GUEST POST from Don – Like Everyone Else

LIKE EVERYONE ELSE

One simple sentence tells the whole story.  If you want to be different than your neighbor (or your extended family) you have to stop acting like them.

Successful people behave differently than your neighbors and friends.  

If you want to be rich you can’t act like your neighbor.  If you want to succeed at your job you can’t be like your brother.

You can’t sit around, drink beers, and watch TV when you get home.  That makes you JUST like them.  If you want to be rich you can’t buy everything on credit, like everyone you know.

You have to go to bed early, get up early, educate yourself constantly, work smarter, develop your best skills, etc.  All the things your cousins don’t do.  Things your parents didn’t do.

You can’t rely on the union, work for a mediocre boss, or choose the easy way.  Nothing wrong with any of those, except those are the ways everyone else tries to get ahead.  If you know 7 people who behave the way you do…you aren’t trying to be special.

Winners behave differently.  Sometimes they choose only one thing to do differently.  Sometimes their whole lives are lived differently.

If you are RICH what kind of house should you live in?  All the other rich people live in large homes with all kinds of expensive do-da’s.  But if you become rich, what kind of house will YOU live in?  Warren Buffet (a multi-millionaire) lives in the same home he did before he made his first million.  He’s never divorced.  He’s never gone bankrupt.  He has enough money to buy a $400,000,000 home, but he lives in a home valued at $600,000 (in today’s market).  

What kind of car will you drive when you are RICH?  All the other rich people drive cars valued in excess of $150,000 and most are making payments.  Warren Buffet drives an older car (in good repair) which cost less than $50,000 new.  He paid cash.  He could afford a fleet of cars and a driver.  He drives himself to work.  Does his wife own jewelry?  She does, but not enough to be worth it for a thief to break in.  The limited set of the necklaces and earrings are simple and inexpensive.

Buffet acts differently.  He concerns himself almost none with THINGS, or the things money can buy.  He could have quit and retired decades ago.  He lives differently than your neighbor or family, right!

Your neighbor isn’t going to be rich and will have to work until retirement.  That is because your neighbor –
Buys cars with auto loans.
Pays someone else to mow the lawn and/or take care of the bushes.
Has to buy the newest phone (and refuses to move to a discount phone service)
Agrees to buy a phone for his/her 7 year old.
Buys a cup of coffee with a credit card, but then doesn’t pay the credit card bill in full when it comes due.
Doesn’t have a budget that he/she actually uses.
Doesn’t shop for car insurance.

BUT…

But how do you pay for a car without a loan?  That takes time, lots of time.  Here:
1. Buy your first one (an inexpensive model) with a loan, then pay it off twice as quickly as required…like 2.5 years.  But don’t stop making payments…just put the payments into a savings account.  (Never lease a car.)
2. Keep your car running until you have 9 years or 200,000 miles, whichever comes last.
3. Take your car savings account and buy “most” of a car (cars increase in price).
4. Pay your car loan with the money you had been putting into the account, then continue making payments to the car account.
5. Repeat.  This is NOT how your neighbor buys cars.  You will never have the most expensive car on the block, but you also won’t be paying interest forever.

You CANNOT grow your wealth by paying interest.  It is far better to do without stuff for a year, than to pay 40 years of interest.  Your kids don’t need most of the toys and stuff they have.  Put THEM on a budget, too!  

Don’t be that neighbor with the most holiday decorations.
Don’t be that neighbor with the greenest lawn.
Don’t be that neighbor with the most flowers.
Don’t be that neighbor with a backyard swimming pool.
And you have a much better chance of being that neighbor with the paid-off house.
If you act like everyone else you will have what everyone has … loans.

The goal for 2025 is to be that neighbor with the fewest loans and the most invested.  To do that you can’t behave like everyone else.

Here’s an idea:  Why not just do things differently for a single year … In 2025 you won’t go out to eat  or order food delivery.  Instead you will use that money to pay off a loan or two.  How do you think you will feel at the end of 2025?  Starving?  Or, relieved?  Its only one year…a day at a time.  You could do that.

Those around you will refuse.

[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere.
ALSO, Don is always open to offer his thoughts on various topics. If you have a specific request, you can let him know in a comment; he reads – and replies to – them all. ~ Sherry]

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