The Richest Man in Babylon

• People work hard at a craft and expect money to come to them for it. In reality, people learn their craft very well, but they never learn about money.

• People have appetites and they don’t know how to control those appetites. If they have more money without the knowledge to use money, their appetites will still remain out of control and there will still be things they want and won’t be able to afford.

• A part or percentage of what you earn, you should keep for yourself.

• That percentage should go towards making you more money.

• Lots of people have advice. Only take what’s useful from people who know what they are talking about.

• As you watch your savings grow, you’ll have a greater motivation to save.

• It’s better to save some than risk losing all.

7 Cures for a Lean Purse

1. What you spend your money on tells you why you want money in the first place. If you spend your money on things that won’t last (good food, nice clothes), then that’s what you desire most. If you save and spend your money on something more substantial, then that’s what you want the most.

2. What we say are “necessary expenses” will continue to grow with our income unless we ourselves put a stop to it.

3. Make your money work for you (cashflow/investing).

4. Secure your money from potential loses (bad advice, untrustworthy borrowers, impulse buys, etc).

5. Buy your purchases, don’t rent, lease or loan them. (Get out of debt)

6. Prepare for future needs when you aren’t able to work and provide income for yourself or your family.

7. Increase your ability to earn.

• Before you accomplish anything, you have to want something. Make your wants a tangible number or item. Make it simple. Avoid wants that are too confusing, too many to focus on, or beyond your training to accomplish.

• Your goal should be small, something you're willing to do, and something you can actually accomplish.

• Your wants (goals) should be out of your comfort zone, but reachable. As you obtain your want, you will grow in experience and confidence. Soon you’ll be able to reach further for more wants. As you apply this with money (income), your cashflow will grow and grow and grow.

• You can’t reach full success until you exterminate every ounce of procrastination. Take every good opportunity that comes your way. Good luck comes with good opportunities, but seldom otherwise.

5 Laws of Gold

1. Money comes to people who lay aside a portion (10%) of their earnings aside.

2. Money works hard for people who find good employment for it.

3. Money sticks to the owner who protects it by only listening to wise men who know how to handle money.

4. Money leaves its owner who invests it in a field he is not familiar with or with whom who doesn’t know how to handle it.

5. Money leaves the man who forces it to make impossible earnings, trusts it in the hands of schemers or thieves, or trusts it in his own inexperience or romantic desires in investment.

• Everyone wants to get to the top of the mountain, but the only way to get there is to climb it.

• If you want to help someone, help them in a way that won’t bring their burdens upon yourself.

• The safest loans are to people who have more value in what they have than in what they are asking.

• Those who are in the throes of great emotions are not safe to lend money to.

• The wise lender doesn’t want the risk of getting more money, but a guarantee of safe repayment.

• Most people who think they could earn more money if they had more money are hoping in vain; they don’t have the training or ability to carry out those desires.

• The first priority for the money that you have should be to keep it safe.

• Insure your investments.

• Your friends, mindset, and environment affect how you handle your money. If you want to be a slave, associate with slaves. If you want to be freeman, have the mindset of a freeman, and don’t associate with slaves.

• A free man looks at life as a series of problems to be solved and solves them. The soul of a slave whines “what can I do who am but a slave?”

• Make hard work your friend. It doesn’t matter how hard it is no or if it doesn’t get appreciated. The satisfaction of your future rewards will be more palpable than the hard work in the present.

• Good fortune comes to those who work for it.