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Improving Your Finances and Become a Self-Made Millionaire

Cynthia Johnson 2017-07-19T12:30:00+00:00

The reason that many of us entrepreneurs set off on this journey is that we seek an unconventional life. A life with financial and career freedom. I know that is why I did it. Freedom from everything. I wanted freedom from debt, freedom from a schedule, and the freedom to create my own path.  

Is Freedom a Possibility?

Yes, freedom is a possibility, but the truth is that many entrepreneurs are so focused and set on the dream of becoming successful that they don’t plan for the possibility that everything can fall apart.

This is a mistake that must be avoided. Planning for your future is imperative, especially for those who choose a life that is less predictable. I know what you are thinking, "Failure? Ha! Not me!" Trust me, it can and does happen to anyone, but if you plan accordingly there is nothing to fear.

Broke

Take self-made millionaire, Sam Ovens, for instance. He is now 27-years old and worth over $10 million. At age 21, he was broke. He decided to move into his mother’s basement and save. He was able to build a multi-million-dollar business in five short years, simply by living an inconvenient life and staying focused while taking risks. This is possible for many entrepreneurs too; you just need to understand and execute on the basics of financial freedom.

Here are some Tips for creating wealth and quickly

Pay Off Your Credit Cards

As long as you have credit card debt, you are in debt. Yes, there are other kinds of debt, but none so damaging and inhibiting as credit cards. It is important to remove the debt from your life and to start with a clean slate. This doesn’t mean that you need to close your line of credit, it just means that you need to keep a very low or zero balance.

Many entrepreneurs can relate to the underestimated use of credit cards to get their business moving. The problem is that many of these cards carry huge interest fees and the interest can drive your payments up, making it more and more difficult to pay.

Start Investing

Although you can save money to create financial stability, you cannot save money to create wealth. Investing and making sure that you have a diversified financial portfolio is key in creating wealth. You can easily set aside a percentage of your income for investments. This way as your income increases or decreases, your investment is based on the percentage of your overall and will vary with your income.

Make Sure to Save

While investing is important to create wealth, saving is important for financial stability. According to many successful millionaires, you should be saving 20% of what you make each month. If you think of this as a bill and pay it every month the same way you pay a car payment or cell phone, then your savings will increase without you even thinking about it.

In fact, you can setup direct transfers from your checking to your savings each month just like an auto-payment for any other bill. However, you decide to do it, it is not as important as doing it.

Saving money will also make you think about purchases a bit more and help you to be more frugal. The less money you are living on, the less money you spend. Your lifestyle will adjust, no need to worry about that.

Track Your Spending

This one can be a real shocker for many of us. "How much did I spend at Starbucks last month? FML."

Tracking your spending is very important. A coffee a day seems fine until you realize it runs you $100 per month. Use anything to track your spending. Things like a notebook, apps, your iPhone, etc. Use these tools to track how much you spend on various items (even those that seem insignificant) to make sure that you are not overspending because of oversight.

Take a Step Back

Sam Ovens made tough decisions so that he could pay off debt, save money, and build an empire. He was able to do just that. Sometimes we have to make hard choices, step away from our lives, change our lives, and even find ourselves in embarrassing situations to make drastic positive change happen.

These changes always seem impossible at the time, but take it from Sam and learn from his success, these changes are often the most valuable. Razor sharp focus is necessary if you want great results. Building wealth into the tens of millions does not happen overnight, but if you follow these guidelines, it could happen over the course of a few short years

Now that you have these tips, what will you implement first? What will be the most difficult to start? Live a little outside of your comfort zone for a short time so that you can live comfortably forever.

Featured Image: Grapix

About the Author

Cynthia Johnson

Cynthia Johnson is an entrepreneur, marketing professional, and keynote speaker. She is Co-Founder at Ipseity Media, a personal brand development and management agency in Los Angeles. Previously, she was Partner & Director of Marketing for RankLab, a digital marketing agency listed in Inc. Magazine's Fastest Growing Private Companies in 2015. In July of 2015 RankLab was acquired by American Addiction Centers where she worked as their Director of Brand Development. She is an advisor to a social good company, DIVONA, as well as nGage.social, an influencer advertising startup. Cynthia is on the Forbes Agency Council, and a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Council. Cynthia was listed as top social media people to follow by Inc. Magazine, top 50 marketers on SnapChat by Mashable, top 12 Female Entrepreneurs that Inspire by Darling Magazine, and top 20 people in SEO by Guardian.