I spent the last weekend painting the inside of the new house together with Nicole. I don’t know if it was the fumes of the Velvaglo or the monotony of the task, but I got to thinking about people and what they do in their lives. Sadly, I think most people moan. Then this was the though pattern:

Moan > About what > What they don’t have > Why? > Because they don’t have money > Why?

[Paints some more…]

But they all have good jobs?> Debt? > Maybe > Spending Patterns? > Spending versus Earning?

Yes now there’s an insight!

Everyone wants more. Nicer car. Bigger house. Cooler clothes. Better quality food. We’ve become conditioned to consumerism as being “The Western Way”. Everyone has ambitions, and generally gets a good annual salary increase calculated by the company adp check stub maker. But so does everyone else. So the revenue stream increases annually, But so do the costs. At a minimum of CPI plus the “rate of perceived exclusivity” for all the fancy goods and gear.

So then what could be the “financial differentiator” between you and your peer? What gets your bank balance ticking and thus opening the doors of opportunity to:

• Make more money off the initial capital
• Spend it

The next logical influence on this topic is the compounding of money.  The more money you have the younger you are – the better your potential for significant financial freedom later in life (should you put it to good use and compound it – not blow it on material crap). In marrying the two concepts together, what I get out of it is the need to increase your earnings early in life – albeit that you’re a novice at whatever you do.

This got me thinking about how much of a person’s day is dedicated to being financially proactive – how many hours in your day are billable? The 8 that you spend sitting at your desk? What about the odd two or three after hours? If you can do this early in life, the cash remuneration can be put into assets that work while you play – houses, shares, equity in companies.

So I’ll put the question out there – how much of your day are you billing? And if it’s only those hours whilst in employment – best you trim back on those plans for a rosy future of excess.