PEACE OF MIND WITH MONEY SHOULD BE A FIRST STEP

TO FINDING YOUR RICH

 

It’s just one million dollars that bridges the gap, not that big of a deal really. Or is it? As your wealth grows the less attractive previous money goals become only because society has groomed us to believe that more wealth is power.

For the average person It just buys more shite, that’s all.

Last night I watched Drug Lords on Netflix and not only did it open my eyes to the billions of dollars in the drug cartel but just how fast wealth can create a power so terribly wrong that everyone suffers. Greed is a nasty evil that will always come back to bite you in the arse.

You don’t have to be a drug dealer to become that powerful person who makes people around you suffer because they are less fortunate or because you believe you’re entitled to be that way. We have more than enough high-society snobbery to  handle that part of the problem but we interests me the most is how many people we’ve met that aren’t that way.

How much money you need to live your rich life is up to you but don’t think for a minute you are unique. You don’t need millions of dollars to retire on unless YOU want it to be that way.

Currently Mrs. CBB and I are in our very early 40’s and one million dollars doesn’t get you much but it does give some people a sense of financial freedom even if only on paper. Don’t get caught up in that freedom unless there is debt free attached to it! Owning a home doesn’t make you rich. Renting doesn’t make you rich. You make yourself rich based on lifestyle choices. No one cares, YOU care or at least YOU SHOULD care.

Nobody says, “I need a million dollars now” unless they’re involved in some sketchy business transaction or looking for the ultra get rich fast scheme. One million dollars sounds like one is doing exceptionally well and life is fabulous only because that’s what we perceive it to be.

Why am I saying this?

Over the past year Mrs. CBB and I had set a goal to be worth one million dollars on paper by August 2017. That was the way our financial forecast chart was leading us to at least. It was interesting to see our enthusiasm each time we ran our end of month net worth figures because it would paint a picture for us.

When our net worth went up we were like, Yay. When our net worth went down we were like, Yay. In essence we came to realize that although we were debt free getting richer and richer didn’t appeal to us. The more you have the more you spend. You may have more luxury and life will be far more comfortable but not necessarily fulfilling.

We still shop at second-hand stores, use coupons, garage sale and do all the things we used to do before we became one million dollars richer on paper. We’ve kept that mindset because that is who we are. Money changes people if they let it. Not all millionaires need to live the life of luxury. In fact you might be one yourself and understand exactly what I’m talking about.

 

As Seasons Change Money Mindsets Change Too

 

Maybe rich isn’t the “end all be all” and for once we realized this.

Some months our net worth picture was amazing and other times we would suck up the loss or minimal gain and work on doing better the next month. As you will notice from our December 2017 net worth chart below we did not reach our million dollar goal for 2017 but we actually did.

If you were to remove our house value from the equation than no we aren’t the one million dollar family and we’re fine with that. I’m not sure it really matters to us as much as it once did. Eventually we asked ourselves if we were excited for the one million dollars or the challenge of reaching it?

As we mentioned in our December budget update our realtor came around and told us that our house could easily sell for over $600,000 which was great news. This meant that our principal residence could be updated from $345,000 and would easily put us over the million dollar mark. We left our real estate number untouched for a couple of years only because we thought we’d stay behind in case the market burst into flames. So far, that hasn’t happened.

 

Our one million dollar mission is complete

 

Unfortunately for us we aren’t downsizing quite yet however on paper we are worth a million dollars if we were to sell our home today. You always must consider your residence in the net worth figure. How you choose to do that is up to you.

I guess we thought it would be exciting to say we were worth one million dollars but as it turns out it was just another day. We’ve learned that our goal of reaching a net worth of one million dollars was nothing more than just beating the system or getting ahead of it. It was never about the one million dollars.

This leads me to believe that each and every one of you out there who are willing to set a goal and challenge it will ultimately feel the same way we do no matter what your end figure is.

Not everyone values money the same and our priorities differ vastly based on how we choose to live our lives. As you pay down debt and eventually become debt free you will realize that money isn’t as important as it once used to be. I’m not saying you will brush it under the carpet but for us it became more about living than saving. I’m certain that becoming older parents also changed our money mindset.

