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.
More income won’t solve your money woes
When you’re making six figures, it’s just too easy to live above your means. A woman in Fintech let me know that most customers acquiring consolidation loans weren’t actually people who needed them but wealthy individuals looking to consolidate all of their meaningless credit card debt. Was I surprised? At first, I was, but then I realized it makes total sense.
Living paycheck to paycheck and only making minimum payments is pretty darn easy when you have six figures of income steadily coming in every month.
More Money Won’t Solve Your Problems As You Think
You might believe that more income is the solution to your money woes, but it’s not. The only way to mitigate your issues once and for all is to decrease your spending and keep your spending lower than your income.
Once you develop the habit of living below your means, it doesn’t matter what your income is. You will always have more than enough resources because you’re not under-maximizing your budget.
A Recipe For Financial Success
Want to learn how to do money, right? Do the following ten things:
Take an inventory of all of your expenses. Are they more than your income? If so, it’s time to make cuts.
Learn to utilize the waiting rule. When you feel like making an impulse buy, take your time to think about the purchase for 2–7 days. After you take the time to think it through, you might end up forgetting about the purchase entirely.
Always put a bit of money into savings and investments every time you receive income. Doing this accelerates your financial freedom, creates options for yourself, and builds an emergency fund.
Rethink your recreational expenses. If you’re not careful, your recreational activities will blow up your budget, and you will find that you’re constantly struggling to keep up with your paychecks. You won’t be looking for the next paycheck; you’ll always look for the next three paychecks.
Think long-term. Most of the decisions we make today will affect us in the future. If you can always consider your future self, you will ensure you make prudent financial decisions now to prepare a lucrative future for yourself. Is it easy to do this? No, which is why most people don’t. However, who wants to be like everyone else?
This content is for informational purposes only — not professional advice. Consult a qualified professional before making any major decisions.