There are lots of personal finance gurus and philosophies out there. But after all my geeking out about money, wealth, and personal finance stuffs, these 3 principles hold true EVERY TIME. 

There will always be debate about the details i.e. 

All of those are definitely things we should think about and make decisions regarding. 

But don't lose the forest for the trees ok? 

These foundational concepts are the BACKBONE of gaining that millionaire clinician status. 

If you’re completely not sure where to start on your financial journey, this is a great place!

1. Spend less than you make

I am going to be real deal, tough love honest with you. 

There, I said it. That statement isn’t designed to shame you into never getting avocado toast (which I finally had a few weeks ago and oh my goodness how have I gone this long without it in my life?!).

There are two sides to this equation. There's what you EARN and what you SPEND. 

If you make $500,000/year-which if you do then :high fives:, and you spend $500,000 a year, guess what? You’ll still be broke and have nothing to show for all of that hard work 

If you make $50,000/year, live on $30k, and invest the $20k, you’re actually wealthier than Mr. Spendypants over there making the $500k/year who can’t keep any of it. 

This is also really where buying decisions in ratio to your income comes into play. Its not about right or wrong, its about ratios. 

Having a $500,000 house isn't right, wrong, costs too much or too little. 

Having a $500,00 house making $70k/year-you’re going to have a difficult time getting ahead financially. 

Having a $500,000 house making $1,000,000/year, well that's actually a pretty conservative purchase.

2. Avoiding high interest debt (credit cards, payday loans)

Ok so heres where we talk about debt. There’s LOTS of debate about debt in the financial world. 

Is all debt bad?

Is there good debt?

Rich people call debt leverage-why can’t the middle class?

Ok so I will be doing another post about this topic and what I;ve noticed when looking at many of the personal finance gurus out there. And honestly, a large part of how you feel about these arguments involves your personal preference and history with money. 

But anyways….let's get to some meat and potatoes shall we?

No matter where you look in finance, most would agree tha taking on HIGH INTEREST debt is BAD. 

When I say high interest, Im not talking about you doing you $1.5 million SLP real estate deals with some complicated spreadsheet. 

The most common forms of high interest debt is….can you guess?

CREDIT CARD DEBT. 

The average credit card debt interest rate in 2020 was about 17.75%. I’ve also seen ranges between 12-17%.

SO lets break this down in some no-fluff numbers shall we? 

Note: Im totally stealing this example from investinganswers.com because its so fabulously done. 

Lets say you have $5000 in credit card debt. 

Then you have your minimum payment. This is usually about 2-5% of the total amount you owe. SO lets assume a minimum payment of $200 which is about 4% of the $5000 owed. 

That means only $138 of that $200 you’re paying is actually going towards your $500 balance. The $62 that's left,  is going towards INTEREST SO yeah you’re basically paying for all that junk mail the credit card companies send out. And yeah, those points you love, even with those you’re still in the red.  

With this particular situation, if you paid minimum payments of $200, it would take you 105 months to pay of the $5000. 

And in that time, you would have paid $2118 in interest.

So yeah basically, high interest debt sucks and drains your bank account of all of the joy. 

If you can't use credit cards responsibly, back up and figure out WHY you are overspending.

You very well may need to take a credit card sabbatical and do a deep dive into your money thoughts and behaviors. 

The worst place for an alcoholic to go to rehab is at a bar.

3. Invest the surplus

This is the simplest and most beautiful part of them all! 

I'm all about saving a dollar and getting a good deal. But it all goes back to the why.

Spending intentionally just for the sake of being a tightwad… well that's just no fun. 

Although as a reformed cheapskate myself, there is that little adrenaline rush when you get a good deal on instant pot you;ve been eyeing. 

But I also understand that not everyone gets that same joy as me. 

That money that you’ve decided not to spend on the fancier house or that pearly white range rover with the black leather interior, now you get to put it somewhere to work FOR YOU.

Its not about saying “no” to yourself. Its actually about saying”yes” to yourself. Ironically enough, present Danni has to say “no” so that future Danni can say “yes, put the $10 avocado on my salad please, and keep the change”