 

One million dollars is rich and poor

 

One million dollars may seem like a fortune to one person and peanuts to another especially when income levels increase, net worth increases and debt decreases. You either want more or become content with the simple life.

One million dollars in the Greater Toronto Area would buy you a lovely home but buy outside in the smaller cities and you’ve got yourself a mansion. My point is that no matter where you live one million dollars will either make you feel rich, poor or somewhere in the middle. A money mindset is critical when it comes to net worth and financial wealth because of personal values.

So many times I’ve had readers ask me what it was like to be debt free and I’ve come to realize that how I feel won’t necessarily be the way they would feel. I guess once we paid our mortgage off in 2014 our investment numbers have significantly improved but nothing in comparison to understanding the meaning behind one million dollars.

There is no meaning. It’s just a number. Nobody cares and they shouldn’t. This is a number that sounds rich because society has geared it that way. Trust me when I say many one million dollar rich folk are worth nothing more than green on white.

 

Money needs never end

 

In 2017 we had far more expenses than we had imagined but only part of them became what we call, emergencies which fell under – helping the in-laws. Some people might shake our hands for helping them out and others might shake their heads. How could such financially smart people just give away free money like that.

It’s not about the one million dollars any longer. Helping others has always been a big deal to us and even if we never see that money again, we’re fine with that. I often had fans ask me if we ever donated money to causes. The reason was because we had a larger than normal savings account.

We simply were figuring out a financial plan but in the meantime our bank account grew. At first I was bit annoyed that someone would ask me why we don’t have a “donation” category in our budget but that didn’t hang around for long.

Although it’s nice to donate money not everyone can afford to do that when the very people they love are suffering as well. Our financial donations went to our relatives in 2017 and since their home is their retirement nest egg we’re certain that they will need every last dollar.

• Holiday
• New Vehicle
• New Roof
• All the little extras for the in-laws
• House Renovations
• Job Change

The older you get one million dollars doesn’t mean the same thing as it used to, at least for us. This feeling will differ based on your financial mindset, goals and current situation. For us, one million dollars simply means you have one million dollars. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

Giving back is the best rich

 

The biggest and most realistic wake-up call we had was in 2017 and we are thankful that we were able to give back to those we love. We also learned that asking for financial help is one of the toughest spots someone could be in. Watching my in-laws as they are very ill suffer at a young age the way they do not only motivates us to do better but to make sure our son knows how very important it is to balance finance with living life to the fullest.

In 2018 Mrs. CBB has set a wonderful goal that is not money related but giving back by donating blood. With almost losing her father a few times this past year she realizes how important it is to donate to save a life. Not all donations or gifts must be dollars and cents especially when not everyone needs green.

Since we’ve reached the one million dollar point IF we were to sell our home today we are comfortable saying we’ve achieved our goal. What happens moving forward will only benefit our minimalist-type lifestyle, retirement and helping those in need for the future including our family.

Life is worth living and whether you have one million dollars or one thousand dollars it means nothing more than what it is- A means to an end.

Discussion: Has your financial mindset changed as you’ve grown or your wealth has grown?

 

Our Net Worth December 2017

 

Where all the money went:

We didn’t go down in December but we certainly didn’t go up much in terms of net worth increase only because of Christmas and the money spent on putting a new roof on my in-laws house. Other than that we’re happy the year ended and are looking forward to what 2018 brings us.

It seems that slow and steady wins the race.

Thanks for following along our net worth journey to one million dollars!

Mr. and Mrs. CBB

 

Understanding Net Worth

 

What Does Individual Net Worth Mean?

Net Worth is a snap shot of your financial health sort of like a picture or debt to net assets. In simple terms it’s a total of the value of your assets minus your liabilities.

We credit the growth of our net worth due to patience, perseverance, using a monthly budget and not giving up. Your numbers may go up and down but don’t let the numbers scare you rather understand why and move on.

If you would like to use our budget I offer a FREE downloadable budget which I created and that you can use at home just like we do. I don’t charge for it because I want you to save money not spend more!

There are tonnes of other free printable lists offered at Canadian Budget Binder to help you achieve some of those financial goals and build your net worth. Now determine just how much net worth you actually have and go from there.

