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Get Rich – How anyone can do it, but not everyone will |
Becoming wealthy is often a combination of hard work, perseverance, a good idea and a little bit of luck or at least no bad luck.
What I found is that many wealthy people have lived and still live below their means. They live on much less than they could, and by doing this, they can save the rest of their money and re-invest it or let it grow by compound interest (interest upon interest upon interest), which allows their wealth to grow much quicker.
Live minimalistic until you have the means.
This is of course my view about becoming wealthy, and it is the plan I’m following until something better presents itself, but everyone needs to have a plan. Let me explain how I see it:
I’m going to take Amsterdam as an example.
In Amsterdam it is easy to get a simple job, maybe in a supermarket or newspaper route and make the minimum wage of around 1000 euros a month.
Here is what it costs to live very basically:
Rent: 400-500 E a month for a room
Food: 300 E a month
Transport: Zero because you would walk or get a bicycle
Possibly phone and internet: 50 E a month
Some people don’t do this but I would also opt for a health insurance plan, even if you are young, you never know if you may get into an accident. I have no idea on this kind of cost but I think it would be 100 E or less per month.
So all that in total works out to that 1000E a month that you can earn from a basic job that you need no qualifications for, and the work-week is pretty low, around 35 hours a week.
One thing that I am assuming here is that you already have enough clothes/shoes and a laptop or computer but if you do not, then you will have to save up in order to get those things and it will just slow down your building up for a few months.
Now that you devote 35 hours of your week for being able to survive, with good food and a warm dry bed, you have the rest of the week to work to save and build at your wealth. When it comes to food, the idea is that you buy vegetables and food at the supermarket and cook for yourself. Eating out will be more expensive, because my budget allows for 10E a day for food.
Okay, so now what to do with the rest of the week.
You could find another job, whether it be a full time 35 hour job or part time at a restaurant/bar. The money you make on this you stick in a separate bank account and save.
My alternative would be working on affiliate and internet marketing.
If you haven’t heard of this, it means setting up websites or building email lists, and promoting other people’s products and getting a commission for every sale. The beauty is, once you have a site up and running that pays for itself, it requires little maintenance, and you can literally build up a portfolio of hundreds of sites all bringing in money.
As you can see, this is not going to make you rich overnight, it will probably take a good 4-10 years to seriously make money, but with the internet marketing, the earnings potential is pretty much endless.
Within 8 months you can go from knowing nothing about making money online to making a few hundred dollars a month (I know this because I am at that stage now) and from there it goes quicker and its up to you to build it up. The hardest part is the beginning, because you are learning how to do it and having to do the work, many times not knowing the best way to do something and trying to reinvent the wheel.
You can totally learn internet marketing for free on the internet, the are many good forums and blogs out there, like Warriorforum or Wickedfire.(not affiliate links) I would really stay away from programs telling you how to make thousands of dollars online in your first weeks, those products will cost you valuable money and not give you what they promise.
One book I really do suggest, because I have read it and know that the methods and techniques described are actually used by the writer of the book, is Cloud-Living by Glen Allsopp. It costs $37 and will teach you everything you need to know about setting up a website, choosing a product to promote and getting it ranking in search engines so you can get targeted traffic who will potentially buy your product and thus bring you commission. It also describes the other way of making money online: how to set up a blog. Once you have a successful and popular blog with thousands of readers, you can be making $10000 or more a month just from that one blog, but gaining that many subscribers and having a successful blog can take years instead of making money from websites which may take weeks or months. If you would like to know more about Cloud-living, read the review here.
Of course, the extra job and internet marketing are just my two ways of how I would go about it, you can be creative and do anything else on the side to build up an income, and as long as you live from as little as possible, you are able to save and reinvest those savings, and over time this will lead you to being well-off if not wealthy.
You could start making tshirts, art, start a hand car-wash, become a rep for a product, make door-to-door sales of something, it’s totally up to you how creative you are.Another thing I should add to this is that I know not everyone is in my position regarding age. I’m just 22, so my point of view is that I have 8 years or so to build something up before I start with a family. For those of you already with a family, it will not be as easy, but the principle still applies.
