Everyone has to start somewhere. Take a basketball star for example. He wasn’t born hitting game winning shots in the NBA Finals. He first had to learn how to dribble a basketball, shoot, pass, and play defense. He played in youth leagues, summer camps, and probably took thousands of extra shots on his own. There was high school basketball practice, summer workouts, and staying in the gym late to practice free throws. All of this years before even playing in his first NBA game.
Personal finances are a lot like this. Success with personal finances does not happen overnight. “Overnight successes” we see and hear about probably happened over the course of ten or more years, and took a lot of hard work. All successful people had to start somewhere.
Start With $10
Start by investing $10 a month. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s a start. As Jim Collins wrote about in his book “Good to Great”, you have to get the flywheel moving. So invest $10 to get things moving. Many people say they can’t afford to invest anything, and then give up. This is the not the right mindset. Instead, tell yourself to invest $10 a month. You can find $10 a month to invest. That’s one less lunch out, two less drinks at the bar, two less coffees, or one less appetizer. You can do this.
Once you find a way to invest $10 a month, you are now an investor. While $10 a month isn’t going to get anyone rich, it creates the investor mindset. It’s a start; the investment wheels are in motion. You are training your mind to invest, and in return, your mind will begin to find ways for you to invest more.
$20
Now that you have been investing $10 a month for the past few months, look to double that to $20. Just like you found a way to invest $10, you can find a way to invest $20 a month. Since you’re already investing $10, you really only need to find an additional $10. Eliminating just one magazine subscription will get you that extra $10. Or like before, cutting back on one lunch out or a couple drinks at the bar will do the trick. Smart grocery shopping will also get you that extra $10, and probably more.
You’re starting to see financial success. You’ve gone from $0 per month to $20 in a very short time. Your mind is working for you to find more ways to invest. You’re developing the investor mindset and making progress.
Double to $40
You have done a lot in the past few months. You went from investing literally nothing to $10 a month, to $20 a month. Your mind is working for you and finding ways to acquire money to invest. The next task is to invest $40 a month.
Since you were able to go from investing literally nothing every month to $20 in a very short time, $20 to $40 won’t be as difficult. You’re becoming kind of an expert on finding money to invest and have had a successful few months. Believe that you can make this jump to investing $40 a month.
Copy some of the ways you got from nothing to $10, and $10 to $20. This will lead you to $40 a month. A few less lunches out, a few less drinks at the bar, make your own coffee at home a few more days, or cut out a subscription you don’t value. Find one or two things in your life that you don’t value and get rid of them. That should easily get you to investing $40 a month.
Add $10 to Make it $50
No, you don’t have to go from $40 to $80! In the next two months add $10 though, and make it $50 for the month. This is huge progress. In less than six months, you went from investing nothing every month to $50 a month. As noted earlier, this amount of money won’t get you rich, but it’s a really great start, and is putting you on an upward trend. You should feel good about where you are, and the progress you have made.
Get to $100
As quickly as you can, invest $100 a month. Continue to assess what you value spending money on and eliminate what you don’t value. Use that money to invest. You won’t get to $100 overnight, but you’ll get there. Make it a goal to get to $100 and you’ll find a way to do it.
Remember the hardest part is getting started and you’ve already done that. Getting to $100 will be easier, and you’ll do it in less time.
What Now?
So what now? You’ve made huge strides in your personal finances. You went from not investing at all to investing $100 every month. You are officially an investor.
The goal now is to continue to grow your investments. I will address that very topic in future blog posts, so keep reading. Congratulations on getting started, and keep moving forward!
Where are you starting from? Are you already investing or are you looking to get started now?
