport utility vehicle with all the extras counts as a want for most people, A larger than needed apartment, computer with all the lastest technology, a cellular phone whne you don't need one, a designer suit, ice-cream, lottery tickets, entertainment center, club membership, concert tickets, trip to Hawaii, necklace, daily espresso and golf clubs all probably count as "wants".
If you can take the time to start being honest with yourself, you will find that a lot of the things which you assumed were an absolute necessity until now are in reality nothing more than wants.
Once you distinguish between the two and look at these issues objectively, you have placed yourself in the position to live within your means by simply asking yourself whether or not an item or service you are about to purchase is a need or merely a want.
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