Live on as little as possible until you have enough to live the way you want to. This means no vacations, no dining out, no gadgets or excessive items you do not need. Take for instance a habit like smoking or drinking. Smoking 5 packs a week at $2 a pack is $10 a week which is $520 a year. Maybe you enjoy it, but it’s expensive, not neccessary and bad for your health:) (I use this specific example because I really do not like cigarettes) 
Maybe it’s not so pleasant, but after time it will be worth it, especially later when you are older and heading to retirement. Maybe the rewards of living this way will come a lot quicker than you think. Who knows. Be prepared for the longer haul though.
I do not know if I am talking nonsense, and if you will or will not agree with me, I will only be able to show you my results after a few years, but either way, I would love to hear your view!! 
Feel free to leave a comment below!
I feel a little bad for asking this, but I would really appreciate if you could share this post on twitter or Stumbleupon, as I would like to get more readers to notice UpgradeReality.
Thank You!
Have a Rockin’ day
Diggy
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It gets a bit more complicated when you have children to support, but I agree with our point. There are way to many people spending money they don’t have just to be able to party every week.
Affiliate marketing is a great method to make some extra money by the side and there’s no reason for everyone to work full time with it. By just spending one hour each day you will make a few hundreds of dollars each month, which can make a tremendous different if you are living tight.
Hey Stefan!
Thanks for stopping by!
I totally agree, you can do affiliate marketing in your spare time even if it is a few hours a week.
It is just that, spending money that you do not really have on things that are not neccesary which brings many people into problems!
Keep well and until the next time!
Hey Diggy, I’m currently trying to outsource some tasks hoping to speed up the process.
I’m curious to see the results Oscar
By the way, I like your new design!
Thanks Oscar:) Finally have it looking the way I want it after months of trying things out
Diggy you are right in my opinion on many of the things you say in this article. One area in particular about compound interest bears repeating and it is a mistake most young people make. The money you save NOW through the beauty of compound interest is FAR more important than the money you save later. So many young people think they should live it up NOW and they’ll start saving later when they make more money. Big mistake.
Thanks for your always interesting articles.
Hey Stephen,
Thanks for stopping by
Yes that is so true, $1000 in the bank right now earning compound interest for 40 years turns into a lot of money:)
I find it strange that kids don’t learn these kind of things in highschool. I think our education system needs some radical changes!
I agree. This stuff SHOULD be taught in schools. Great points.
.-= Terri´s last blog ..Mercury Retrograde Re-Run =-.
Heya Terri!
Thanks for the kind words
Have an awesome week!
Really enjoy your posts!
Heya Sunil!
Nice to see you here!
Thanks for the kind words, I’ll keep em coming:)
Keep well!
Hi Diggy,
Good advice. I believe that virtually anyone can save $1000 per month plus, if they are willing to cut back on purchases and a glamorous lifestyle.
I had a friend from Ghana who lived on $100 per month in Japan and sent the rest of his income home to his family. He was only making about $2000 per month, but he managed to send $1900 a month home. He did this by living in shared, free accommodations provided by the restaurant he was working at. He ate one meal at the restaurant everyday, and took home bones to make soup.
He never bought anything. He had a mission to save money to start a few businesses and build a house in Ghana and he did. He saved close to $50,000 in two years. That was more than enough to build a new house back home and start some small businesses. His salary as a high school teacher in Ghana was only $200 per month. In two years, he saved 20 years of his previous salary.
It all depends on how much you are willing to sacrifice now, for your future goals.
Hey John!
Wow that’s interesting and very motivational. Talk about the rewards coming fast. Personally I think that living that way for a few years and getting that much out of it is great, if it helps you and your family live comfortably for a long time after that:)
Thanks for sharing!
Keep well Mister!
I read this article the day you published it on my phone… and enjoyed it so much! I love what you say… it’s so inspiring to think of supplementing your income online.
And… your site redesign looks incredible!! I am amazed at your upgrade
Good job 
Karen
))!
Thank you!! I think it looks a gazillion times better too;) Of course, Glen helped me with it, so some credit goes to him
The idea is indeed to supplement my income with internet marketing until it gets big enough to become a full time income:)
Thanks for stopping by miss!
