We can get all things we want or deserve, regardless of the money.
It’s not about the amount of money you need, but the source where it will come from.
The question here is how can I get that amount of money?.
A system — that’s your answer.
You just need to build the system that works for you. You need a personal-system that helps you to get it.
For sure, this is not as easy as it sounds, but possible.
You know, when it comes to pleasure our wants, we might have two financing circumstances:
- Having saving and budgeting for it or
- Not having saving at all, although with a few options like credit cards or personal loans to making the purchase anyway.
Under the first scenario, it’s way easier to go right away and purchase those things we want, whether we need them or not.
On the opposite, in the second case, you might tend to use the available balance of your credit card or to take out any form of loan.
The latter is not a wise financial move, my friend.
You can fool yourself if you want.
You will blow your head with a lot of affirmation such as: it is fine to do it, I deserve it, I will pay the total balance and so on.
The biggest lie ever.
Indeed, I did this mistake several times in the past. I ended up sunk in debt thanks to it, unfortunately.
Savings or a well-system money machine are you life saver.
The freedom of having savings
Having some sort of saving is a gift. It will give somehow freedom.
They give us security and sense of freedom.
No matter if they are small or big. Saving are just savings.
In fact, having it is the only common thing between us.
Why?
Because your beliefs and current circumstances might be similar to mine but never equal. You definitely are at a different state than me and the rest of the world.
Each person have unique beliefs and financial circumstances. That’s why is we called it personal finances.
So going back to the point, when it comes to saving it does not matter the number of figures your bank account, strongbox or you wallet has.
The decision that forced me to set a bare-bones system
It was the end of December 2022.
For the first time in my entire life, I had a few savings.
This was odd because in the past I was a terrible saver. A non-saver at all.
Yet, for the first time in decades, I had choices to make financial decisions based on my own money.
I could change my old car for a more recent one. I could take vacations and go to a great a beach, or I just simply buy nonsense things.
Do you see the pattern? Do you see the gift of having choices when having savings?
I ended up, deciding to use that money to renovate my home.
At first I thought to just add a few home improvements like the kitchen pantry, kitchen countertops, breakfast bar table and some general polishing.
My goal was clear — increase home equity.
The financial “mistake”
Did you notice the quotes in the word mistake? This is intentional because it might be or not a mistake.
Let’s dig into this to understand it better.
After thinking a bit I decided to increase home equity even more.
You might wonder, how ?
This involved doing more substantial changes with the idea that by doing it will increase even more home equity.
There was just a problem. A math problem.
The following are the saving, estimated expenses and missing money to complete home renovation goal.
Home renovation investment
Savings/Budget available: USD — — — — — — — — — — 4,000
Total Enhancements: USD — — — — — — — — — — — — 11,800
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Missing USD — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 7,800
Technically, I didn’t have the remaining money.
I say technically because even when I had available some options it was not my money but other’s money.
Home renovation got started. It was on its way.
Then I asked myself, how I will get that amount of money?.
After all, I needed to be figured out how that money would come from.
How to earn the missing money?
Fortunately, that specific month, I got a bonus at my job which together with a part of my monthly paycheck I used it to cover a part of home renovation costs, but that wasn’t enough.
So I needed to create a system that allowed to earn that amount of money.
The system
I started by looking at my income streams. I just had one — my monthly paycheck, sadly.
I could mention another income stream, but it did not bring a significant amount of money to my pocket, hence it is not important.
I also knew my incomes and fixed and variable monthly expenses very well because I budget and track them. How? With a simple spreadsheet.
The math was telling me that I was in red numbers.
Breaking the problem into smaller sub-problems
I am a software engineer.
In computer science, there’s an approach called divide and conquer which basically means, breaking a big problem into smaller sub-problems and solving them individually first.
Although, before breaking the big problem in smaller pieces, it is a great idea to clearly have defined the rules and constraints.
These are basically the clauses that will dictate the contract between you and the outcome you are trying to get.
Defining the constraints and rules
What are the constraints and rules? I asked myself.
This is an important step when it comes to achieving a goal — such as getting more money to afford anything you want in life.
