“Money can’t buy you friends, but it does get you a better class of enemy.”
Spike Milligan (British author and comedian, 1918-2002)
When it comes to money, a lot of people are their own worst enemy.
They fritter away funds. They buy things they don’t need with money they don’t have. In the process, they run up huge debts.
Decades of interest payments… on mortgages, car loans and credit cards… buy fat cat bankers their country mansions and shiny yachts.
I’m guessing that’s not something at the top of your bucket list.
Conspicuous consumption provides only a fleeting thrill. The latest gadget… the new model car… the exotic foreign holiday… often purchased merely to keep up with the proverbial “Joneses” next door.
This kind of behaviour rarely ends well. In fact, it’s the well-trodden path to the poor house.
Poverty is not a pretty thing, especially when people don’t see it coming.
I’ve known at least four affluent, middle class families destroyed by bankruptcy. I’ve known many more who lived beyond their means for decades and retired into grinding poverty.
There’s no reason why you should fall into the same traps.
Of course, you personally may not be at the extreme end of the consumption spectrum. But it’s still highly likely that you could take some simple steps to radically improve your financial situation, and thus your future.
None of this means you have to live badly. It certainly doesn’t mean you have to behave like Ebenezer Scrooge, the miserly character in “A Christmas Carol”, written by Charles Dickens in 1843.
Instead, it’s about living better, with confidence, with control over an essential part of your life… namely, your money.
How do I know this?
Because I’ve done it myself.
Why it’s worth it
About 15 years ago, I decided it was time to really get on top of my own finances. I had a family on the way. Or, as my Dad put it, I now had “responsibilities”. It was time to get serious. I’ve never looked back.
