Financial Freedom - The Single Biggest Reason People Never Get Rich

On May 11th 2007 I suffered a severe accident that almost killed me. My near-death experience made me realize that time is not only money; it's life. So, I decided I was going to learn how to take care of my most precious asset: Time.
I want to share some ideas that will help you understand, what is financial freedom and how to achieve it? I also want to reveal the single biggest reason why people never get rich.
By the time you finish reading this article, I hope, you'll discover some things about yourself, and how to change the way in which you relate with money.


What is financial freedom?
Wealth is a mindset that allows you to have a healthy relationship with money. And financial freedom is a by product of that mindset.
Most people think they need a high income to achieve financial freedom, but the truth is they don't. There are a lot of guys who earn high salaries and are not financially independent.

Financial freedom does not depend on how much money you earn, but on how you spend that money. To put it in simple terms, if you can sustain the same lifestyle level without having to work you are financially free.


Getting the right mindset...
Most guys need to spend money to feel rich, while wealthy people need to have money to be rich. Can you notice the difference in the mindset?
Poor guys throw money away, they live from paycheck to paycheck and they struggle to make ends meet, because they buy things they don't need, and they burn every single penny of their salary trying to sustain a lifestyle they can't afford.
Then they assume that if they could increase their income all their problems would go away. The problem is that if they manage to increase their earnings they will also increase their expenses. So, no matter how much money they make they will never make ends meet.
All this nonsense results from following the wrong role models. Poor guys try to replicate the spending habits of the characters they watch in movies or magazines. To feel successful they need the same smartphone, the same watch, or the same car as the hero in the movie. Of course, when the trends change they throw it all away and start over again.
You need to realize that the movie, TV, and magazine industries earn money by making you spend money. The more influence they have over your spending habits the more they can charge to the companies that advertise with them
Instead, you should follow real life wealthy people and try to learn their spending habits.

For example, even though Warren Buffet is a billionaire he lives in the same house he bought for $31,500 dollars in 1958. Instead of buying a bigger house, and paying the increased maintenance costs that come with it, he saves the money and invest it. His pleasure comes from making money, not from spending it.
I don't want you to get me wrong; you don't need to become a cheap man to enjoy financial freedom. You just need to find balance and learn to spend wisely. Yes, you can buy the best smartphone, but not every year. Throw it away when it is not useful for you anymore, not when the trends change.
Remember, money is time and if you use it wisely it will buy you freedom. Once you learn to enjoy your freedom you won't need to burn your money buying stuff you don't really need.


Article Source  http://EzineArticles.com/8470270

Who Else Wants to Be a Millionaire?

What are your priorities? What do you want to do? Is financial freedom important to you? Financial freedom is doing the things you want to do when you want to do them. When you have financial freedom, you are not worrying about money because you have money coming in from various sources and you are paying things off.

If you want to make more money, you also need to save money and build a residual income stream. I'm a firm believer in building residual income in order to build true wealth. All of these ideas are great, but it’s a choice that’s up to you. Let’s take a look at how you can get started.

Have A Plan
Assess your current financial situation. How much money do you need to make a month? What debts do you have? You need to get organized in order to get away from borrowing money.
Borrowing money isn't necessarily a bad thing. It’s borrowing it without a solid plan that’s bad. Most people charge things that don't really bring them what they want. We are not prioritizing. In our society we say "I want, I want, I want" and we go out and get it, but it doesn't make us happy. Before you can go after anything, it’s critical to put a plan together. You need to be clear about what it is that you really want. Remember that your money is like your army of soldiers. You send them out to win for you and bring things back. Are you sending out your soldiers for the right reasons? Understand your priorities and then begin executing your plan.

Eliminate Debt
Something you should really work on is getting rid of your debt. One strategy that works is Dave Ramsay's Debt Snowball Strategy. There are five steps. Put your debt in order from lowest to highest balance. Designate a certain amount of money to pay toward those debts each month. Pay the minimum payment on all of your debts except the one with the lowest balance. Put the most money toward that debt with the lowest balance. Once that debt is gone, you’ll feel the momentum. Keep going. Do not alter the monthly payment amount on the other balances and keep using the same strategy. Move on to the next lowest balance and continue to pay the most money towards that. Paying the lowest balance debt as quickly as possible gives you quick wins. It works, and it will help you get out of debt.

Invest in Yourself
Ramsay also discusses having a $1,000 emergency fund and making sure you keep it separate from your other finances. It's critical that you spend less money than you make. You have to find other ways to earn more money. In the corporate world you can trade dollars for hours, and there's nothing wrong with that. I suggest that you also put on your entrepreneur hat and investigate ways to build residual streams of income and invest in that. The way to reach financial freedom is to invest in business models that are going to generate revenue so that you can walk away and still have money coming in. Investing in real estate follows this idea. Although the current market is not that great, there are some good buys out there if you put the time in to find them.

There are a million ways to make a million dollars and a million ways to get financial freedom. But the key is to do it your way. You have to come up with and then execute your game plan. I don't know your particular situation, and debt is normally not a good thing. But, there's a caveat there. It can work for you if you know how to manipulate it and work with it.

Do What You Love

You can build a business on the side of your current job to create more income. I call this intelligent life design. You can take whatever you are passionate about and turn it into a business. True financial freedom to me is doing what you love and the money is coming in. It's a double benefit. You will never retire because you are doing what makes you happy. I’ve taken “retire” out of my vocabulary because as long as I'm alive I'm going to be doing this. Every single day I am investing in me.

Every situation is unique, but we all need the same foundation of understanding. Knowing our budget and understanding where our money is going. Keeping a spending log and using some software to help control where we are going let’s us make good decisions. There are so many solutions out there. Money is energy and you have to respect it. When you are clear about what you are doing and where you are going, you’ll be able to put money away. Having this awareness sometimes means cutting out the extra things.

Start thinking about your financial situation, the tools you use, and ways that you can be financially free. Decide what's important to you. What do you want to have? What are you going to go after? And take action.

Article source: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/who-else-wants-to-be-a-millionaire