Achieving financial success doesn’t require you to work 24 hours non stop. I am not disputing the the importance of working hard because it pays off in the long run. Your work just needs to be tweaked with smartness.
I am inspired by the story of a twenty eight year old lawyer, Taylor Jennifer from Toronto, Canada. The inspiration from this young lady was how she paid off a $40,000 debts within two years.
Just like many people would think that being financially successful has to do with big earnings, getting married to a wealthy person. Jennifer has a different perspective that makes me to wonder how she mad it so big.
“I don’t work in a big legal office; I work at a non-profit legal aid clinic. My designated working hours is 8:30 AM – 4:30PM, with the occasional late-night or weekend grind before a hearing.
And yet, I am still able to aggressively pay down my debt. It’s not because I make a lot of money — I don’t. It’s not because my partner has a six-figure salary — she doesn’t.”
How then, was this possible for Jennifer? She created a solid financial system that has never failed. That brings me to the second question, what is this financial system all about, how does it work?
Here is what she said: Once I took the time to set-up a realistic framework that incorporated my income and lifestyle, there was little left for me to do.
Now, I don’t have to think twice — how much I save, spend and transfer to student loans is automatically calculated for me. I can now concentrate on more pressing things, such as focusing on the present with an eye to the future.
I perceive my budget as the system’s overarching map. The system needs to refer to my budget in order to know how much money to transfer to my student loans, investments and short-term savings.
I don’t consider myself working particularly hard towards my financial goals. Don’t get me wrong, I worked hard to figure out what my financial goals are and what I needed to do in order to get there, but after that I let my system do the heavy lifting,” she concludes.
The take out here is building an automated system whereby you don’t even need to be seing your money all the time. Some part of your monthly earnings would be deducted and you would be left with some to take care of immediate needs.
Another critical aspect of your journey towards financial success is paying attention to little expenses. They seem little but they add up in the long run.
Luke Smart, Money Advisor puts this in perspective: “You probably have to be careful as when you spend less money you have a feeling that you are saving but in fact you are still spending money.
That’s why budgeting is critical. If you combine these two: market savings opportunities and budgeting skills you will save tons of money.
