How to have a humble but wealthy mindset
What does it mean to be stealthy and wealthy? For me, it is simply a way of describing a humble approach to building wealth. There are goals that accompany this type of lifestyle like paying off debt, owning only what you need, working only on things that you enjoy and retiring early. But there is also a mindset that comes along with it. It is a mindset that you carry with you every second of the day. This mindset is about making and saving as much money as you possibly can, but still living a humble life even as you grow to become wealthy.
It is also about choosing your own definition of wealth. For many who choose this life, this means that they value travel, spending time with family, or working on a hobby or craft much more than they value owning a luxury vehicle or a huge house. When you choose to define wealth on your terms, you can be rich without the need to show anyone. The internal satisfaction that comes from living comfortably on your own terms trumps any external validation of someone telling you that they admire the things that you own. Below, I’ve outlined the other main components of the stealthy and wealthy mindset that will help you to live this way every day of your life.
Question every spending decision
If there is one skill that veterans of the stealthy and wealthy lifestyle must rely on in their everyday quest for the good life, that skill is what I call recognizing absurdity. The world around us often feels like an elaborate series of traps that are dangerously easy to fall into before we ever even notice that they exist. Friends, family, coworkers and other unenlightened consumers look at us and think that the way we live is crazy. But i believe that financing a $35,000.00 car when you are still paying off student debt is crazy. People think that going a year without purchasing clothes is absurd. No. Spending $200.00 on a pair of jeans is absurd. Living in a house you can’t afford is absurd. $100 per week to eat lunch is.…you get where I’m going with this.
It’s too easy to fall into the trap of spending silly money on things because “that’s what other people pay.” To live the stealthy wealthy life, you have to be able to look at any purchasing situation and say, “does this actually make sense?” So many of the things that we see every day and grow accustomed to are exactly the things that are leaving our friends broke, in debt, or unable to save any money. Find the absurd, pause, then find a better way. I will write posts about specific tactics for this in the future, but two basic rules that have helped me are to always search Google, Craigslist and discount sites before making a purchase and setting a rule of refusing to pay full retail for any item unless you absolutely have to.
Make extra money
There are a million ways to do this, but it is really the great accelerator on your path to early retirement. I have tried dozens of ways to make money on the side and settled on a few that work well for my lifestyle. These include Uber driving, renting on Airbnb, renting my car with Turo, flipping items on Craigslist, selling on Amazon and blogging. When thinking of a way to make extra money on the side, find something that you enjoy, are good at and fits with your current lifestyle and schedule. Then, make a plan for doing as much of that as possible to supplement your income and build up your savings.
Live a minimalist life
This does not only have to apply to the way you live financially, but that is the biggest place that I’ve found a benefit. For me, minimalism means only purchasing the things that I absolutely need to live a good life and nothing else. My wife and I have also challenged ourselves to remove 2,000 items from our home this year. This is not nearly as hard as it sounds. The benefits, beyond the obvious (spending less, making money on the items that you can sell, etc.) are that you have less stuff to maintain and cloud your mind and you will feel far more organized and relaxed in your home when it is not cluttered with unnecessary stuff. A good place to start reading about minimalism would be one of the blogs that I really enjoy, Becoming Minimalist.
Think about building wealth…a lot
Hear me out. This doesn’t mean that you are going to instantly morph into Scrooge McDuck or the Monopoly man, constantly trying to find a dollar at all costs. However, if you are going to achieve financial freedom on your terms, you will need to embrace the lifestyle and think about how to arrange your life in a way that will make that happen. Read money blogs, follow people on social media that talk about making or saving money, listen to podcasts about money, read books on building wealth. If you start to surround yourself with information and resources that will coach and inspire you, the transition into a minimalist, money maker/saver will be greatly accelerated.
Talk about money
Don’t be afraid to talk to your friends about what you are trying to achieve. Not in the tone of bragging or judging, but you will find that the more you talk about your quest to live this lifestyle, the more you will find that you have friends and allies all around you. I learn something every time I talk to certain friends about money. Don’t hold back your education by being afraid to have these conversations with those around you. You will also find that a lot of your friends are willing to take on similar challenges. In my case, this has helped to replace expensive happy hours or dinners out with hikes, camping trips, game nights with friends and other activities that cost little to no money.
Go forth and conquer
The hardest step in changing the way you approach your finances is just committing to a mindset and sticking with it. Anyone can say “I wish I saved more money” once each month or set up a budget and forget about it, but the way you are going to be successful is to think about and live this process every day. From there, it’s just about learning the tips, tricks and hacks that will help you move closer to your final end goal, whatever that may be.