Money Tips: Review Part One

DOLLAR$ and $EN$E, November 2008, by Brian Bogaert

Money Tips
Review Part One

We’ve received a lot of letters over the months about money topics that have been covered in past articles. So for all you readers out there who didn’t see the first few issues of GCDA, in this issue and the next, I’m going to give a quick review of my past Money Tips. It will help us build on some cool concepts about Money!

Money Tip #1:
Money can't make you happy or sad, it's just a tool we use to buy stuff.

Money Tip #1 lets you know that you are the one in control of your feelings, not your money. We talked about the idea that no matter how much money you have (or don’t have), it can’t change the way you feel. There are lots of unhappy millionaires just like there are truly happy people who have very little money. How you feel is absolutely up to you!

Money Tip #2:
Working smart will make you more money than working hard!

In Tip #2, we talked about being paid for every hour that you work (which is how most people are paid from their jobs). This sounds great but you inevitably reach a limit because there are only so many hours in the day, which limits the amount of money you can make. Look for ways to utilize ‘leverage’ - getting paid for the work that other people do (employees of your company), sell something that doesn’t require you to do the work everyday (like writing a book and selling many copies on the internet or in a store), or invent something someone else sells for you. The more you can have other people working for you, the more money you can make without ever reaching a limit (think of Bill Gates: He is STILL one of the richest men on the planet and he doesn’t even WORK for Microsoft anymore…other people make money for him).

Money Tip #3:
When you figure out how you feel about money, and why, you can learn to control or change that feeling and decide how money will be in your life.

Money Tip #3 described how you feel about money. Every-one has a ‘feeling’ about money that controls how they handle it. Most of us feel some kind of fear about money and that can cause us to either spend all our money right away, save it all and hardly spend any, or avoid money altogether to the point where it rarely shows up in our lives. You likely built your money feelings from the views you heard from the significant influences in your life (like parents, grandparents, friends, siblings or what you saw on TV). If you want to change your habits surrounding money, the first thing you need to do is figure out how you feel about it and why.

Money tip #4:
Learning to manage Wants and Needs will directly influence how much money you have and how much money you earn.

Money Tip #4 talked about the BIG difference between Wants and Needs. Most of us feel as though we NEED those new shoes or yet another shade of lip gloss (well, not me). The reality is you don’t actually need it, you WANT it. Our needs are pretty basic – water, food, air, shelter, love, health and the feeling of making a positive difference in the world. These aren’t always easy but there are fewer of them compared to our Wants. Our list of Wants can go on for pages (and they can change almost daily). One of the biggest lessons to learn about money is how to manage your Wants while taking care of your Needs first. If you can become successful at this, you will have a lot more control over your money and your life than most other people.

Watch for part TWO next issue, and keep sending those letters!

~ Brian

Girls Can Do Anything Magazine

More DOLLAR$ AND $EN$E Blogs

November 2008 Blogs

Money Tips: Review Part One

Add Comment

See Back Issues

Tags