Enjoy and let me know what you think.

 

Determining net worth

 

Figuring out net worth is fairly easy as long as you know your personal numbers or monthly finances which means you need to do your homework. Net Worth is simply adding up all your assets (what you own) then taking away your liabilities (what you owe) which will give you a net worth number.

Understanding your net worth will help you determine if you are on track to meeting or beating your personal financial goals. It doesn’t get any easier than that.

How to Determine Net Worth?

Net Worth = Assets – Liabilities

 

Calculate net worth

 

Do you know how to calculate your own Net Worth?

Now you can stop asking yourself the question, how do you find out your net worth? Why? It’s easy to determine. We like to calculate our net worth every month so we know if we are still on track. Some people calculate it yearly or quarterly. It’s really up to you and how informed you want to stay when it comes to your financial health.

Net Worth is essentially an estimate and not everyone uses the same type of figures. Some people don’t include vehicles like we do or they may leave out the assets inside the home like we have. It depends on what you want to calculate or what you can sell today and make money on.

Why not go ahead and calculate your own using our Free Money saving Tool Net worth Calculator (Canadian Budget Binder 2012)

 

Why you should set financial goals

 

Below is our progression chart towards our goal of a million dollars net worth which should happen according to our net worth calculations by Mid August 2017 (this year). Note: Since we went on holidays and spent money buying a new truck this goal has now changed and will likely take us into 2018.

Setting goals are the only way we work towards achieving what we want to get done as a couple around the house and in our financial life. I know that without them we would be flying by the seat of our pants which wouldn’t work for us.

I find it’s much easier being held accountable when I share what we need to do with all of you. Yes, my wife refers to the list when she asks what I plan to do next. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing for me or not.

In the graphical representation above, I have used excel to provide a trend line prediction based on the past years monthly net worth figures.

Using figures from our actual net worth gains over the past 12 months (the solid blue line) it has suggested that by the end of (2016) we should have been around $900,000.00. We fell short of this goal by $9000 which is perfectly fine as it was only an estimated goal based on current financial trends. This can change over the course of the year and is only a prediction based on known historical figures from our finances.

According to our handy chart, we should hit the million mark in or around August to September 2017. (didn’t happen)

 

Our financial numbers

 

When budgeting anything is possible, we are proof of that although we still have a long way to go in our journey. These are our numbers and our goals, not a means of comparison towards your own goals to others target goals.

We don’t care how much money others make or if they have a high net worth or if it is lower than ours as it’s not a competition. I hope our experiences perhaps will help guide you along your financial path working towards debt freedom.

 

Different financial paths

 

Not everyone has the same path in life. Some of you may have had to start over like I did or go to school a second time and now have OSAP loans to pay back.

Others may have divorced, lost money in the stock market or other investments, suffered job loss, fell ill or injured on the job etc. but you can’t let that stop you from achieving your financial goals.

Some of you may have been given trust funds, paid-for homes, paid educations or perks in life that give you a financial kick-start and that’s OK too. Remember what I said, “It’s not about how much money you make, it’s how you save it”.

Focus on you and don’t let the evil eye of money jealousy or keeping up with the Kardashians cloud your vision. No one cares about your money as much as you do so don’t waste your energy trying.

The only reason people accumulate wealth is because they know how to save or invest it wisely even if they did inherit money or win the lottery. The smallest improvements should mean big strides in working towards reaching your goals.

Sometimes we have to fail in order to learn and we’ve all been there. Money can be an evil force for some people especially those who have a negative attitude towards their own financial situation.

I urge you to be optimistic and little by little with determination you too should see improvements, if you want that to happen.

 

Net worth updates 2017

 

Below you can click the links to read earlier months net worth updates 2017 to see how we made out following our own financial rules.

• January 2017
• February 2017
• March 2017
• April 2017
• May 2017 Not available due to holidays.
• June, July, August – See this post above
• September 2017- No post
• October 2017
• November 2017

That’s all for this months net worth update but check back in February to see how we made out in January 2018 with our financial portfolio.

~Mr.CBB

It’s Not About How Much Money You Make It’s How You Save It

Check out our 2012-2018>> Monthly Budget Updates

Share to...