Whoa – scary news this week – let’s use this moment personally: Be Rich, Live Poor. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next thirty to ninety days, but I do know something about surviving tough times. There’s a brilliant Aussie phrase: Doing it tough. They’ve been using it for over a hundred years, and it describes a sense of resilience and determination in the face of adversity.
I suspect we’ll all be doing it tough for the next year.
Not here to complain or lament – enough people out there have the lamentation and complaining covered. Instead, I’d like to talk about HOW to get through these times and it’s pretty simple – Be Rich, Live Poor. If you can do that, doing it tough doesn’t feel so bad. Anyone can be rich and live poor, let me show you what I mean.
Be Rich for Free
First and foremost, when you talk about being ‘rich,’ what does that even mean? Think about that real quick – does being rich ONLY mean having stuff? Being able to buy whatever you want, whenever you want? Because if that’s the case, you aren’t thinking of the word ‘rich,’ you’re thinking of ‘affluent’ or ‘wealthy.’ Affluence and wealth are cool, but they can go away at any time. Ask me how I know (click here to read the life story of Jackson Allen) …
Living Poor Focuses Your Attention
I’m not the only one who thinks ‘living poor’ is important. Money’s a good resource, but a bad friend. By living poor, you’re returning money and affluence to the correct place in your life. Most people call it ‘living frugal’ but whatever. As it says on frugalconfessions: ‘Frugal living is about taking all the resources you have in your life – your money, your time, your energy, your friends, your family, your job, your side hustles…everything – and figuring out ways to both maximize them to their true potential, plus to not waste them … as you appreciate your resources more, you begin to appreciate everything more.
‘Suddenly, your world seems filled with people you love, beautiful landscapes, and everything that you could ever ask for. Appreciation brings happiness, satisfaction, and an entirely different perspective.’
Anyone Can Live Poor
Living poor gives you – ironically – a richer life. Now that you’re no longer making your wealth or your affluence into your personality, you’re free to become whatever you’re really supposed to be.
Of course I’d have to think about what I’d do with a firehose of success if it were pointing my way. The answer I’ve come up with is pretty simple – firehoses, like any other amount of water, can be helpful or destructive depending on how you channel them. I can’t think tactically yet, so this is more of a strategic answer. I’d start by creating channels to ‘Achieve Sustainability’ and ‘Do Nice Things for People.’
Mechanically, there are ways to do that forever – investing royalties to create recurring capital specifically for philanthropic purposes. No goofy non-profit ‘fundraising’ schemes to launder money back into my pockets. At the end of the day I want to be able to say ‘I took care of me, and I helped take care of other people.’ Full stop.
Living ‘rich’ means ‘having great worth or value,’ and life is chock full of experiences and things you can’t put a price on. The warmth of the sun on a spring day, kindness and compassion, empathy and connection, self-expression, gratitude. Some people spend their entire lives trying to fill up the existential, emotional, pyschological holes in their hearts with money. They’ll never get there, and let’s face it – we’ll never have their money. But we don’t have to focus on that – we can be rich ourselves by learning to live poor.
Getting Started with Getting Poor
Ready to live poor but not sure where to start? I liked these articles – they might work for you, too.
- Reddit DIY Tips on Living Frugal – General DIY and frugal living lifehacks
- Eat Cheap and Healthy on Reddit – I love this subreddit, so many cheap and tasty meals to experiment with
- How to Save Money & Get Out of Debt – General money-saving ideas
- Charlotte Mason DIY Frugal Tips – More frugal living lifehacks
- Making Sense of Cents – Change your spending habits by changing the way you look at money
Some Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, no one can tell you how much money to have. If you want to be affluent, go nuts. For my part, I’ve seen how money is a good resource, but a bad friend. I’m tired of the bad advice money gives me. Hate the way money turns people into greedy, soulless goblins. Their addiction to wealth is killing all of us – perhaps someone will stage an intervention. Until then, learning to be rich and to live poor is a way to be happy and safe while doing it tough. I hope this can be helpful to you.
