This piece is part of my 2016–2026 archive migration. Some original formatting, content, and external links may be missing, changed, or not be optimized.
Income is not the solution to your financial woes
We often think: If I can earn more money, I’ll finally be okay financially.
Instead, as we earn more money, we become more financially dependent on that income and less financially independent. We increase our length of indentured servitude to the rich because we borrow more than we can afford.
As I mentioned in the article, The Poor Will Always Be Ruled Over By The Rich:
The average U.S. household with debt now owes $155,622, or more than $15 trillion altogether, including debt from credit cards, mortgages, home equity lines of credit, auto loans, student loans, and other household obligations – up 6.2% from a year ago. (CNBC) Every year, Americans grow more and more comfortable with carrying debt. It’s becoming a natural part of our lifestyle – financially enslaving ourselves to others.
Before You Earn More Income
You need to do a few things if you already aren’t before you increase your income:
Create a budget. We often fail at money because we fail to have a budget. If you don’t have a plan for your money, someone and something else always will. Create a budget, and then follow the budget (the most challenging part is execution, not the creation part).
Comb through your budget and practice the art of eradicating and trimming all of the fat. Where can you make eliminations? Where can you save? Where can you increase the amount of money you keep each month? Remember, it’s never about the amount of money you earn, though this can help significantly. It’s always about the amount of money you keep.
What Luxuries are costing your mental and emotional peace? Is your mortgage or rent too much to bear? Is your car note or lease making you sweat? Is your shopping habit causing you to live paycheck-to-paycheck? Are your recreational and entertainment habits getting out of control? This category of our budgets can often cause us the most trouble if we don’t maintain awareness as we obtain more income, leading to finances spinning out of control.
Think about where you want to be in the next 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, or 50 years financially. Ask yourself, will my current habits get me where I want to be in the future? Often, we fail to take the steps we need because we fail to think about and connect with our future selves because we are so stuck on living in the present moment. The present moment is the best way to live for our emotional, mental, and physical health, but it is not the best way to live for our financial health. When it comes to your finances, you always need to think futuristically; this is where the magic will happen for your finances.
This content is for informational purposes only — not professional advice. Consult a qualified professional before making any major decisions.