When you think of RICH does the image of money and wealth immediately spring to mind? For most people it does, but did you know that the dictionary has many definitions of the word RICH and only one has to do with actual money.
However, by following these 3 simple rules, you can become financially rich.
Rule Number 1: Do Not Live Above Your Means. I think everybody knows their income should be higher than their spending to be able to achieve financial stability. Certainly, my philosophy of making my cash work hard for me has been the cornerstone of creating my “Sunshine Cash” lifestyle
Rule 2: Save Up and Invest Again the common thinking is to save the balance between your income and outgoings and invest to create further income. Planning income for your future self is a wise decision if you do not to be still working 9-5 well into your 80’s.
Rule 3: Improve on Rules 1 & 2. It is easy to plan and budget your expenses. The issue comes in the practice. So many have the greatest intentions only to slip back to bad habits in a month or two. It is VITALLY important to keep checking in with yourself and keep yourself on track to achieve your long term goals.
Rule 4: Do Not Apply These Rules to Just Your Money. To have a truly RICH life, every area of life needs to follow the first 2 rules. Let’s see how this can be applied to the 8 life areas..
Life Area
Rule 1:
“Do Not Live Above Your Means”
Rule 2:
“Save Up and Invest”
Financial Wealth
Spend less than you Earn
Save and Invest the left over money after expenses
Home and Environment
Have a home that suits your lifestyle
Maintain your home to keep it in good condition.
Family & Friends
Have hundreds of “Friends”
Nurture and protect true friendships that see you through thick and thin.
Romance / Partner
Be too busy to give your partner time. Taking them for granted
Taking time to connect on a personal level often to keep the spark alive.
Health & Wellbeing
Overeat and don’t exercise
Have regular check-ups with health professionals.
Career & Business
Jumping from one job to the next often.
Creating a long term career that creates job satisfaction.
Personal Growth
Being constantly stressed and busy
Allowing some “Me Time” to create balance and unwind.
Fun & Recreation
Being constantly stressed and busy
Finding time to have fun, engage in a hobby or just relax with friends
Take some time and consider how can you apply the 2 rules to your life in all areas.
A little over a month ago, I had a speaking engagement at a conference. I was also meeting a number of my coaching clients for the first time. In the lead up to the conference, I was determined to have nice long strong nails for the weekend. To achieve this, I had a routine of using strengthening oil on my cuticles and coating them with Sally Hansen’s “Hard as Nails” Strengthening Polish twice a week. (If you have not used the Hard as Nails polish, try it, it is great for growing long healthy nails.) By the time of the conference, my nails were GREAT!! Nice and long and strong.
After the conference, I was even busier than usual, and self care was the thing I neglected. I felt I just did not have time for myself amongst everything else that was going on. Exercise, quiet meditation time, and – yes- my nail routine, went out the door.
As a consequence, my nails are currently NOT long and strong 🙁 , my stress levels have been high, and I am not living my ideal life, in fact, I feel like I am careering out of control, backwards down a long hill 🙁
My plan for this week ( and subsequent weeks) is to take back some me time and rebalance my life. I know that this will mean I have to delegate some tasks and outsource others for a short while, but it is necessary.
Do you make YOU a priority in your week? Let me know in the comments.
As a “middle aged” lady, I do try to keep myself fit-ish. I no longer go to Gym. I was a member of Curves for a few years but the fees kept rising and our local center changed hands and the opening times were not a “work time friendly” for me. Hubby and I had been walking every evening, but now the Queensland Summer is just about on us, it is far to hot, even in the evening. What to do?
My Daughter has been into yoga for as long as I can remember, and while I do enjoy yoga, again I find the times of many studios (and fees) not suitable.
Imagine my excitement when I decided to search YouTube for some gentle yoga and I found HEAPS!! Who knew? People keep telling me there is all sorts of “stuff” on YouTube. I recently bought a box “thingy” that plugs into the TV that turns it into a smart TV. It is primarily for Netflix, but the opportunity to have YouTube on the big screen is great too.