Ciaociao
wow.
thought i got redirected, lost… or you had been hacked when i got here
digging the upgrade diggy
awwwsome article. really liked the way you broke it down and gave solid, implementable examples.
awwwsomes
alex – unleash reality
p.s. tiger thurs
p.s.2. link the stumble blurb at the end of article
Alex!
Haha, no redirection man, all good:)
Thanks for stopping by!!!
Hi Diggy,
This is a solid piece of writing with nice detail and examples. It’s my first time here so I can’t comment on the re-design, but it sure looks great now.
Stumbled the post
Hey Daphne!
Welcome and thank you for stopping by!
Glad you enjoyed it and hope to see you next time
Keep well and a big thank you for stumbling
“Live minimalistic until you have the means.”
Nicely minimalistic – and alliterative – way of putting it!
This is a great post and so true. Nobody gets rich by spending every penny they get!
.-= Daniel McClure´s last blog ..What Exactly is this Stomper999 Thing? =-.
Hey Daniel!
Welcome to Upgradereality!
Fabulous to have you here!
Glad you enjoyed the post!
Cheers!
The big problem is that many people are not aware of where their money is going.
I visualize earning money like filling a bucket of water.
Assets (could be job where you specialize) fill that bucket of water.
It is up to you where you want apply a specified amount of water.
Usually where you apply water is something that uses up that water. sometimes, if investing, the bucket is filled to some degree.
With your present knowledge you would know where to apply. That is why you have to learn something to be more rational of where you want to apply water.
The most rational thing you know should give you the most benefit out of life. That is why your perception of reality is important, so, as in the previous paragraph, learning helps rationalize our perceptions.
And learning helps create awareness!
Where you want to apply water should give long term and valuable results for life, in other words.
Apply this analogy to Time and Energy! But they could have a few differences.
I think this is best explained with a flow diagram.
as my heart comments,
ægil
So don’t be obsessed, just be aware of where you spend and fix bad sites according to your perception.
Simplicity is key, just decide which is unnecessary!
What is right or wrong is based on your perceptions, so in the end, there is no right or wrong, but most rational!
Give yourself time to think!
Then you’ll save a lot.
Anyway Diggy, Thanks for sparking my thinking.
It is nice to think randomly (laughs)
I think you cold rename this blog to Rationalize Reality or whatever.
Because I believe according to our perceptions, we make the most rational decisions in life.
or Rationalize your Perceptions could be better.
It is always up to you…
Aegil!
Thanks for the amazingly cool long comment:)
Im so happy my article made you think about this topic so much!
I agree that we always rationalize our views and ideas, but this blog is going to stay Upgradereality.com
You should start your own blog, you seem to have a lot of interesting ideas and enjoy writing?
Cheers for stopping by!
Love the comment!
Diggy
Yeah, my heart says it should stay as upgrade reality!!
A bit of my story (optional read)
I could, but I want to study science first.
I love Physics even though sometimes it can be drag.
Currently on my A-levels. I failed my first semester that is why it’s no accident I am on personal development blogs. Now I am on my third semester with a lot of inspiration after getting good results in the second. Fourth is the last.
I enjoy reading and writing since my ego fell apart (still falling apart) and I feel interesting ideas just come out of my head randomly!
I just feel I can find an innovative solution for blogs.
My long comments are a result of my ideas combining with the personal development I have read so far, since May 2009, landing in Bud’s blog and some per. dev. sites that link to that blog. That is chemistry for you (laughs!).
Since that time I was more convinced to read about personal development.
Mabuhay! (long live in Tagalog, my mother tongue)
Getting rich is definitely possible for anyone that realizes what you just pointed out. It might seem like small savings a month but it really adds up to a lot over time. Your article is great. It helps you get started and builds creativity in your readers.
Thanks.
.-= BeTrulyHappy´s last blog ..Establishing Clear Goals Helps Find Opportunities =-.
[...] Get Rich – Live MinimalisticWhat I found is that many wealthy people have lived and still live below their means. They live on [...]
You have a really excellent website! Keep up the good work, I look forward to seeing more of your posts.
Thank you!!