What Are You Willing to "Give Up" to Win Financially?

Home Money Finances Money Perspectives What Are You Willing to "Give Up" to Win Financially?

Sacrifice is the act of giving up something you value for the sake of something that's more important to you. Earl Nightingale, the great success motivator said, "Virtually any goal can be accomplished, but the desire for the goal is not nearly as important as what you are willing to give up to achieve the goal." Jesus talking to his disciples said that if anyone wants to come after him, he must first deny himself.

Everyone is looking for the "magic pill" that's going to make him or her wealthy fast. That's why so many people fall prey to the various get rich quick ideas that are running rampant. Allow me to save you time and money and help you avoid the agony of regret. There are no shortcuts to financial prosperity! There's a price to be paid for financial prosperity. The price is hard work, determination, perseverance, discipline, and sacrifice. If you succeed at anything in life without any of these required characteristics, your success will be short-lived because you have not developed the character necessary to maintain success. This is the reason why a high percentage of people who inherit wealth and people who win the lottery fall flat on their face. Easy come. Easy go!

After having two children back to back, my wife was carrying around some extra weight. On New Year's Eve 2006, she resolved to shed 20-pounds by April of the same year. I helped her map out a plan so that she could accomplish her goal. Of course, the plan required exercising and watching what she ate. This was a bit of a problem. With a busy schedule, there was very little time for exercise and she has an immense craving for sweets, particularly chocolate cake. The good news is that by April 2006 she had dropped roughly 17-pounds and two dress sizes. The process to get here was no easy task. In order to find time to exercise, she had to get up an extra hour early five days a week. Please understand that this girl loves to sleep. She's the type of person who'll take a nap, wake up, and go to bed. She limited her sweet intakes to once every blue moon. Her goal was accomplished primarily because she was willing to give up both sleep and sweets. She denied herself.

In order to attain any worthwhile financial goal, you're going to have to sacrifice something. Knowing this, I include this statement in the various financial plans I prepare: "I know these recommendations are easier said than done. The reality is something has to give. If you decide to maintain your current lifestyle and not implement any of the recommendation, just accept the fact that it will take you longer to reach your financial goals!"

It's been my observation that people are very reluctant to sacrifice in order to get ahead financially. Oftentimes, we know what's holding us back from reaching our goal, but we refuse to let it go.

I recently worked with a couple who was struggling to make ends meet. They tried several things, but for one reason (expense) or another, they simply could not get ahead. I was able to isolate several non-sacrificial ideas to create some wiggle room in the budget. Nevertheless, they still had more money going out than they had coming in month to month. Realizing this, I suggested that they sell the car. This is the husband's dream car. He refers to it as his baby. He only drives the car during summer months. They don't need this car. It's basically his toy. I told them that they had to sell the baby (car) because they were struggling to keep their house note current, the lights on and food on the table. I told them that if they wanted to keep the car, they had to follow the other recommendations I suggested and create an additional income of $625 per month or $7,500 per year so that they could net enough after taxes to pay the car note. To date, they have not sold the car nor have they worked the extra hours necessary to create the additional income. As a result, they're still struggling to make ends meet.

Another client of mine went through some changes that resulted in the household income going from over $200,000 per year to $35,000 per year. The likelihood of them earning anywhere near the high six-figure household income is slim to none. Current spending and lifestyle never downsized to the level of the new income. As a result, they had accrued a lot of credit card debt. The good thing is they owned a $400,000 free and clear property and they owed a healthy retirement savings. I told them that the money inside their retirement account will grow to well over $5-million dollars by retirement age if they don't borrow or make early withdrawals from it. I made several suggestions in order to get the lifestyle to coincide with the new income. One of which was to sell the house and purchase a house in the $200,000 price range with cash, payoff the credit card debt and set aside money for emergencies and other future goals. To date, they have cut their lifestyle, stopped using credit cards, put their home on the market and are actively looking for a home in the $200,000 price range. They are at peace and feel empowered and in control working their plan. They were willing to give up the big house, fancy cars and other extravagances because there was something in life that they felt was more important.

Mortgage and Money Coach Damon Carr is the owner of ACE Financial. Sign up for Damon's FREE Online Newsletter at www.allcreditexperts.com. Damon can be reached at 412-856-1183.

Take the Next Step:

• Again, there are no shortcuts to financial prosperity! There's a price to be paid. The price is hard work, determination, perseverance, discipline, and sacrifice. So, let's ask the question one more time: What are you willing to give up to win financially?

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