We put off a lot of goals thinking “I’m not rich enough to have that.” Many times, this thought stems from a lot of misinformation that is enforced in our heads from a very young age. In reality, many of these life-enriching goals don’t require you to be rich at all.
1) Long-term Investments and Retirement Planning
If the big boom of personal finance awareness explosion of the 2020 pandemic has taught us anything, you don’t need a big significant amount to get started with building long-term wealth.
You can start building long-term wealth even with the smallest amount of money each month. The small amount of money that you are investing today might not seem significant now, but it will someday.
Time is your best friend with long-term investments. The best time to start investing for the long term is today, regardless of how small of an amount you can start with.
The FIRE community on Reddit is one of the places I go to for inspiration for being able to save up for early retirement as a person with an average salary. The stories of people with very average jobs achieving the goal of early retirement or financial freedom are encouraging. I highly encourage joining this community. [You do have to filter out all the tech bros trying to seem humble while boasting about their 90k salaries at the age of 23 though]
2) Outsource Tasks That Aren’t Worth Your Time
It’s completely understandable that the privilege of outsourcing tasks that aren’t worth your time isn’t accessible to everyone. However, it is logical to outsource any tasks that take up an enormous amount of your time while you could be spending that time on tasks that are actually worth your time. Let me elaborate!
I outsource “cooking dinner” to someone for $15/hour on the days I tutor, which pays me anywhere from $50-$70 per hour. I absolutely enjoy tutoring, tutoring is a lot more worthy of my time than cooking is. Even though I actually absolutely love cooking, it’s not worth it for me to absolutely tire myself out by tutoring and cooking after coming home from my full-time job.
You might think you are not rich enough to outsource tasks like cooking or cleaning. That is not always true! As long as you can justify using your time for a task more worthy of your time
3) Prioritize Family And Health Over Work
One of the most life-enriching and invaluable things in life is having a great family and a healthy body. There is no amount of money that can buy you this.
There might be some ignorance and slight detachment from reality in claiming that you don’t need a lot of money to always put family and health ahead of your job. However, this is not extremely difficult to achieve for someone who is not rich. You just have to prioritize the things you value most.
Aim to find yourself a workplace that shares these values. Next time you are looking for a job, be sure to ensure that your workplace and your manager share the same ideals about prioritizing family and health.
4) Have Hobbies and Interests outside of Work and Family
A lot of happiness, self-worth, and individuality can stem from having interests outside of family and work. These don’t have to be expensive hobbies. Anything that you get pure joy out of putting some of your time into every day.
It is a great privilege to have something in life that you find fulfillment in that is entirely unrelated to money.
It again comes down to prioritizing.
5) To Be Generous And Lead a Rich Life
A lot of joy and fulfillment in life can stem from being a generous person that helps those in need. You don’t necessarily need a lot of money to be generous. Be generous with anything you have to spare: your talents, your time, your connections. The possibilities are endless. You don’t need to be rich with money to live a rich life.
Being generous is anything you do out of pure selflessness without expecting anything in return:
- Treating a friend to coffee instead of splitting the cost
- Take the time to listen to a friend when they need to vent
- Going out for an activity that you don’t love, but for the loved one who does
- Volunteering at a local community event
- Going out of your way to meet a friend at a location that is more convenient for them
Being a generous person doesn’t require you to be rich. You can be generous even when you are broke. I will say being generous is much easier when you have a lot of money, but it’s not a requirement.
6) Create a Cozy and Comforting Living Space
The coziness of a home doesn’t come from getting the most comfortable couch. It doesn’t come from having all your furniture match an aesthetic.
The coziness of a home comes from the personal memories you share being in that space. It can stem from coming home to a space that is clean and organized.
The comfort of a home can come from having a story associated with each item that makes up your living space. It can come from the joy of using furniture that was passed down for generations.
I have seen countless home tours of celebrities that look like museums. Even though those homes might be gigantic and unique, they don’t look homey at all. The amount of joy, happiness, and pride that a piece of furniture that was DIY or handpainted is unmatched by something that was bought with a lot of money.