You must be aligned with this contract.
These are my constraints that someone else might not have. These must be your own constraints.
Here are the base constraints I had back then.
Trade money for time
I could afford to spend 10 extras hours on a weekly basis because I am a full-time worker, husband and dad of two, so spending 2 hours daily seems feasible.
Things I enjoy
I wanted to continue doing things I really enjoy, like writing and coding.
These are the best recipes and antidote to get meaning and fulfillment to my life.
So I needed at least 30 minutes on a daily basis or a few hours weekly for continuing having a writing routine and the 9–5 coding shift at work.
Time
It would not be a job that is time-consuming. I am quite limited at this point in my life. Now a dad of two.
Ethical and legal
The work would be ethical and legal. No mafias.
Now with these constraints in place, I was able to list the choices I had and compare them.
I got out the more realistic ones as well as that was aligned with my current circumstances and constraints.
The options — The matrix
1. Get a higher paying job.
Pros
- I could continue doing things I enjoyed, like coding.
- I could have a better financial stability.
- I could ensure to get salary increase going from 30% up 50%.
Cons
- It is hard to get it.
- It is time-consuming, which did not fit with one of my constraints.
- It is some sort of scary because it means starting at square zero.
- It could take a lot of time to achieve it.
2. Get a stacking job
This is a new term i did know when creating this piece.
Job stacking is a strategy that involves working full-time on multiple jobs simultaneously.
Basically means working 40 hours but being paid 80hrs instead.
The idea is simple.
It goes something like getting a full-time job with a micro or small company and get things done by half-time, meaning if a task supposes to take 1 hour, you get it done in 30 minutes.
Even when this seemed feasible. To me, it was not ethical.
So definitively this was not an option.
3. Get a salary raise
I can request a salary raise. This is feasible and super easy
We just need to prove our worth at the company. We can showcase fact and numbers.
Pros
- The faster way than the other options.
- Feasible if you prove your worth. Being irreplaceable is the key.
Cons
- There are no chances it will be a significant raise.
- It will keep you at the rat race.
4. Start/continue a high-paid side hustle (writing/coding)
I could be able to work at least 10 extras hours weekly — this was not an exponential way to earn extra money, though.
Pros
- It is flexible. You can work on your own pace.
- You will be building a reputation throughout the process.
- Your client stack and portfolio will increase.
Cons
- It’s take time because it is a competitive market.
- You are still trading time for money.
- No exponential way to earn extra money.
5. Starting or growing a blog
At the writing of this post, I have three blogs in three different niches: MullinStack and The Top Offensive, Undebtme, tech, self-help and financial respectively.
The first one with more than five years live. The second one with two years live and the latter one-year-old.
I used to post regularly on the first one in the past, but I’ve stopped doing it for the last year now.
On the other hand, I have been posting regularly since last year on the second website.
But to be honest, I haven’t dedicated a significant amount of time to either, three.
Having said that, I realized there was a real opportunity to grow these current blogs and generate extra income.
Before digging into the pros and cons, let me remind you something about blogging.
Blogging by no means is a quick get-rich schema. But I am sure it is possible to make extra money or even a living from it in the midterm.
Pros:
- I had already a small following and social presence.
- It can be easier to grow it since it was already in place.
- I like to write about programming, life, and personal finances, which is aligned with my passions.
Cons:
- It’s a mid/long-term project to start seeing significant results (you must be consistent and create valuable and actionable content). Which it takes time and full dedication.
The winners
Because of my constraints and rules, these were the winner options.
I requested a salary raise. I got it.
It went well. It was not a significant amount, but it definitely added a compound effect whenever I work more hours on a monthly basis.
I also continued posting more often here on Medium.com and on my blog, which led to earn more.
I also got a high-paid technical writing jobs.
Final Thoughts
All this proved to me that it is not about the amount of money you need, but figuring out where the amount will come from.
You can afford anything in this life, you just need to build the system that helps you to get it.
We need to figure it out with the right mindset and system.
That system will evolve over the process, for sure.
I hope this touches and help you in some form. Thanks for reading.
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