The mission of Dollar Dollar is simple: to help you crush debt and win with your money. I created this site because of my passion for personal finance.
A lot of people are struggling these days so why not try something different? Why continue on a path of frivolous spending, debt slavery, and always being broke? It doesn’t have to be that way. YOU can fix your finances and Dollar Dollar can help.
The Financial Principles of Dollar Dollar
The principles of Dollar Dollar are simple. Here are my 11 principles of personal finance that you will find throughout my site:
1. Having a plan and money goals: having a written, detailed, and specific plan for your money is one of the most important concepts in all of personal finance. If you don’t have a plan, you plan to fail. With personal finance, you have to have a plan or your money is going to frivolously spent and you won’t make any progress towards saving or investing. Having a plan is your roadmap to fixing and finding success with your finances.
You also have to have goals for your money. Having a plan is only half the battle. If your plan is your roadmap, your goals are what you hope to achieve at different points along your #financialjourney.
For example, goals that I have are to pay off my house in 5 years, become a millionaire in 10, and help my son go to college without any loans or debt. Those are some of my financial goals and I’ve set up a plan to do all of that.
2. Working hard: an extreme work ethic can really set you and your finances apart from those who are struggling with debt and don’t make a lot of money. One of the key principles in my own life is my belief that if you really want a good life, you have to work hard for it. The harder and longer you work, the more money you will have. And that can mean having more money to pay off debt, spend, save, give, or whatever else you want to do with your money.
Wealthy people work REALLY hard for their money and they also work hard to crush their financial goals. If you want to get out of debt and build wealth, you’re gonna have to work for it.
3. Living below your means: understanding this simple concept can mean the difference in a completely broke and social security-dependent retiree who has to go back to work at 75 years old and a financially-free millionaire who can enjoy life to the fullest.
Living below your means simply means that you spend less than you make every month. If you make $2,000 dollars per month, your total expenses are $1,999 dollars or less. If you spend more than you make, you’re going to be in debt and you’re going to continue digging yourself a deeper hole. After a certain point, this can be hard to dig yourself out of.
Those with bulletproof finances have implanted this simple concept and ALWAYS stick to it. If you don’t live below your means, and don’t pspend less than you make, nothing else really matters when it comes to personal finance.
4. Having a detailed budget: this is absolutely crucial to having your finances in order. First, you developed a game plan and some financial goals. That’s step 1. Step 2 was to understand that you HAVE TO live below your means. The next thing you need to do is to get on a written budget to tell you money where to go. Control your money or your money will control you.
A lot of people don’t like budgets. You may not either. But I want you to think about something. A budget is not meant to be completely restrictive. It’s not meant to make you unhappy. It’s simply a tool that gives you permission to spend your money. A budget will only restrict you to spend less than you make. Other than that, you determine where your money goes. If you want to spend some money and have fun, just put it in your budget.
5. Having an emergency fund: the emergency fund is one of the most important things that you can do to protect your finances and help you continue making progress with your money.
The emergency fund is also called the rainy day fund because IT’S GOING TO RAIN. Why not be prepared for it? If it’s going to rain, you HAVE TO have a rainy day fund. No exceptions. We recommend $1,000 dollars while you’re paying off all of your consumer debts and then a fully funded 3-6 month emergency fund after.
6. Crushing debt: I HATE DEBT. Debt robs you of the hard-earned money that you make and steals away from your ability to save, spend, give, and build wealth.
Most people are in a ridiculous amount of debt and see no way out. If that’s you, I promise that I can help you get out from the chains of debt slavery if you’re willing to put in the work. Debt SUCKS and it’s time to do something about it.
CRUSHING DEBT is the primary focus of my site and so there will be a ton of posts focused and dedicated to helping you get out of all of your debt (even your house)!
7. Paying off your home: this falls into the category of paying off and crushing your debt, but a huge part of my site will be dedicated to doing the unthinkable – paying off your home. Why? Because this is how you REALLY expedite the wealth building process once you’re out of all consumer debt.
You will find numerous posts on how to pay off your home early, tips to save money on home expenses and how to save more money to put towards the mortgage, and how and why you should continue to pay off your home if you want to become a millionaire over the course of your life. Both of those (paying off my home and becoming a millionaire) are my personal goals and I’m dedicated to helping you make those part of your long-term goals as well!
8. Being frugal And saving money: this is kind of similar to living below your means but being frugal is more of a personality trait at first. Being frugal means that you’re being intentional with your money, you spend less than you make, you think about every money decision you make, and you’re not wasteful with your money.
