The cost of living crisis prompted me to think about money, wealth and securing a future for myself. I started reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad, hoping to find the secret to wealth in there. I'm not any richer right now but there were golden nuggets of information there that have/will contribute to a better life.
Rich Dad Poor Dad (Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter)
The book has encouraged me to look at money in two ways - assets and liabilities. Assets are what bring you an income (e.g. job, passive income, interest on savings, dividends, stocks, jewelry, art), and liabilities are what consume your money (e.g. car, rent, bills, subscriptions, grocery shopping). Are your assets enough to cover your liabilities and offer you freedom of time (and mobility) - the true wealth? A lot of us only have one income which is our everyday job, and a lot of liabilities, many of which we don't necessarily need (e.g. newspaper/magazine subscription). I've always been sensible with my money since I stared earning at the age of 18, and rarely bought anything I didn't need, so my liabilities column didn't need adjusting. However, it was useful to think of money in that way to prevent me from making typical mistakes in future.
Spend to invest in yourself and be willing to lose money. Workshops/seminars on how to increase your wealth (or other things that are beneficial to you, such as self-development, how to do you tax, digital media skills), can be expensive but they can also change your life for the better and therefore worth the risk. If you don't take some risks with your money, it will just sit in a bank losing value, especially now that the pound has dropped.
Money exists to give you a better quality of life and while it is sensible to save, it is also sensible to spend on useful things that enrich your present and future life. The book made me realise a lot of people hold on to money tightly, especially those with immigrant parents who approach life in a simple manner of working hard to save money to buy a house, and this is often a long and arduous road to owning an expensive liability.
Money can be used creatively to enrich ones life. I recently decided to purchase a ticket for a three day tree-planting festival in Portugal. I have been drawn to that community and way of life for many years but always avoided going to paid events for not wanting to spend money. I have now changed my mentality and am willing to spend money on things that are important to my growth and happiness.
Going to this festival will allow me to do something meaningful with my life while feeling helpless in the face of the climate emergency, meet people who will expose me to other similar opportunities, (whether it's paid, free, more events, workshops, a job that aligns with my beliefs, leading to a career), make new friends with the type of people I want to surround myself with, potentially learn new practices such as herbal medicine, which is something I have been curious about for a decade, or something spiritual which is what I am searching for now.
A year ago, I would have looked at this event wistfully, decided it was too expensive, put that money into my savings account and forgotten about it. This year, I am exchanging a few hundred pounds for a potentially life-changing event.
Make your money work for you by setting up passive incomes. A lot of working class people tend to get a second job when in need of more money but that just eats up more time which is the true wealth. Exploring a passive income allows you to earn money without constantly working. Rich Dad Poor Dad has motivated me to sell my photos on Alamy, although I've not had any luck with the twenty I have uploaded 👀 I probably need to upload a hundred before I see any profit..! But at least I have set up an account and am familiar with the process so when I am able to dedicate more time to sifting through my photos and submitting for quality control, I won't have a potential barrier of searching, reading boring fine print etc.
If you have any easy/fun passive income ideas, please comment below 😎
The 4-Hour Work Week (Tim Ferris)
The average Londoner spends two hours a day travelling to and from work so working from home saves ten hours of commuting time every week. Considering I have been working from home full-time since the first lockdown in March 2020, I feel like I have achieved the main goal touted in the first third of the book..!
The second big point is outsourcing work to India or China. I suppose that's useful if/when I have my own business.
Vagabonding (Rolf Potts)
❤ Loved this book so much, it really spoke to me ❤ There is way too much to write but will try and condense it into a few paragraphs later. All I will say for now is this is the kind of book you can read again and again. I will probably take it with me on my next solo travel to reinforce the vagabonding mindset which is the type of person I want to be. Thank you Rolf!
*Currently reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - so far would recommend
If you have any self-help books that have changed your life, let me know in the comment section!