She, like so many others, made a decent salary, but could never get ahead.
“I cash my paycheck and before I know it, it’s gone,” she told me, hoping for advice.
“Why don’t you try paying yourself first?” I suggested. “Every time you get paid, right off the bat, put a portion in a savings account. Even a small amount is better than nothing.”
“That’s impossible,“ she said with a sigh of resignation. “I don’t make enough. There’s nothing left to save.”
That conversation occurred years ago. Imagine my surprise when she recently contacted me to let me know she followed my suggestion, never thinking it would actually work.
“I didn’t even wait until the end of the month to see how much was left after paying bills,” she said. “I paid me, then my bills, and anything left, was mine to spend.”
To her amazement, she never missed what she set aside. “Eventually,” she said, “I began putting some of what I would ordinarily spend into the savings account too.”
The act of savings had become a habit…a habit that changed the course of her life.
“Had I not had that kitty when I got divorced, I couldn’t have made it,” she told me. “I would have been in the poorhouse without it.”
Today, she told me proudly, she is quite well off… even though her paycheck still isn’t very big.
“I can’t believe how my savings has grown,” she said in amazement. “I can’t believe how much I have. And how much more in control I feel.”
She’d discovered the most powerful principle of wealth building: You don’t need a lot of money to create wealth. And the time to start saving is before you wish you had…when it feels impossible. The truth is: everything is possible once you make it a priority.
When it comes to money, what is your priority? Be brutally honest…I’d love to hear your answer. Leave me a comment below.
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