It Starts With Savings. (You Have A Spending Problem, Not A Money Problem.)

The more you have, the more you can invest, the more your money will grow, the richer you will be before or by retirement. The less you have, the less you can invest, the more you will struggle to see returns, the bleaker your future looks.

I am going to repeat this again, there is no shortcut. You need to learn this quickly. Very quickly. You also need to make sure this is not an expensive lesson in the process too. Bouncing back from expensive mistakes is far more straightforward than you think, but not if you lose it all.

An empty savings pot is a grim place to be, so you must avoid that at all costs. If this is where you are right now, then the steps laid out in these articles will give you the foundation you need to bounce back.

It will require you to be extra resilient, extra dedicated, and extra patient, but the struggles will be worth the long-term rewards.

We have all been guilty of buying into something. The temptation is simply too strong not to give it a go. But when it does not work, accept the wrong choice you made and move on.

Success starts with accountability. You and only you are to blame for the choices you make if they had not been made under duress. A lack of accountability is often where people go wrong.

It is always easier to blame something or someone else. Observe yourself, without judgment, your actions and your choices, and you will find yourself becoming better at doing what is right.

Consistency, not perfection, in making the right choices is the name of the game. Consistently making the right decisions will lead to regular small wins that will lead to more significant wins. Bad decisions must lead to inexpensive lessons that will undoubtedly hurt and bruise the ego but make you stronger at making better choices. A lousy choice should never wipe you out, particularly when it comes to your hard-earned money.

There are several reasons why people buy into these false promises of quick and easy money, including:

• You do not have a decent savings pot.
• You earn a salary that is not allowing you to save.
• You hate your job and want a way out.
• You have no job.
• Your ego is whispering that you can make it work (where most before you have failed).

When the over-promises of these get-rich-quick schemes you chose to buy into fail to deliver, your only achievement is to allow yourself to be taken further away from your personal goals. Time wasted, money gone into someone else’s pocket.

This is how it is, and let’s be clear; I know you already know this. Let’s just go over it one more time. Being reminded of some truths is always needed now and then.

1. If you have no savings, change your lifestyle to start saving. Only you know what that will take, given your circumstances. Don’t throw away what little you save or have already saved in silly courses and poorly thought out ‘investments’. Each time you lose, you start again from 0, all the while time is ticking away.
2. Once you get the savings bug, keep earning and saving. There is something very satisfying in watching those numbers increase.
3. Once you have a decent savings pot, DO NOT give it away cheaply. Protect it.
4. Invest it safely across the proven assets that have a long history of performing well.
5. Embrace compound growth. Exponential growth is mind-boggling.
6. Never deviate from the plan and the proven principles of long-term investing.

The key is to find a balance where you enjoy life but still save at the same time. This will no doubt involve sacrifices early on but the balance steadily shifts in your favour the more you earn and the more you save.

In the last few years, I have taken up a hobby that I had my eye on for a very long time prior – remote control cars. Now I know what you are thinking? All I can say is never lose that excitable child inside you!

RC cars have come an incredibly long way from the ones we had back in the 80s and 90s. They are undoubtedly big boy/girl toys. My remote control car collection is now worth several thousand pounds, with top-end models hitting 80mph straight out of the box at a cost of £500 to £1000, some more.

And this is just the start. Depending on the model, replacement tyres can cost £30 to £50, the front splitter and the rear diffuser £20 to £40, a chassis £50 to £100, a chassis plate £70 to £100, batteries and chargers cost £100s, the list goes on. In short, this is an expensive hobby that costs £1000s a year to maintain.

Despite my childlike craving, I held back from deep-diving into it many years ago when I first started getting the urge. I simply knew the costs would eat into my savings. Did I deny myself? No. FOMO will always get the better of you in the end.

I just bought much cheaper models that were still a lot of fun and were affordable for me to upkeep. As I earned more, saved more, and made more from my investments, I splashed out on the more expensive model.

The key is always to be smart enough and responsible enough to stay in your lane. Never take your eye off the long-term goal, which is wealth creation.

A big part of success stems from believing you have the hustle in you to achieve greatness, to achieve it with honour and dignity, to stay resilient when the chips are down, and to be patient and dedicated as life unravels in front of you with every push forward you make.

As you will learn, the steps to investment success are simple to understand and execute. However, extracting consistent profit is not easy. However, give yourself time to learn and execute that art and your portfolio the space to grow, and you will be very handsomely rewarded.

Now you know what needs to be done, how do you go about achieving this? Let’s read on.

Main Take-Away:

Lesson 1 – Save at least £10k to £20k to give yourself a solid foundation to build from. This may require sacrifices at first but as you earn more and save more, the balance of having a life/saving money dynamic tilts in your favour.