Anyway, I found this instructor who I have found great. Yoga with Adriene
I won’t promise to do yoga EVERYDAY, but it nice to have so many options.
Have you seen my “Getting $#!T Done” course yet? I ask because, part of the challenge is to audit your life in every area and slowly level each area up to a “10”
One area of life is, of course, “Romance / Significant Other” I have rated this area of my life as a good solid 8 🙂
Nobody is perfect and I don’t know that anybody should actually rate their relationship as a 10. Let’s face it there is always more to do and some little thing that we are not 100% happy with about our partners (or ourselves).
When I was going through my monthly plan and trying to decide how I could level up this area, I thought one thing we enjoy doing is eating out. We choose not to spend $100+ very often on a restaurant meal, but we are both capable home cooks and can replicate a restaurant style dish without too much stress.
Anyway, I digress 🙂
In my never ending quest to become a princess and be wined and dined by my prince I decided that , as I work from home every Friday, I would look through a few menus and have a “fancy dinner” on Friday nights. I will not shop specifically for this meal, but rather use the menu as inspiration to use what I have in the fridge, freezer and pantry.
This weeks menu came from a lovely restaurant not far from us. See Restaraunt in Mooloolaba I have actually only been there once, and it was with a group of girlfriends for a special lunch. It is on my list of places to go with hubby, but is is a stretch on the budget. (A couple would do well to walk out spending under $100 after meals and a couple of drinks)
Scrolling through their menu, this dish caught my eye…. Confit Duck, Spec and Green Pea Medley, Honey Carrot Puree
Yummmmmm, but I don’t normally have duck or spec residing in my well stocked fridge/freezer, but I most certainly do have chicken and bacon!! This sounded like a winner.
This is what I ended up with …. Slow Roasted Lemon Garlic Chicken, Bacon and Green Pea Medley, Honey Carrot Puree.
I found this recipe on Taste for the Chicken and made it with a small half bird from the freezer.
The “bacon and green pea medley” is a side dish I often make for guests.. (a similar recipe is here) In my dish I used frozen peas, green shallots and snow peas and fresh beans all cut into small pieces about the same size as the peas.
For the honey carrot puree, I sauteed a small chopped onion in a drizzle of olive oil until soft but not coloured. to that I added two medium carrots chopped into rounds, and covered with water, a tablespoon of honey and a teaspoon of chicken stock. Simmer this until the water is mostly gone. Be careful, you don’t want it to boil dry.
To serve, mash or puree the carrots ( I used a stick blender) and spread onto a plate in an attractive pool. Nestle the chicken in the puree and surround with the peas. Gently spoon over the sauce from the chicken being careful not to “drown” it
As I am a TERRIBLE food blogger, I forgot to take pictures 🙁
Hubby declared the meal a success, and I felt I had boosted my “relationship score” a point or so – at least for the night 🙂
Does that number strike a feeling of panic and dread, or are you ready for the holiday season?
I have to admit, I am one of “those” annoying people who does not stress about Christmas or the cost of giving gifts. And, yes, I have just about finished my Christmas Gift shopping.
Why?? Well because I buy all throughout the year 🙂
I am fairly lucky in the fact that we do not have a huge family so I only need to buy around 20 gifts.
My husband knows that I cannot pass by a sale table or dump bin 🙂 Invariably I see something and think “Oh! “S” would like that” or “Wow! That would be great for “M”
I have one shelf in a cupboard that we call the “present cupboard” On the inside of the cupboard door is a small whiteboard with all the names written down one side in permanent marker.
Then I fill in the gifts as I buy them in whiteboard marker. That way it is a simple matter to erase the gifts as they get given.
I also know that some of the best gifts can be bought at a bargain price at certain times of the year.
