August 3 - Spend Like You Want To Grow Rich

      Right now I'm reading through Mr. Hallam's book, "Millionaire Teacher."  In chapter 1, Mr. Hallam talks about the difference between being rich verse living rich.  Being rich means you have financial freedom; the financial ability to take off work for a year or two and still living comfortably. Opulent folks tend to have high salaries (although not necessary) and invest smartly. Of course there are the outliers who get rich through luck (lotteries) or come from a wealthy family.  Unlike most SAS students, Mr. Hallam came from a humble background.  In a way, we have a disadvantage in this aspect.  We tend to assume we'll be wealthy forever and don't have to work for it like our parents did. Or even worse, we spend extravagantly as adults when we don't have the money because that is what we are accustomed to.  Poor kids have better intentions for becoming rich because they know what it's like not having money.  Here is an article on how to make yours kids rich: http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/On-Retirement/2011/07/06/5-ways-to-help-your-children-become-wealthy
       Number one says to develop frugal habits yourself. This one basically says that your kids learn through your actions, not your words.  For example, if you smoke around your kids but tell them that it's bad for you, they are more likely to follow your actions than listen to your advice.  So when you show your kids that you save money, they will probably start doing the same with their allowance no matter how small it may be.
      Number three states that parents should teach their kids excitement of improvement. There are many small ways to save money: fly economy instead of business, take the public bus rather than cab, or even just eating at home rather than out. Kids will pick up on these actions and learn from them.

      I added up all my purchases since the start of class in August to the beginning of September. The total amazed me. $518. Never before had I imagined I spent this money on average. Probably the biggest factor that had been hidden to me before was the endless grocery bills. My mom goes grocery shopping almost everyday and the Cold Storage prices are almost double that of Fairprice. Too me it's not an issue though, us American's love our food.