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Think Rich - Don't Spend Money As If You Are Rich

Written by: Scott Ewart

Article Overview: Do you need to start changing the way you think about spending money? When you want something, you have to learn to ask 'how will I pay for this' - not 'which card has enough room on it for this'. It is a hard habit to break. Our brains are wired how we wired them - and if it's wired to use credit cards as an extension of your wealth, then it may take months to break the habit and dismiss the impulse to shop for something you cannot afford. Just stop, take a breath, and ask yourself 'How am I going to pay for this'. If it's not from passive income or portfolio income, it might be time to acquire some and then pay for the item. Start thinking like a rich person - not spending like you were a rich person.

Think Rich - Don't Spend Money As If You Are Rich

I was having a conversation with a friend yesterday, talking about how I had started to and continue learning how to think like a rich person. My friend said 'It's about time Scott, because you've always spent money as if you were rich'. Taken aback at first, I realized she was right. I had always spent money as if I was rich, as if there was an endless supply. Even though I grew up not lacking for much, I developed a habit of wanting things I could not afford. Not extravagant, but certainly things that I could not get with my paycheck. So the life of credit began. My first credit card had a 1000.00 limit - 1000.00 dollars!! Wow that was cool. You could even get cash out of the ATM from your card! So I charged it up immediately on frivolous things and then applied for another. Somehow over time, it became acceptable to me to have a monthly payment with high interest charges and fees accumulating on my account, yet everything I had put on the card was nowhere to be found. So as my life of credit continued, I used it as a way to feed my need to acquire fun things and spend lots of cash with the 'I'll pay for it later' attitude. Before I knew it, I was tapped out with no way to make all of my payments. Over time I've been through it all - canceling cards, credit card consolidation loan, credit counseling services, paying down all the cards to get out of it, then slowly charging them all back up. Pay down again, charge back up again. Vicious cycle. Sound familiar to anyone? Now the rich, they don't charge frivolous items and figure out how to pay for them later. The rich will acquire an asset to pay for something so it is not coming out of THEIR pocket. So for example if they want to buy a new car. They will not look for a low interest low monthly payment car they can afford. They decide what car they want and how much money they need for it. Then, they will acquire an asset such as a rental home or commercial building that will generate enough passive income to pay for the car. They get the asset to pay for the new car. They will use credit cards as they serve a useful purpose when used properly (car rental, internet purchases that you already have the money set aside to pay for, etc.). So it is a completely different way of thinking about how you spend money.

So the job now is to change the way you think about spending money. When you want something, you have to learn to ask 'how will I pay for this' - not 'which card has enough room on it for this'. It is a hard habit to break. Our brains are wired how we wired them - and if it's wired to use credit cards as an extension of your wealth, then it may take months to break the habit and dismiss the impulse to shop for something you cannot afford. Just stop, take a breath, and ask yourself 'How am I going to pay for this'. If it's not from passive income or portfolio income, it might be time to acquire some and then pay for the item. Start thinking like a rich person - not spending like you were a rich person.

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Article Tags: atm, attitude, cards, credit card consolidation, credit card consolidation loan, credit counseling services, endless supply, fun things, habit, high interest, how much money, interest charges, loan credit, new car, passive income, paycheck, rich person, time scott, vicious cycle
Referred by: http://jaykubassek.com



Related Forum Posts
Re: How To Be Rich - [quote="TheRainmaker":tst8wsa8]Sounds great. What exactly have you found to be eye opening??[/quote:tst8wsa8] The first eye opener was measuring wealth by your total assets 1 Million - 2 Million Pounds The Comfortable Poor 2 Million - 5 Million Pounds The Comfortably Off 5 Million - 15 Million Pounds The Comfortably wealthy 15 Million - 40 Million Pounds The Lesser Rich 40 Million - 75 Million Pounds The Comfortably Rich 75 Million - 100 Million Pounds The Rich 100 Million - 200 Million Pounds The Seriously Rich 200 Million - 400 Million Pounds The Truly Rich 400 Million - 999 Million Pounds The Filthy Rich Over 999 Million Pounds The Super Rich
Re: My 3 best business books - 1. Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill 2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey 3. Permission Marketing - Seth Godin Think and Grow Rich seems more powerful each time I read it or dip into it. The 7 Habits not only offers some very effective ways to organize your life (which I have yet to master!), but also some great quotations and thought provoking statements including this by Nazi concentration camp survivor, Viktor Frankl: [i:2naxzsom]Between stimulus and response, man has the freedom to choose.[/i:2naxzsom] Seth Godin's Permission Marketing is a good read for anybody seeking to understand how to approach doing business on the Internet in the right way with regard to winning people's trust.
Anyone tried Rich Dad Coaching? - Hey I'm a newbie here. Anyone tried the Rich Dad Coaching?? I was going to join but I found this: johntreed.com/Kiyosaki.html
Small Business Books - I haven't read them but will check them out the next time I go to the store. I've heard a lot of good things about Rich Dad Poor Dad.
Re: My 3 best business books - It seems that Napoleon Hill works help a lot of business men. He had done a really good job. I bought Think and Grow Rich many times.


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