Frugal people who have a plan and money goals, always live below their means, budget their money, stay out of debt, have an emergency fund, and always invest at least 15% of their income are the people that can really build wealth and almost always become millionaires (no matter the income).
Saving money is also extremely important and plays a huge role in a frugal lifestyle. This blog will feature a ton of posts with the intention of helping you save money. Because every penny and every dollar counts.
9. Investing and building wealth: if you can master the previous 8 financial principles, and you invest on top of all that, you’re most definitely going to build wealth over the course of your lifetime. Investing is an extremely important part of a solid financial plan and is how you grow your net worth over time. Simply saving your money in the bank is not how you get wealthy. It takes investing your money over decades to build real wealth. This is the “slow is sexy” approach to personal finance. No get-rich-quick schemes here. Why? Because those don’t work.
Work hard, live frugally, stay out of debt, get on a budget, and make sure to have 3-6 months of expenses in a fully funded emergency fund. Once you are here, this is where the wealth building starts. Make sure you have 15% of your income going toward retirement in a 401(k), Roth IRA, or other similar retirement account. Once that is in place, open up a college savings account for your kid(s) if you have any. After that, start working on paying off your home with any leftover money that you can scrounge and scrape together.
The average, everyday millionaire has two things in common: they have consistently invested in their 401(k) or other similar workplace retirement account and they have paid off their home mortgage. Invest in your 401(k), pay off your home, and over the course of 15-20 years, you can easily become a millionaire. Sounds pretty simple when you put it like that!
10. Spending and having fun: once you have all of your finances in order and you’re actively being intentional with your money, we come to a place that a lot of people will never get to: a place where you can freely spend some of your hard-earned money without any negativity or debt attached. I mean, what’s life without a little bit of fun?
Spending and having fun are part of a well thought out financial plan because you can’t live a stingy, boring life for 40-50+ years and not do anything fun or spend any money. That’s just awful and nobody wants to do that. BUT you HAVE TO have your finances in order first. You don’t need to be going on vacation or spending tons of money when you’re broke and in debt.
However, once you get rid of all debt, have an emergency fund, and are investing properly, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying some of the money you’ve brought home. If you’re doing everything right with your money, you deserve to have some fun. Go on vacation, buy some cool sports stuff, go on more dates with your spouse, or just whatever makes you happy. Just remember to spend only the money you have and don’t get completely frivolous with your money. That’s the trick. You’re having fun but still being intentional.
11. Giving: giving is tough. This is definitely one category that I, myself, am working on getting better at. When it comes to things like saving and giving, those things are tough for people who aren’t used to doing them. For me, I was so frugal for so long, that the thought of simply giving away my money (even for good causes) just felt weird.
But just like going to the gym and building your muscles up over time, your giving muscle grows the more you do it and the bigger it gets. It also feels really awesome when you can make a difference in someone’s life or in your community. So I highly encourage you to start giving, even if it’s a small amount of money. Start small and build up to an amount of money that you give every single month.
Here’s the catch: You’re finances must be in order. Sure, you can always give. But in order to give larger amounts of money (more than just your spare change to the Salvation Army), you need to have stable finances and the ability to give responsibly.
My Mission for YOU
1. Fix your finances: we’ve all made mistakes with our finances. So just know that you’re not alone and I’m going to help you fix the damage. Because it’s never too late to start.
2. Get out of DEBT: one crucial way to actually fix all of the problems in your finances is to eliminate ALL DEBT from your life. At first I like to focus on crushing all consumer debt. Then not long after, once your emergency fund is built and you’re investing a solid 15% of your income, you should start getting your home mortgage completely paid for. Getting rid of all debt, and staying out of debt, is the key to building long-lasting wealth.
3. Start enjoying Your life (the right way): If you’re doing everything the right way, I want you to be able to enjoy a small portion of your money. You should spend it on stuff, yourself and your family, and your experiences. Nothing wrong with enjoying the money you work hard for (as long as you are being smart and intentional with it). Go have some fun.
4. Work towards becoming a millionaire: the overall goal I have for you is to work on building your wealth over time. ANYBODY can become a millionaire over time if you just do a few things right with your money. Get out of debt, build an emergency fund, fund your retirement, get your house paid off, and stay intentional with your money. That recipe leads to financial success.
So with that being said
This blog is being built with a tremendous amount of resources to help you crush debt, save money, and build wealth. I hope that you’re ready for this. Because I know I am. Good luck, my friends.
Red
Owner, DollarDollarNOW.com
If you’d like to reach out to me for any reason, send an email to dollardollarnowofficial@gmail.com