The Biggest Money Mistake You Can Ever Make And 3 Ways To Correct It
Feb 21, 2022
If you’re feeling the grips of serious financial burdens or burnout right now, have a moment for yourself to take a deep breath.
I have been where you are right now, and I understand how much impact this is having on your life and overall wellbeing.
Let me introduce myself. I am Corey Jahnke, I am a pharmacist, turned financial consultant and, in short, I want to help you make your life a whole lot better.
So, why should you listen to me, and what have I got to offer you?
I have gone from living in a spiraling pit of financial despair and insecurity while working a high pace job and living an extravagant lifestyle I couldn’t afford into living a life of financial security, stability, and even with some savings built up! Something I had never even dreamt of before.
Just to put things in perspective, let me tell you just how bad things had gotten for me.
Eventhough I had what was deemed a ‘good job,’ I was spending more than I ever earned and didn’t know how to manage my finances - at all.
I ended up in around $536K of debt, burnt out, and completely exhausted.
Then, I lost my hospital job and had NO IDEA how I would recover. In those moments, I was far from the zen I feel right now.
This post will take you through one of the most important insights I have learned from real millionaires today.
By reading it, you are taking the first step to turn your life around and regain control.
By using simple, proven methods that remove the weight of mental exhaustion and stabilize your life for good - you can become the person you always wanted to be.
Ready to change your life?
Let’s do it.
I decided to stop my cycle and focus all my energy on understanding money, structuring my finances, and learning from millionaires themselves. I’ve found that millionaires have a very different way of thinking about their finances than we may think.
For them, it’s not about luxurious living or looking rich in the eyes of others. Instead, it’s about being principle- focused, values-based, and wealth- driven.
Rarely, if ever, are they concerned with showing their wealth to others or flashing the cash to impress a friend. The only person a self-made millionaire is trying to sustain is themselves in line with their personal goals.
It’s not selfish; it’s smart.
With such a massive focus on their own satisfaction and stability rather than the idea of perceived wealth or extravagant lifestyles - there is A LOT we can learn from the millionaire mindset.
Poorer people, even high wage earners, tend to do the opposite of this, often living outside of their means, moving further and further into debt, and wanting to show the ‘wealth’ they have earned from their high-end role. If this sounds all too familiar, I hope that you’ll stick around.
Most People Overcomplicate Their Finances And Have No Idea Where The Hell They Are In Life
Self-made millionaires know their strengths; they know their niche.
They don’t try to be a jack of all trades; they focus on the areas of life they are really good at and work to improve the areas they wish to excel in. They keep it simple, black and white, with little to no grey areas in their lives.
Your route to success should be straightforward, too. That means you should know precisely what makes you remarkable and keep in mind the areas you’re not so good at.
Poorer people tend to over-commit themselves in the areas that they are not excelling in.
Overcommitment leads to overextending, and overextending leads to exhaustion.
Self-made millionaires tend to focus only on working in an area that they’re excellent in navigating. This helps them to progress faster rather than getting weighed down with the things they aren’t good at or becoming committed to something that bores them.
- Keep it simple.
- Know your strengths.
- Understand your weaknesses.
3 Immediate Actions You Can Take Today To Simplify Your Financial Life:
One-Get A Notebook And Write Down Everyone You Owe And How Much You Owe Them.
The sheer number of creditors and utility accounts most of us have is simply overwhelming. When I was at the height of despair I had something like 17. As a result, I practiced avoidance as much as possible. The result was the same as not weeding a garden. When I would take a look it was so overwhelming I wanted to puke and became seriously discouraged, usually walking away again in fear. Commit to writing your debts and expenses down on paper and start to work on eliminating as many as possible.
Two-Go online and scour your checking account and look for expenses you don't know you have.
Speaking of avoidance, when I was in trouble, I would avoid my checking account the same way we avoid the mirror when we eat junk food for a couple days. The result, I had TWO subscriptions to Amazon Prime that I didn't know I had, a subscription to the car wash (of all places), and several streaming services I never watched. All told, in one day, I saved my family $225 a month cutting out expenses I wasn't even conscious of.
Three-Cancel everything you don't absolutely need.
When you finally reach financial freedom you can place wants ahead of savings, but the biggest mistake you will ever make is putting luxury ahead of security. Self-made millionaires put security ahead of luxury every day of the week and this is what keeps them from overcomplicating their financial life. Whatever you don't need, get rid of!
People say: "Yeah Corey, that sounds like no fun at all!"
How much fun are you having when you're staring at the ceiling in panic at 1am?
In future posts, I will share some creative ways to enjoy your life on a budget, but for now do everything you can to simplify your financial life and you will thank yourself almost immediately.
Bonus: Deal in cash as much as possible!!!
One thing I learned by scouring my checking account is there were a sickening amount of weekly transactions, so it was no wonder the prime accounts, and car wash got lost in all of that.
Today, I operate in cash as much as possible, and just this weekend I noticed a $133 automatic renewal for a service I hadn't used in almost a year. One email later, that money was back in my account. But if it had been buried in a bunch of other junk, I probably would have missed it.
Do these things now and let me know if you need any help. I would love to hear your aha's or about financial topics you would like me to cover in future blogs and videos.
Together, we've got this!
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