aires don’t drive luxury cars or live in mansions. They’re the couple next door, driving a
ten-year old car that they’ve taken care to maintain. That’s why they’re millionaires. They
watch what they spend their money on, they save, and they invest.
In the United States, we live in a world of status symbols. Many people finance their
lifestyle with credit cards in an effort to appear wealthier than they are, just to impress the
folks next door. America has become a nation of high-volume consumers who must have
the latest toy. As a matter of fact, CreditCard.com reports that the average credit card debt
per household with credit card debt is a whopping $15,788. Even scarier, 36 percent of
respondents in a FINRA Investor Education Foundation survey said they didn't know the
interest rate on the card they use most often. (Source: FINRA Investor Education Founda-
tion, "Financial Capability in the United States," December 2009).
Case in point: When I started my business in the mid 1980s, I was young and stupid. I
simply had to have an Acura with a car phone. This was well before mobile phones were
commonplace. Granted, it was the best car I ever owned, and I bought out the lease early.
But did I really need it? Probably not. In retrospect, I should have bought a pre-owned car
and invested the rest of the money into my business. Alas, hindsight is twenty-twenty.
Before making a purchase, especially a major one, it’s a good idea to wait about thirty
days. Buying on impulse can be a major way for money to leak out of your business and
your life. After a thirty-day cooling off period, you may find the item isn’t as needed or
important as you originally thought. If you still want it after thirty or so days, go ahead
and buy it.
Living below your means and finding ways to be frugal will help ensure you can meet
your obligations each month and put some money away. Be sure you know your num-