Where to start when you’re broke: Money Problems May 23, 2014 – Posted in: Personal potential – Tags: broke, when you're broke, where to start, where to start when you're broke
The good news is it doesn’t matter how broke you are. You’re never too broke to find a job. You just need to improve your situation, your skills, and your plan! The sad reality is that many of us start off with almost nothing but we don’t need to finish that way. Let’s explore our options on Where to start when you’re broke.
1) Spend less than you earn. There are two avenues to improving your financial situation: spending less and earning more.
If you aren’t making money you need to minimise expenses until you can generate some income. Cut down any expenses so you don’t burn through all your savings.
Look for the cheapest phone, food, electricity, rent, memberships, and cut out everything you can while still living a decent existence so you can focus on creating opportunities for yourself.
2) Habits of are dangerous! Most people have some sort of routine where they buy a morning latte, drink six cans of soda, or they eat out at the same place every day. These routines add up to a lot of money over time and can dig you deeper and deeper into a hole. Spend some time looking at your expenses and find things to cut out.
Use habits in your favor to find a job. Every day post for three job offers with your well thought out resume and cover letter.
3) The million dollar question. Every time you spend money, even when paying bills, stop for ten seconds and ask yourself if this is really something you need to spend your money on. Do you really need this?
4) Write down every one of your daily purchases. If you think you are penniless now, imagine how broke you are when you buy things you don’t need. This might sound extreme but writing down the things you buy will make you aware about what you are buying and how much you are spending in these things. Everything is an investment. Remember this.
5) If you can buy it cheaper somewhere else, do so. Stop wasting your money on things that you can buy cheaper somewhere else. Before you buy something ask yourself if you can get a better deal somewhere else.
5) Don’t make yourself miserable! It doesn’t matter how broke you are, see if you can’t find another way to get what you want without spending money on it. Buy a pullup bar and a used cardio machine and quit the gym. Watch films on youtube and not on netflix. Find cheaper insurance for your car, buy thrift used products or clothes. Be creative and make the adjustments you need to. You might even need to cut out people financially if you are unable to even pay for yourself.
Never too broke to start a job
8) Start a side business. Instead of burning hours in front of the tv each night, how about investing at least part of that time into starting a side business? If you are lazy and broke its your problem. At least if you work hard it won’t be because you didn’t try. If you don’t have any legitimate ideas, you can at least work on making your resume and cover letter more impressive for possible employement.
9) Build upon your skills and abilities. Maybe you aren’t making money and don’t have any possibilities at the moment. The one thing you have is time so work on yourself and your abilities to make yourself more attractive and powerful in the job market. Invest in yourself.
10) Talk to your friends. Your friends very possibly have information or connections that could dramatically change your life. Get in connection with your friends and ask about ideas for employment or money making ideas. Let your friends know that you need help and they can help you find a job or maybe they can even hire you!
If you’re poor than you might have lots of time. This time can be used to revaluate your situation, change careers, find a new strategy, learn new skills, do job market research, play to your strengths.
When you are fully employed you don’t have any time for any of this. So look at this as an opportunity to reinvent yourself and come up with a plan. The most important thing is not to slip into self pity, depression, and apathy. Your greatest asset is your time so use it to the betterment of your future self.
11) Invest in yourself
Think about the information you expose yourself to and the people you spend time with. Are these things going to compound over time for you or bring you down?
This is a serious question and really something to think about. You might love watching reality TV and drinking beer with your friends, and this can be fun at times, sure! But if you are wasting large portions of your time life on a regular basis your growth and potential will be limited in much the same way Bob’s earnings is.
Compounding interest is like building upon a physical structure. Its like putting various components of a business together peice by piece until it eventually becomes something very interesting.
Learn a new skill if you learn something new about the same subject every day, in a week you will still be a beginner but in a year you will start to develop some impressive competencies. In ten yers, you can become world class at something if you have some natural ability.
Compounding interest works in every part of our life. If we invest a bit each day, or each month, or each year, the results will be reflective of our efforts. In twenty four hours we have limited power, but across months, years, and decades, each effort multiplies in a huge way.
So what do you want to become good at? And what do you want to focus on in life?
This is your time.