Mike owns his own business and earns over 30,000 per month. Despite the above-average income, he STILL can’t make it to the end of the month and he doesn’t feel any better off than Jimmy, who earns a salary of around 10,000.
Mike feels like he’s running a hard race in life, and every time he lifts his head to see where he is – he’s in the same place he was last time he looked.
Jimmy, on the other hand, has time for evening squash league, a Wednesday night out, and time to watch his kids’ sport. Although his income is smaller, HIS standard of living is the same and his quality of life is much better.
After recording his expenses for a month, Mike started to see where the mistakes lay. Over the years, he had accumulated a host of expenses that he perceived to be essential but were not contributing to his standard of living.
He had fallen prey to the wooing of finance houses that invited him to various prestigious golf days and business breakfasts. His ego had been stroked, and he had signed up for one special offer after the next. Once or twice would not have made a huge difference. But over time, he had signed on the dotted line innumerable times until he woke up one morning wondering when and how things had become so tough.
Mike earned over R30,000 per month, but most of his money was used to service debt, runaway insurance premiums, and tax. What was left for actual living expenses was less than R10,000 per month. He could theoretically have the same standard of living with one-third of his income and far less stress if he managed his affairs more efficiently.
For the inconvenience of being away from home 3 to 4 nights a week, working very long hours, and enduring business stress beyond belief, he feels that he could just as well have had a simpler job earning a salary and stayed at home. Heaven knows he’d sleep better.
To Do:
Analyse your monthly expenses to see how much of that money you are actually using to support your lifestyle.
There’s a good chance that your standard of living only costs half of your monthly expenses (maybe even less).
