We’ve been chatting about all sorts of topics regarding life after college and being successful in your 20s. To be specific, we’ve been leaning towards grabbing control of your life and making money on your own terms.
You know how to focus on your side business, how to overcome hurdles from starting your own business, the laws of working for yourself, and making money online. What’s next? Now you need to master one financial skill if you want to live the life that you deserve.
There’s one secret to being successful with your own business and in general after college. What is this secret?
To live below your means.
What’s the beauty of living below your means?
You should consider living below your means. I have to borrow a quote from my new favorite book, Linchpin, to summarize living below your means:
“When you cut your expenses to the bone, you have a surplus. The surplus allows you to be generous, which mysteriously turns around and makes your surplus even bigger.” — Seth Godin
I don’t want to turn into a frugality blogger, but you do need to see the benefits of cutting back on your expenses. You need that surplus.
Why’s this such a remarkable financial secret for life after college?
Cutting back on expenses is something that we all know that we SHOULD be doing, but how many of us are actually doing it? We all preach the good word of cutting back on expenses. Yet so few of us do it. When you finally start to cut back on your expenses you’ll realize that you don’t need to stress out about how much you make because you have more money coming in than you have going out.
Have I always lived below my means?
I must make a confession now. I’m slowly starting to become better at practising what I preach. I’ve recently become more serious about cutting back my expenses.
I had two cell phones for the longest time. I signed up for a long term contract to get my iPhone many years ago. Then I got sick of the iPhone and wanted a Blackberry. Instead of waiting for my contract to run out, I bought a Torch and now had two phones. That’s one too many if you asked me. I just loved both phones that I couldn’t decide which one to get rid of, so I kept both. Now I finally got rid of my iPhone.
I also cut back on my expenses in a few other ways. Check out how I’m cutting back my expenses:
- I moved back home. I finally rented out my condo and moved back home. I’m not only saving money but I’m making a bit with my rental income.
- I work out from home more often. I still have my gym membership but I try to train at home with my younger brother as much as possible. I saved money on gas and time.
- I prepare my own food as often as possible. I love making my own food. I try to prepare my own food as much as possible.
That’s all the money that I can save for now. I still love going out for drinks and eating out at nice restaurants. I need to live a little.
At the end of the day, cutting back your expenses is all about deciding what you want out of life. You can have anything that you want. You just can’t have everything that you want (stolen from JD Roth).
Are you willing to cut back on your expenses to chase after your dreams?