Do you make enough money?
“Hell yes I make enough money!!! I live in an awesome condo in downtown whatever city, have a great social life, career, and I am way ahead of my financial freedom plan.”
“No way in fucking hell do I make enough money!!! I can’t afford to live in whatever city. The rent is too high, everything is too expensive, I’m in massive debt, and I am getting nowhere in life.”
So which is you? If you are like most people, you are somewhere in between. Not exactly living the high life, but not struggling either. If you are in the “Hell Yes” camp, good for you, now stop reading. You have it figured out. For the rest of us, we have some work to do.
How do you know if you make enough money?
The easy way to know is if you can live the way you want, with all the stuff you want, and be happy. Much easier said than done. If you can manage money correctly, continually increase your income, and strive to become financially independent, then you are on the right track. If you are always struggling to pay your bills, use credit cards too much, and spend more than you make, you are headed in the wrong direction.
How do I find out how much money I need?
This part depends on what you perceive is the best way to live your life. This also is completely up to you. A great resource on this is a book by Ramit Sethi, I Will Teach You to be Rich. I read that book back in 2010 and some of the lessons stick with me today. That book is part of why I am writing this blog. (If you happen to read this, Ramit, a big thank you!!!) Being rich is not about how much money you make, but it is that you make enough money to live the way you want. Do you like to eat out every night instead of cooking? Great!!! Make sure you make enough money to do so.
Determine your cost of living
A good way to determine your cost of living is to download and fill out my Reality Sheet for income and spending. This allows you to see where your money is going every month. You can find cost of living calculators for where you live and type of lifestyle. One that I found useful is from LernVest. Take the test and see where you end up. It could be an eye opener.
What Determines How Much Money I Earn?
Generally speaking, three things determine how much you earn.
- Knowledge level
- Profession
- Output Quality and Quantity
Your knowledge level is not the same as education level. There are Ph Ds out there that are complete morons. I know, I have worked with some. Knowledge is gained over time and through constant discovery. The more you know, the better off you will be.
Your profession is where you find out how much someone will pay you. You need to choose a profession that has the sort of pay scale that will support your lifestyle and match your strengths. Go for the highest salary you can get. If you don’t want to work for anyone, go into business for yourself. Make sure your business is something that will allow you to earn the kind of income you want.
The last part is the quality and quantity of your output. Make crappy stuff? You won’t earn as much. Make amazing things that people want? Then crank out as many of those amazing things as you can. There is no limit except for the limits you place on yourself.
Now, get to it, don’t waste any more time
Do some digging and get some knowledge. Print and fill out the reality sheet and find out how much money you spend per month. Then multiply that number by 12. This is how much money you need to make to sustain your lifestyle today.
Next, do some research on professions that pay the most, least, and in between. Look for professions where you might see yourself working for 10-20 years. Make sure you are interested in the industry, matches your knowledge and skills, and match your desire to work.
Lastly…….dream…….dream big…….really big!!!
Take stock of where you are right now in life and start to plan the future. The only one that can make that future happen is you. If you don’t want to create your own future, just let things happen, but then don’t bitch and complain that your life sucks.
Your life choices are what make your future. Make bad choices, you get bad results. Make better choices, you get better results.
Living with Nerd Zest is about making the best choices you can at this moment, and then making the best choices again, and again, and again. This is not a one time and done. You will have to work hard to make the right choices over and over. But, with some solid research behind you, and a bit of forward thinking, you will be in a better position to make the right choices.