Comments on: What is the MOST important Making Money 101 tool of all?

By: The MOST important Making Money 101 tool of them all … « How to Make 7 Million in 7 Years™

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 08:24:33 +0000

[...] I posed a seemingly simple question: What is the MOST important Making Money 101 tool of all? [...]

By: Rick Francis

Rick Francis — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:54:08 +0000

I think the most important tool isn’t in the list- I nominate self-control – restraint exercised over one’s own impulses, emotions, or desires.

Self control allows you to delay gratification resisting the instant gratification of credit. Self-control let’s you live frugally so that you can spend less than you earn. How could you save 15% or 50% of your found money without a lot of self-control? You also need self-control to prevent financial disasters like: selling stocks at the bottom of a down market, buying properties at the height of a bubble, or just spending too much!

-Rick Francis

By: Dianna

Dianna — Tue, 26 May 2009 11:20:14 +0000

I’d say that setting goals has been most important for me. Without goals I have no reason to save, cut expenses or delay gratification

By: traineeinvestor

traineeinvestor — Mon, 25 May 2009 08:07:29 +0000

From the list, I would pick delayed gratification.

If I had to chose just one conceptual idea for building wealth it would be a willingness to take risks (preferably ones that you at least think you understand and can have reasonable expectations of managing to some degree). Nobody ever got rich putting money into a savnings account.

There are of course many others as well.

Cheers
traineeinvestor

By: Ryan

Ryan — Sat, 23 May 2009 21:13:18 +0000

Without delayed gratification, why would we save money at all? We’d just live paycheck to paycheck and hope we never…didn’t get a paycheck!

By: Scott

Scott — Sat, 23 May 2009 18:05:00 +0000

Yeah, I know what you mean MoneyMonk. I do the exact same thing. I guess when I hear the word budget, to me I no longer think of it as every single allocation for every single penny earned written down exactly.

I think setting yourself up on an automatic % of your salary to be saved automatically every month and then living off the rest accomplishes the “goal” of a budget without having to write down all the little details and is in itself a type of ‘budget’.

I figure writing down all the details each month for about the first 3 months or so until you know for sure where your money goes(and where you could find more money to save if you are losing it frivolously, hence increase the automatic % of savings)is sufficient, then one can implement an auto savings program, put it on auto drive and get on to living and enjoying life!

By: Adrian

Adrian — Sat, 23 May 2009 09:12:28 +0000

@ MoneyMonk – THAT’S the one I was hoping to hear … spending “too much on toothpaste” will kill you!

@ Jeff – Great list; thanks.

Still hoping to hear a lot more ideas from a lot more people …

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sat, 23 May 2009 04:09:59 +0000

I selected “live frugally,” but after some thought, none of the choices exemplified what I believe are the best tools to successfully complete MM101.

Here are several MM101 tools that I like best:
1) Spend Less Than You Make. It’s both simple and effective.
2) Set Goals. This can be short-term, i.e., a monthly budget, or longer-term, such as paying off a debt or saving X amount of money for MM201 activities.
3) Acquire skills that will enable your MM201 activity to be sucessful. For instance, if you intend to make your fortune in the restaurant business, then I would recommend you work in restaurants during MM101 even if you can make more money at a different type of job.

By: TStrump

TStrump — Sat, 23 May 2009 03:26:49 +0000

The main thing for me has been learning to say NO to people.
I used to lend people money or help them out usually to my detriment.
I also learned to declutter my life a bit and live within my means.

By: Moneymonk

Moneymonk — Fri, 22 May 2009 22:15:34 +0000

@Scott, I just don’t plan my expenses to the penny- How much on this , how much on that….etc.

My expenses and wants are all in the 70%. I don’t have a structured amount that I spend on gasoline or toothpaste, lol