Prosperous living is not just about money. It is a prosperous state of mind regarding every area of your life. But, something wonderful happens when you get your financial area in order, you get to live life to the fullest. Money is important to your wellbeing because the truth be told money or the lack of money affects how you handle and experience every other area of your life. Therefore, it is important to master your money so you can truly be successful and prosperous in the other areas of your life. I hope you get started, today. Here are the 7 Golden Rules for Prosperous Living:
1. First and foremost, pay yourself first.
It is important to save a percentage of every dollar that you receive as soon as you get it
because if you don’t it will disappear and you will never save anything. I highly recommend that
you save 20 percent of all income each month but if that is not possible at this time start with
5%, 10%, or 15%. It is okay to take baby steps with the intention of reaching the ultimate goal
of 20%. The more you save off the top, the more you will have to work with to save and invest
in your future. You should also have plans for the money that has been saved. You should set
aside a portion of your savings to cover 3 to 6 months of your necessary monthly expenses and
any other expenses that may come up.
2. Spend less than you earn.
There are two important reasons why you should spend less than you earn: First, if you spend
less than you earn, you will have left over funds to add to your savings account, vacation savings
account, unexpected expenses savings account, investment savings account, etc. Second, you
can use a portion of the excess monies to reduce or eliminate your debts at an accelerated rate.
3. Invest and contribute to your retirement.
Be sure to contribute to your retirement account 401(k) or 403(b), etc. If your company offers
matching funds you contribute make it your goal to contribute the maximum amount into your
retirement account. Make sure you start contributing into your retirement immediately. The
sooner you start contributing to your retirement, the more you will have available to you when
you decide to retire.
4. Organize your finances.
The key to taking control over your finances and getting a handle on what you need to do next
is organizing your finances by tracking all your income and expenses. You need to know how
much money is coming in and how much money is going out because you cannot identify or
resolve problems or issues that you don’t know about.
5. Develop a spending plan
Identify all your income and expenses for at least one month. Determine which expenses need
to be adjusted or eliminated. Set a goal and intention for your spending before you develop
your spending plan and then set how much you plan to spend in each category based on the
above decisions.
6. Use credit sparingly
The best scenario is not to use credit at all but if you find that you need to use credit
make sure that you have set your intention and your exit strategy so that you are not
continually increasing your debt. Don’t purchase consumable items with your credit
card unless you already have the money in your account and plan to pay it off when
the bill comes in. Try not to use money you haven’t even earned yet to pay for
consumables you want to purchase today. This is why it is so important to save and
plan for your expenses (known and unknown), in advance, because when you don’t
you lose control of your money and decrease your chances of living a prosperous life.
7. Limit the number of credit accounts.
Don’t get up in the constant bombardment of credit offers from creditors and financial
institutions. There are several reasons why you should not open numerous credit accounts:
First, it is not in your best interest to because it will affect your credit score. Second,
if you have too many credit accounts and credit cards you are setting yourself up for
more stress trying to keep up with a lot of due dates and you have open the door to the
chance that you might be late on a payment or miss a payment altogether. Keep things
as simple as possible, the fewer credit account payments you need to make the better.