Personal Money Tips

Have you ever looked with a tinge of envy, when your neighbor drive up to his driveway in a new BMW or some other expensive car? This neighbor seem to have it made. Nice car, nice clothes, nice wife and just about everything makes you believe that they have made it. Then you begin to imagine and wonder, if you could afford a nicer car than the one you are driving now. I know, I have on occasion. But don’t let this image fool you. Yes, there are those who are really rich and make a show of their wealth.

Let me tell you a true story of two fellows. I’ll call them Mike and Bob. By the way, these are not their real names. Mike and Bob have financial habits that are miles apart. Mike is the guy you think is rich on first glance. Looking at the clothes he wears, the car he drives and the places he frequents, screams “rich”.

On the other hand, Bob is a simple guy. He dresses simply, eat and lives simply. On the first look, you’d never give him a second glance because everything about Bob says “middle class”. After knowing them a little longer, wealth wise, Mike and Bob are totally opposite.

While Mike flaunts his so called wealth, Mike have debts up to his eye balls. At anytime, his image can just crumble. Bob on the other hand, could survive just about any financial disaster since Bob don’t have any debts to speak off. Meeting Bob the first time, I’d guess he was low profile and have a bit of cash.

Did Mike or Bob get to where they are financially overnight? Surely not. While Mike has been accumulating debt, Bob has been accumulating assets. Mike choose to live a lifestyle to please friends and perhaps his ego, and Bob choose a simple life, to not have too much “stuff” and spends his money on things that grows in value like land and property.

Next time you see a person in a nice car, don’t look on with envy. You can never tell if that person is a millionaire or a pauper?

What a way to start the new year. As I surfed over to the million dollar homepage, it is nearing completion. I wrote about it sometime in October 2005. I mentioned then, it being a good idea, for Alex Tew, a student for not getting into debts to pay for university education.

Well, not only has the idea paid for his education many times over, it made him a millionaire, generated quite a bit of publicity for him and made him famous. Who know what opportunity lies ahead for him now. The power of a simple idea, followed up with some savvy marketing and loads of hard work, shovelling pixels oops uploading pixels. You can read it at his blog section.

Lesson here, to quote Nike - Just Do It!

Related post : Not getting into debts.

Since we are on this subject of millionaires, let define what’s a self made millionaire:-

Beside the most important point of being some one who did not inherit his money, I believe and think that no one ever made his millions all by himself or herself. Anyone who thinks it is possible must be superman himself.

Why? Think of all the people who help make it possible. You have the customers, the bankers, funding, your detractors, etc, etc, etc

In case you aspire to be a self made millionaire, consider this point first. There’s no such thing as a self made millionaire. The sooner we can accept this, the faster we can work with others to make our first million.

By the way, there are some who think that a million dollars being not like what it was in the past, a millionaire is some define as someone who have an income of a million dollars a year not networth!