The final solution to all "I have some money what do I do?" threads.

[Mr.B]

... but right as the school is swimming beneath his boat, he opens up the little tub of bait he brought along and starts shoveling the dirt and worms in his own mouth, greedily slurping down the little squirming maggots and telling everyone how awesome it tastes.

@ENΔΕKA this is brilliant! I suspect it will be rather difficult for me to open my wallet and waste money on crap I don't need after picturing myself shoving handfuls of worms and maggots in my mouth. Thank you.

Reminds me of this article by Mr Money Mustache in which he suggests that you offer yourself a catheter and a bedpan as a substitute for consumer purchases that you think will make your life more comfortable/convenient.

 

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[RHL]

Reminds me of this article by Mr Money Mustache in which he suggests that you offer yourself a catheter and a bedpan as a substitute for consumer purchases that you think will make your life more comfortable/convenient.

Yeah. I was influenced by his thinking early on, and I think that if you take the time to sort through, there are some great EVENTS there that can set off passive PROCESSES of savings, but I eventually decided that I didn't want a life where I was dosing my kids food with olive oil (something he suggests with a straight face) to make an offering of rice or beans that doesn't meet the minimum daily requirement for calories reach that point. Whenever I hear MJ talking about retiring young by cooking roadkill, MMM is the first thing that comes to my mind.

In that article, MMM states that new readers to his blog ask:

“How could I possibly live on 50% of my income? Or 25%?”

Which he says is the right kind of question, but too rigid, choosing instead to embrace a lifestyle that needed few material frivolities.

I asked the question in reverse: Rather than trying to live on 25% of my income, why don't I just increase my earnings so that my current salary is 25% of my future income?

 

[GuestUser140]

“How could I possibly live on 50% of my income? Or 25%?”

Which he says is the right kind of question, but too rigid, choosing instead to embrace a lifestyle that needed few material frivolities.

I asked the question in reverse: Rather than trying to live on 25% of my income, why don't I just increase my earnings so that my current salary is 25% of my future income?

Exactly.

I remember MJ writing he lived on about $10k/m while earning $100k+. That's barely 10%!

Spending less and less money has a ceiling, earning more and more doesn't.

 

[Mr.B]

I didn't want a life where I was dosing my kids food with olive oil

Agreed. I think that MMM has a lot to offer, but it certainly isn't fastlane stuff. That being said, there is a lot on his site that I've found to be helpful in challenging my mindset and helping me realize that by changing my relationship to money, I can make a lot more money.

I'd much rather scale my income up to live on 10% rather than scale my expenses down.

 

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[luniac]

By the time i have the income to quit my day job im going to be so scared of going back ill be afraid of spending any money at all...

 

[MJ DeMarco]

#50 on the GOLD list, time to bump back to #1.

 

[Dicky Dee]

I 100% agree with this post, it actually took me a years to understand this because i use want to make a shit ton of money so i can buy exotic cars. Fast forward few years later after reading a few books(The Millionaire Fastlane included), finding this forum and losing 250k at the age of 25 when the recession hit it really dawned on me that wanting to make money just to consume isn't really the way to go about life.

Now i make money for things such as financial freedom at a young age (goal is before i turn 40), to have something great business wise that i can pass down to my family for generations to come long after im gone so my family does not stay in the slow lane and finally to actually have an impact in this world and not just die one day to have done nothing or contributed anything to this world of ours.

Some of my successful friends still haven't realized this and spend money on things like five 50k Hublot watches or something insane like that. Its good to have nice things but i mean what are you going to do? Pass down to your kids an expensive watch? Its pretty pointless to me buying those things in excess, you need substance in this world that actually means something.....you as a person need to be of substance and mean something.

 

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[luniac]

If u focus on providing value then by default you are making the world a better place, even if just a little bit, to me that's the real beauty of the millionaire fastlane .

 

[JasonR]

Excellent post.

I have a particular friend who has a substantial net worth. He has a rule - he buys anything under $300, that he wants, without thinking about it. Anything over $300 he puts some thought into it.

