If these WARNING SIGNS apply to you or a loved one, fear not. While this information may be hard to swallow at first, there is hope. You can get help and start making immediate changes to your lifestyle that will result in you not remaining poor.

Please be sure to share this important information with everyone you know!

1. You keep spending more than you earn.

   This one is a no brainier. Every time you spend more money than you have earned, you are in debt. If this is how you live, making $1.25 and spending a $1.50, you’ll always remain poor.

2. Your wheels cost more than your car.

   You invested $4,000 dollars on a car worth $800 bucks. When your financial priorities are out of balance it is guaranteed that you will not be acquiring wealth anytime soon.

   Other examples include: No money to fix your car, but you  bought a new plasma television. You can’t pay child support, but you bought an ’09 Corvette Z06. The power company turned off your lights because you didn’t pay your bill, but you’re wearing 80 dollar jeans so your butt will look good when you go out to the club.

3. You believe there is a Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid, Aka Blame “The Man”

   It’s up to you to educate yourself about finances and to do something about it. Stop blaming someone else for your problems. Stop blaming the government officials you elected. Stop blaming corporations. Stop blaming bad luck. Stop blaming the man in the sky. Stop blaming the credit card companies and your bank.
   

   It’s your own fault for getting yourself into debt. So long as you think that everyone else is out to keep you poor and dumb, you will remain poor.
   

4. You notice the “cost per month” price on items.

   It should be obvious that if you can’t pay for it in cash, you can’t afford it. If the only thing that matters when you go to buy something is what kind of payments you can make, then chances are you are going to remain poor.

   Consider this: you have just been promoted to manager at Kinko’s  and you are looking at a brand new BMW. The car salesmen tells you that you can drive this new car home today for only  $549 a month for  72 months. That’s a sweet deal! Heck the car is only 32K, and you make that in a year! Right?

   Here is why you are poor. That car will actually cost you in the long run a total of $39,562 at 7% APR. That sweet deal actually cost you an additional $4,000.

5. You Keep spending money on Weed, Cigarettes, Beer or PORN.

   Nothing is more expensive than addictive habits. Not only are they unhealthy, but they are keeping you in the poor house.

   A pack of cigarettes cost almost $5 on average—with some states tacking on additional taxes that raise the price. In New York City, for example, local taxes have pushed the cost of a pack to more than $10 in most stores. You are literally smoking your money every time you light one up.

   Making a habit out of getting high or drunk just to have fun will end up hurting your wallet in the long run. You don’t need to be hammered or stoned to enjoy life or to relax. If you have a real job (besides flipping burgers) you want to risk your income by doing drugs. Random drug screenings anyone?

   All to often, finance gurus fail to mention that PORN, a highly addictive and widely popular habit, is also a huge waste of your money.

If you or anyone you know is suffering from these warning signs be sure to immediately read my “4 Ways to be Richer“

The concepts here are very simple and easy to grasp, yet millions of people have a hard time implementing them into their lives. The reason, the steps involve changing your behavior. Which is often a challenge in and of itself.

Let’s take a look at 4 simple ways to be richer:

1.) Spend Less Than You Earn

It sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Yet it would seem most folks are burying themselves in debt or living purely paycheck to paycheck. It’s said that the average American makes $1.25 and spends $1.50. That is scary. If you can’t live on what your making now, how do you except to live on more money? You won’t be able to until you learn to spend less than you earn first.

Simply spending less than you earn will create a snowball of positive effects.

Here is a principle that has helped me: Delayed Gratification. If you can’t afford it now, then don’t buy it.

2.) Stop Wasting Time

Time is money, and when you manage your time well, you manage your money well too. How much time in the day do you waste watching TV? That is time that could be spent investing in your future and earning you money. Stop wasting your time with things that add no real value to your life and only drain value from it.

Second of all, I know you think trading dollars for hours is a good idea, but it could also be costing you money. Your time is valuable, are you using it wisely?

Also, ask yourself What is your Time Worth?

3.) Eliminate (and Avoid) High-Interest Debt

High interest debt is a terrible idea, and even low interest debts are a terrible idea. Let’s count the ways debt sucks.

The higher the interest rate, the more money you flush down the toilet. Leave a $1,000 debt on a credit card with an 5.5% APR for a year and you lose $55 – not good. But if you bump that amount up to a level that’s typical for credit cards – say, 19.9% – you’re up to $199 a year. Gone. Poof. Vanished. Straight down the crapper.

The more debt you have, the more money you are flushing down the toilet. Say you have $5,000 debt on a credit card with a 19.9% APR, that means you are losing $998 a year. Do you enjoy just giving the credit card companies free money?

A required  minimum payment each month reduces your freedom. With that $5,000 debt you are paying about $100 every single month as a minimum payment. That’s $100 you could be saving for a down payment. It’s $100 you could be saving towards early retirement. It’s $100 you could be saving towards your dream vacation.

Instead your freedom is gone, eaten by the debt monster.

4.) Stop Trying to Impress Other People

Stop spending money to impress other people. If you have an $800 dollar car and put $2000 dollar 24inch rims on it, chances are you’re busy trying to impress other people. This is a waste of your money. When you are not trying to impress others and simply content with yourself, you will find yourself saving loads of money.

Here is a simple question to ask yourself: DO YOU WANT TO LOOK RICH OR DO YOU WANT TO BE RICH? The world is obsessed with image. We are bombarded on a almost non-stop bases by media and advertisers that you have to look a certain way, dress a certain way and act a certain way. It’s all crap to steal your money!

Most people are just posers. You don’t have to be one.