Lessons from a millionaire

I read an article this weekend called "Donor built millions on $11 an hour" that you may find interesting. Although the headline is a bit misleading (Mr. Navone seems to have made most of his money investing in rental properties) and his choice of lifestyle is a bit extreme, it offers some valuable lessons for those like me who wish to save for a comfortable retirement.

• Start saving as early as you can.

• Work hard for your money.
  

• Live frugally.

• Manage your money and investments carefully.
  

• Give to others.

• Be humble.

Sounds good to me. The quote at the end caught my eye:

"My motto back then without realizing it - and it is now - is that I'll work for the money, and then I want the money to work for me," he said.

Mr. Navone understood this half a century ago. I wonder what it is about our society that so few people understand it today?

Changes

I did something the other day that I couldn't believe I actually did.

I clipped coupons.

I even put them in a folder so they wouldn't scatter all over the place.

I have become my mother.

We used to make fun of her for years. The running joke in my family is that my mother never bought anything unless it was on sale or she had a coupon. She didn't understand why we teased her; to her, it was just being sensible. And you know what? She was right.

When you're a child of parents who never had much money, you don't understand until later in life why you can't have things other people have. The concept of money is too much to comprehend and selfishness, of which I admit I had a lot of, overcomes you. Your toys aren't good enough, your food isn't good enough, the house you live in isn't big enough, nothing is as good as anything or anyone else. Instead of appreciating what I had, I always wanted more and I was miserable if I didn't get it.

Now I find myself in the same position they were: lower income, lots of bills, and a desire to do whatever it takes to find solutions to my problems. In essence, I need to make changes to my lifestyle, and if that includes clipping coupons, then dammit, that's what I have to do.

A Purpose

When I asked Jen, my fiance, to marry me in July of 2007, I presented her with a ring that I had paid for with a credit card.

Although I knew a year earlier (a couple of months into our relationship) that I was going to eventually pop the question, I never saved for the occasion. There were three reasons for this: 1) after some fits and starts, I finally graduated from college, which I was attending full time, in May of 2006 at the age of 28; 2) when I started my current job in August of '06, I had nothing to my name and lots of other debts to start paying down; 3) most importantly, I was an idiot.

Perhaps "idiot" is too harsh of a word. Yes, although I was $10,000 in credit card debt, not to mention my student loans payments (on $27,000 worth of Stafford loans) would begin again in November, I was living with my parents virtually rent-free while working full time and I absolutely should have been putting money away. But by the time the engagement came around, I still had little savings and barely put a dent in the credit card debt anyway. What was wrong with me? Where did the money go?

When I look back on it, I think the better word to use is "naive." Like most Americans, I had no idea where my money was going. All I knew was that a paycheck was deposited into my bank account automatically every 15th and last day of the month. And when you live paycheck to paycheck, those two days of the month are looked upon with great anticipation, aren't they? I made the minimum payments on the credit cards, gave a small amount of money to my parents, and God knows what happened to the rest of it.

Last summer came the epiphany. I proposed, she accepted, and I fell to thinking of a wedding, buying a house, and raising kids. It suddenly struck me that our finances were not being cared for. In fact, they were a complete mess. How could I expect to start a family when I couldn't even care for myself financially? Who would give us a mortgage when we were already starting out nearly $100,000 in debt, including student loans, and making less than $70,000 a year combined?

I personally felt the brunt of the responsibility because even though all of that credit card debt was mine, that was the first problem we had to take care of and I knew it was going to take the both of us to make it go away. So yeah, guilt sucks, but it's a great motivator.

So is the vision of success. That's why this post is labeled "A Purpose." The purpose of this blog is to share how I hope to achieve that success, and it also means that I have finally realized a purpose for life: to be comfortable, without worries, and happy. Isn't that what we all want?

I hope to make this an ongoing effort on my part to keep you informed of our progress through middle-class America and the move from a negative to positive net worth. So check back regularly, bear with me as I work to build this blog, and feel free to leave your thoughts and suggestions. Thanks!