Being wealthy is something we all dream of. I say this with complete confidence because I define "wealthy" a much different way than many may. To be honest though, even if you want to be wealthy in the sense of driving a Rolls Royce, there are some initial steps that you must take in order to make that dream a reality. Whether you acknowledge it or not, there is one fact that we ALL have in common... we're all a CEO. While that may not make much sense now, I promise you it will after you're done listening to this podcast. Notes: In today’s podcast, Clay and Chezz discuss personal finances and the power of a budget. The goal of this entire podcast is to help reduce your stress with a set of good habits and routines. The foundation for all wealth building, no matter what avenue you take (stock market, business ownership, etc) is going to be your budget. You are the king of your castle in the sense of you are in charge of your spending decisions. Your budget will be able to tell you what is financially responsible and what is not while helping you target your longer term goals. Another way to create peace of mind is growing a ‘rainy day fund.’ Setbacks happen in life (your car breaks, furnace stops working, unexpected medical expenses) but if you have prepared in advance for when Murphy strikes, this can alleviate your stress greatly because you were ready for whatever the world threw at you. Clay brings up a great point about choice of college and career choices. Please do the math and budget to help determine what your potential salary will be versus your college loans that you will be paying for years. More often than not, you can find a comparable school that will offer the same degree for a lower cost. The power of a budget can help you achieve your long term goals and it really is as simple as addition and subtraction. Take some steps and a hard look at your income stream versus your spending and start to be the CEO of your financial future. Quotes: “To me, wealth is the ability to sleep. If you can lay in bed at night and have no worries, that’s a beautiful thing.” “You become the CEO of your finances. We are all CEOs of our own personal life.” “Get organized with your personal finances and odds are you will have money leftover. That leftover money can be put into investments.” “It’s a list of priorities specifically. Now I always bring up is ‘is this money better on a purchase or better for the land fund?’ “ “Once you get a job, you see this sparkly new paycheck and you think ‘wow, I’ve waited so long to have money’ and I threw it around.” “How does it know it’s not in the cards? Because he has a budget. Because he’s organized. Because he’s CEO of his life.” Links: Course: Cash Flow Creation Guide Mint: https://www.mint.com/ You Need A Budget: https://www.youneedabudget.com/