So you are in debt and you want to know how you gain wealth. Well, hang on, I am going to tell you something very simple that people who are poor don’t do.

PAY YOURSELF FIRST!

Sorry I don’t mean to yell but it is true. In order to gain wealth you must pay yourself first.

Most people I say that to start giving me excuses as to why they can’t pay themselves first. “I don’t make enough”, “I have too many bills”….blah, blah, blah. These are nothing but excuses. Now…before you shut your mind off, take a risk and keep reading.

I know people who tell me, they can’t pay tithe much less pay themselves first before all the bills. With that thought process, you will never have enough. Now this is not a lecture about paying tithe or other charitable contributions, however, I do believe that 10% of your income is not yours in the first place so it is the right thing to do to give that 10% back right off the top.

Then, you must pay yourself. Think about it…the IRS automatically pulls their amount (also knows as taxes) right out of your check before you even get your hands on it right? Why do you think they do that? Because they know if they didn’t take it automatically, they most likely would never get their money.

Same thought process holds true for you. You should be having money pulled out of your check automatically and have it put into a retirement fund before you ever get your hands on it. That way, you begin to invest in yourself first…paying yourself first. Aren’t you worth it?

Now that means your check will be less than you are use to living on. You won’t have enough for bills, right? Want to know what will happen, your mind will start working in a creative way to figure out how to “make more” to compensate what is being pulled out so you can meet your bills. It will put a fire under you to spend less, and make more.

So how much should I save? Well, it is dependent of course on where you are in paying off your debt. But as a general rule, you should save one hour’s salary or wage per day. So if you make$20 per hour, you save $20 per day in a retirement fund, think about it, that comes out to be about 10% of your annual income. Again, this is just a base line as to where to start and again it is based on your current debt situation as debt needs to be paid off first after your pay yourself an emergency fund.

If you don’t start today….tomorrow will never come.