He could easily spend $3000 a day and not miss the money.

But he understands the concept in the original post. He's smart with his money. He doesn't blow it.

Awesome thread.

 

[lrryjrry]

it's not useful that you save every penny and at the end you don't know how to use the money you saved to make more money.

 

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[DeletedUser394]

it's not useful that you save every penny and at the end you don't know how to use the money you saved to make more money.

Is this a reading comprehension fail? (ie english as a second language).

Because he's not advocating that at all.

 

[DeletedUser394]

I read this every morning. Keeps me grounded. a+++++++++

 

[lrryjrry]

should also tell how to make an use of the money you saved.....

 

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[ddzc]

#50 on the GOLD list, time to bump back to #1.

Great bump MJ, love this thread. It's great to be reminded when your mind fizzles away at times...I know mine did this morning and this thread was the exact thing I needed to read tonight!

 

[RHL]

I have a particular friend who has a substantial net worth. He has a rule - he buys anything under $300, that he wants, without thinking about it. Anything over $300 he puts some thought into it.

My rule is that I never tap the principle I started with at the beginning of the journey for anything but "investing"/fastlaning, and when I make a profit, I never spend more than 33% of it on something consumable, 2/3rds of the profit goes into making more profit.

 

[DeletedUser394]

..and now it's only $7,000

View attachment 8574

Which represents about .76c/day in fully passive income. That's less than 1% of what I'm doing overall, but strictly from a 'conscious consumer' standpoint, this is how much I"m up from this thread.

Been keeping track in a separate account since this thread was started.

AND NOW IT'S 6 F*ckING FIGURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SIX FIGURES!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH. This is just that one account that I set up way back when this thread was first posted.

This thread, and the philosophy behind it is lifechanging. LIFECHANGING. I'm on cloud nine. Still waiting for a certain member here to post lambo pics... all talk, no substance... guess what bud, I could buy one in cash today.

#50 on the GOLD list, time to bump back to #1.

#1 GOLD list forever in my book

Ok... There is a difference between building your wealth and being a cheap a$$. If $25 means that much you should probably be trying harder.

Over the past 14 months, I've been trying

 

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[LifeTransformer]

First read of this thread, wow!

I've been getting rid of a lot of crap I don't need/use lately and putting that money to work for me (if you haven't used something for a year, sell it!).
But this thread has made me realise something, I spend too much money on unnecessary gadgets.

Really like what you've been doing in this thread @GrumpyCat, shows you how a mindset shift and a change in habits can create something much larger down the road.

 

[DeletedUser394]

I've been getting rid of a lot of crap I don't need/use lately and putting that money to work for me (if you haven't used something for a year, sell it!).
But this thread has made me realise something, I spend too much money on unnecessary gadgets.

Amen.

People tend to have a lot of stuff, but not a lot of money. Get that money working for you and it'll keep working even when you aren't.

 

[mayana]

First read of this thread, wow!

I've been getting rid of a lot of crap I don't need/use lately and putting that money to work for me (if you haven't used something for a year, sell it!).
But this thread has made me realise something, I spend too much money on unnecessary gadgets.

Really like what you've been doing in this thread @GrumpyCat, shows you how a mindset shift and a change in habits can create something much larger down the road.

People tend to have a lot of stuff, but not a lot of money. Get that money working for you and it'll keep working even when you aren't.

Agree 100%!

I personally went through a situation a few years ago that required my husband and I (and kids!) to temporarily reduce our belongings to two suitcases per person, basically, for practical and logistical purposes. If we wouldn't have paid to ship it or store it, it went goodbye. It's surprising to see all of the things that we amass, and kind of gross to think of all the money that has been spent on those things when, at the end of the day, they didn't mean anything to us.

After viewing life through that lens, material belongings are much less important to me, and even my goals in business shifted. If you focus on creation of income (using the Fastlane principles), then you can always have the things that you need and want. If your focus is on stuff, it's always about worrying where and how to keep it, taking care of it, and making sure that it's safe. Misdirected energy!

