Money isn’t everything but it’s pretty daggone important.
This video explains how I managed to bank $10,000 before setting out on my journey to make a difference and help other people. I hope it gives you some ideas. Enjoy! xo
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Money and Making a Difference
What do people say when they’ve just lost a race?
“oh my gosh, it doesn’t matter”
And what do people say about money all the time?
“oh my gosh, it doesn’t matter”
This is so not true. Money is important.
You need money to buy hair. You need money to pay for your phone bill. You need money to get on a plane and fly to different places if you want to travel.
My experience with being really passionate about making a difference has shown me that I actually need to be smarter about money than other people that don’t have this passion.
The rest of this post is my experience with trying to have enough money to take care of myself and help other people.
Quick Backstory
The first thing you should know is that I started off with about $12,000 in debt.
Part of that debt was owed to a boyfriend that told me that the only way he would cancel the debt was if I married him.
I did not marry him.
Needless to say, I had to get out of debt.
I had to get out of debt because I felt that being in debt reduced my freedom to make a difference and do the things that I wanted to do.
This was step 1 for me.
You’ll notice that this website is all about self improvement / personal development for people that are passionate about making a difference.
This is because I quickly realized that I was USELESS to help other people if I hadn’t helped myself first.
The good news is, I am now 100% debt free! Let me tell you, it feels amazing.
If you want to be free to do what you want, travel when you want, and live a life that is true to your values, then I strongly encourage you to stay out of debt as much as possible.
Step 2: Lightening Up
Something that came very naturally to me was to focus on putting stuff in my bank account instead of wasting time putting stuff in my house.
You’re not going to catch me dead on a subscription service like Birch Box. I don’t get it.
Why can’t people just go to Walmart or the market and buy toothpaste there? Why does somebody have to deliver it? I don’t know. I just don’t get it.
I got a little extreme with this though.
Some months, I put away as much as 50% of my income.
Till this day, I don’t collect free stuff from parties, weddings, etc. I always leave the favors on the table because I don’t want to accumulate stuff in my house.
I want to accumulate $$$ in my bank account!
I don’t even take the brochure out of church. I read it in the building and toss it before I get to my car.
It’s that deep.
obligatory disclaimer: I don’t want anybody to think that I have things all together and I’m on my A game because I’m not.
I’m just trying to make the point that before I started getting into making a difference, helping people, and traveling, I first had to get my act together.
Saving was a big part of the process.
So instead of buying things, subscribing to things, and trying to keep up with people, maybe consider putting all that money in your bank account instead?
That’s what I did and it worked beautifully for me.
Step 3: Use the Mint
The last thing I did was track where my money was going.
I’m definitely one of those people that would think I paid $10 for something when in reality, I paid $25.
I needed a free, easy, intuitive tool that would allow me to keep track of my spending and Mint was perfect for me.
In college, I used Excel to track my spending but I now use Mint and I’m completely happy with it (minus the annoying ads they now have. ack!)
It doesn’t matter what you use, just make sure you’re using something to track your spending. It makes a big difference.
Possibly, the simplest plan ever
I got out of debt, saved like a maniac, and tracked my spending. 
Your process might be a little different but I’d encourage you to give this simple approach a try.
But whatever you do, do not buy into that crazy idea that money is not important.
Money matters.
You need money to buy things. Things like this GoMAD bracelet.
It’s just $10 and you should get it because it’s the perfect reminder to stay passionate about living with purpose and making a difference. See more styles on Etsy.
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For GoMAD Bracelets, Click Here
