31 December 2011

Are you the millionaire next door?

I first wrote this as a Cashed Up Habit (No. 15 in the cycle) and it was an email from a Cheapskates Club member, Melinda, that prompted me to use it as my New Years blog post.

Melinda wrote "Love this article Cath, One that needs to be published on the front page of all newspapers maybe as New Years Resolution for all families!  How happy we are on a simple shoestring budget and able to give where we feel the need is greatest."

Living the Cheapskates way is not about having a huge stash of cash while living in misery.  It's about choosing to give up the stuff that isn't important to you so you have the cash to enjoy the things that are, without the stress of debt.

I hope you enjoy Cashed Up Habit No. 15
One of the most popular books on wealth in recent times has been The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley.

In this book Stanley reveals that for the most part millionaires are a non-descript bunch, living simple lives in simple homes in your average middle class neighbourhood. In fact their neighbours don't even realise they are millionaires.

Stanley's research revealed that these people have reached millionaire status for the most part through hard work and a Cheapskates lifestyle. They eat meals cooked from scratch, made from ingredients that have been bought on sale or from markets or in bulk. They reuse, recycle and reduce on a daily basis.

They have developed the habit of paying for what they buy. They don't incur any new debt and have in the past paid debt off quickly. The millionaires next door have built an emergency fund and a sizeable savings account. They have invested for their retirement and will be able to self-fund a comfortable life.

Your neighbourhood millionaire lives a comfortable yet simple life and yet are generally more generous and more frugal than their neighbours. They don't try to keep up with the Joneses  or any of their other neighbours.

Could you develop the habits that will make you the millionaire next door?

If you would like to develop some Cashed Up habits, you can sign up here.

May you all have a very happy, safe and prosperous New Year and may 2012 be your best year yet.

2 comments:

  1. We are exactly like the "milionaires next door"-we made our first million in our early 30's. Now I'm 70, our wealth has grown much much more, but we still live the same very frugal lifestyle we started off with in our student days at university. Most of our friends and neighbours in our village think we are careful with money because we need to be, and don't know of our real wealth.

    My subscription to Cheapskates is one of my best buys ever!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well done Anonymous (New Years Eve),

    It is best to let other people make their own assumptions & judgements.

    No one EVER needs to know your real wealth.

    My husband puts it very succintly.

    "Is that how much we are worth on the slab?"

    God bless his lil' cotton socks!

    ReplyDelete

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