 

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[DrunkFish]

Haven't read any replies but this is funny because this is exactly how I instinctively have thought about money I get from working at jobs ever since I was 17. People would be like "dude you DO have the money for X" and I'd explain to them how even though I have a job, it's not money that I should be spending on stuff like that unless necessary because I could be spending on it something that will actually make money instead of just take it.

The only "unnecessary" thing I buy is an iPhone every two years. Old car, cheap but good clothes, use my grandfathers watch... keeping it minimal until I have that freedom.

 

[Bouncing Soul]

Agreed. I think that MMM has a lot to offer, but it certainly isn't fastlane stuff. That being said, there is a lot on his site that I've found to be helpful in challenging my mindset and helping me realize that by changing my relationship to money, I can make a lot more money.

I'd much rather scale my income up to live on 10% rather than scale my expenses down.

I see MMM as discussing defense, Millionaire Fastlane as discussing offense. One keeps you from losing the Superbowl, one wins the Superbowl.

 

[Travispassiveinc]

There's only one fastlane answer to the question "I am in the slow lane and have X amount. What should I buy?"

Buy something to meet the needs of others.

Spend your money in a way that causes it to be multiplied rather than consumed.

The moment you realize you're in the right place= Priceless!! This idea. This way of life, is something I've never understood (yet sooo simple) why it's so difficult for people to understand. You work hard for the money you earn, yet treat it like a hot potato that's burning a blistering hole in your pocket; leaving you zero. Why? In my mind, people look no further than this friday rather than 10, 20, 100 years into the future. *Buy assets (that put money into your pocket) rather than Liabilities that steal money from your pocket. How selfish to yourself, family, and customers can you be to consume instead of multiply?

 

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[Jackal0]

Awesome thread!

Amen.

People tend to have a lot of stuff, but not a lot of money. Get that money working for you and it'll keep working even when you aren't.

I have some money but it's just on my bank account doing nothing for me, since I don't know how to start...

Any tipps?

 

[DeletedUser394]

Awesome thread!



I have some money but it's just on my bank account doing nothing for me, since I don't know how to start...

Any tipps?

Low cost ETFs or dividend paying stocks.

Priority #1 should always be the expansion of your business or investing in your area of expertise (let's say real estate for example), but if you really have money sitting on the sidelines for a long time that's where I'd put it. (and where I do put it).

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Low cost ETFs or dividend paying stocks.

I still prefer muni's... but even idle cash in a money market earning ZERO still equates to a perpetual option on choices.

 

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[Travispassiveinc]

I still prefer muni's

Why do you prefer Muni's over dividend paying stocks?

 

[MattCour]

Why do you prefer Muni's over dividend paying stocks?

My guess would be that they're typically triple tax exempt and can pay a pretty solid dividend. 5-6% yield in some cases.

 

[DeletedUser394]

I still prefer muni's... but even idle cash in a money market earning ZERO still equates to a perpetual option on choices.

I only hold ETFs in my TFSA (equivalent of Roth IRA but with less restrictions). So the entire amount is working for me tax free and I can have the entire account liquidated in 1 business day with no taxes due. Munis are solid though. When I have more money I'll be shifting to those types of assets.

 

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[michael40]

We re all talking about how we should be making our money work for us.

Besides having 70k down on a house which lowers my rent from about 1000$ to 220$ per month- What more can I do? It is the Jeonse system unique to Korea.

I live in S. Korea and most of the popular Investment options arent available here.

Reading through the site here makes me kind of depressed.


Sent from my SM-G900L using Tapatalk

 

[RHL]

Besides having 70k down on a house which lowers my rent from about 1000$ to 220$ per month- What more can I do? It is the Jeonse system unique to Korea.

I could tell you if you lived in the US, but I don't know how applicable it will be to SK. I'll update this tomorrow with some USA/CA suggestions, maybe you can go from there.