Anything “Christmas-y” can be bought for a tiny fraction of the price just after Christmas. I always buy Christmas paper and cards in the last week of December, often at up to 90% off. Look for such items as paper, cards, decorations for the tree, and themed tableware like plates, bowls, glasses etc. I like to have a supply of Christmas theme plates, cups or glasses that I can use as part of a gift. Make a cake or batch of cookies and display them on a Christmas plate, or simply place chocolates into a Christmas mug and wrap them with cellophane.
The lead-up to New Year’s Eve often brings up good specials on Champagne, Wine and other Alcohol. It can be a good time to buy for birthdays early in the year.
January is the best time to buy stationary, school supplies and office equipment in the “back to school” sales. This is a good time to buy plain-coloured kid’s clothing and running shoes.
February is the time to buy chocolates in the after Valentine’s Day sales.
March -April is Easter, and again after Easter is the time for chocolate and “Easter-y” decorations.
May is Mother’s Day. This is a good time to pick up perfumes, bath sets, soaps, and kitchen appliances.
June – July is a time to keep an eye out for End of Financial Year Sales. This is often the best time to buy big appliances or cars. Any big ticket items often have sales targets to reach and you can very often drive a hard bargain the closer it gets to June 30. Also at this time of year, the Christmas Toy Sales start with the option to purchase on a 6-month lay-by.
August is usually quiet with no major sales happening.
September is Father’s Day and Football grand finals. Father’s Day is a time to pick up gift sets of male toiletries, hardware, BBQ accessories and food sets ( think BBQ sauces and rubs etc), tools, car-related things and the ubiquitous alcohol. The last weeks of September are another time to stock up on alcohol as the stores prepare for football grand final parties.
October is the Bathurst Car Race weekend, so again there are car-related accessories on sale.
November- December brings sales in the lead-up to Christmas.
I find that by purchasing gifts throughout the year, the strain on the budget is minimal. Our family has a dollar figure to work to for gift giving, so I can regularly spend the recommended amount but give a much higher value gift – eg a $50 gift budget, can result in a $100 value when that gift is bought at 50% off.
This weekend was a family birthday, so we packed up the car and ventured out to have a special picnic.
The spring weather here is just lovely, and it is always a great time for a picnic.
I designed a “high tea” type spread with pikelets with jam and cream, finger sandwiches, chicken and vegetables, bruschetta, mini prawn cocktails, cupcakes, brownies and fruit salad cups.
None of the elements of this are difficult. The appeal comes in the presentation. I arranged most of the food on a large platter around a central upturned lunchbox, upon which I placed the pikelets. This replicated the “high tea” look I was after.
I also managed to do this for under $36 to serve 3 people. Even if I include the cost of the items I already had in the pantry or fridge, it would still have come in at under $50.
This was our main meal for the day, and we were all satisfied without being “stuffed”
I am happy with how it all turned out. The family felt they had been thoroughly spoilt 🙂
This is what I made ( with recipes where applicable)
Many of us have been raised with the idea of "saving for a rainy day", so we diligently squirrel away savings for a disastrous event.
While it is important to have a safety net backup, "Sunshine Cash" is the complete opposite :) It is the money to have FUN with, money to burn, money to enjoy, and money to LIVE.
It is the formula that has seen me "Rise to Rich" and I can help you do the same.
Where to now? Join me on the Sunshine Cash journey. Follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for tips and hacks to create YOUR best life.
Oh! Please do comment on my posts. I love to know if something resonates with you, or how you do things differently. I love to hear your stories.
A little over a month ago, I had a speaking engagement at a conference. I was also meeting a number of my coaching clients for the first time. In the lead up to the conference, I was determined to have nice long strong nails for the weekend. To achieve this, I had a routine of using strengthening oil on my cuticles and coating them with Sally Hansen’s “Hard as Nails” Strengthening Polish twice a week. (If you have not used the Hard as Nails polish, try it, it is great for growing long healthy nails.) By the time of the conference, my nails were GREAT!! Nice and long and strong.
Does that number strike a feeling of panic and dread, or are you ready for the holiday season?
