Page 11 - Book5E

The dictionary definition of success is the definition the majority of society seems to believe—“the accumulation of money or material pos- sessions, prestige in rank or power.” It is also the definition that gets people in financial trouble. Why? It can make it difficult for a person to determine what he or she truly needs to be comfortable, healthy, and safe, and what he or she believes is needed to be comfortable, healthy, and safe.
So at what point is the accumulation of money or material possessions enough? If you want to amass wealth, how do you get there? Well, one thing is for certain. Those individuals who gain and keep their wealth over the span of their lives have learned a principle that eludes so many others—spend less than you earn. Whether you make $20,000 a year or $2 million, unless you form the habit of living within your means and spending less than you earn, you’ll never, ever create lasting wealth.
Obviously if you’re living from paycheck to paycheck with little or no savings building up month to month, you’re simply not getting ahead. Chances are you haven’t discovered how to distinguish wishes and wants from genuine, life sustaining needs. And even if you earn a promotion and a fabulous pay increase, the money still manages to vanish just as quickly as ever.
So, to build lasting wealth slowly but consistently, where do you start? By taking a cold, hard look at your true needs—the essentials it takes to sustain a frugal, yet quality life—versus what it takes to keep up a phony, unfulfilling, fleeting lifestyle dictated by a fickle society. Wants and needs are simply not the same. Investing some time in evaluating the lifestyle you lead today and what you can do to live more sensibly and frugally will pay big dividends in helping you to spend less than you earn.
The key is to be completely honest with yourself and remember that your needs vary from those of your neighbors, friends, or members
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