Your attitude will determine your financial altitude

Welcome to the second installment of our investment boot camp. Before we start off on a brisk sprint to financial freedom, let’s take a moment to get our heads right. They say that your attitude determines your altitude – in other words how you think will affect what you achieve. This applies to many areas of life, whether it’s your career, a healthy eating plan, your workouts or how you plan to save money – which is why book shops are filled with motivational books using words like ‘visualise your success’.

It’s true though. You can’t be successful if you don’t want to be. It will be easier to conquer your heart when your head backs you up. Just like you have to skip that slice of cheesecake at your friend’s birthday or say ‘no thanks’ to a second glass of Chardonnay, we’ll help you exercise your brain to know which temptations to avoid and which smart choices to make.

What kind of spender are you?

I believe there are two kinds of people in this world:

• The first kind receives his/her salary every month, saves a percentage of that and then spends the rest of the money. This guy or gal seems in control, never complains about making it to the end of the month or desiring things they can’t afford.
• The second kind gets his/her salary, spend what they need to on bills or whatever they feel are non-negotiables (new shoes, rounds of golf, drinks for mates), and saves the rest. Inevitably, there is seldom something left to save and as the end of the month draws closer, they find themselves dipping into their credit or store cards to keep up with the Joneses.

Take a closer look at your friends or close family and it will be easy to classify them by these kinds of people. Now you might think some folks have more money because they make more money. Or started out in life with more money. Not true. I believe that anyone can make strategic changes to their lifestyle to unearth more money and – if necessary – get themselves out of debt. It all comes down to discipline.

Fail to plan = plan to fail

What is the plan you need? It’s as old as the hills: you need to relook your budget. As Warren Buffet once said: “Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving.” If you need help getting on track, stay tuned for our investment boot camp. If you have strong willpower, that’s great, but let’s see in which areas we can save you even more money.

We'll give you practical examples on how to distinguish the ‘wants’ from the ‘needs’. We’ll show you the hacks to pay less and get more. Because as you get to know us here at Ginsberg Financial Brokerage, you’ll know that we like to live well. We believe you can have your (Woolies) cake and eat it. You don’t have to reuse teabags, so to speak. You don’t have to give up your lifestyle to save money. And the more money you can save day to day, the more you’ll have to invest in your future.

If the only exercise you are currently doing is running out of money, then book a free wealth coaching session with us today. Just call 021 434 8065 or drop us a line at ivan@gfb.co.za and we’ll set it up. Come enjoy a coffee, tell us about your dreams and money struggles and we’ll work out a plan of attack with you.