I want you to think about how much money you’ve made in the last 5 years. Seriously, add those numbers up real quickly. After you have that number, I want to ask you another question. How much of that money do you have today?

If it’s nothing, that’s okay. It took me a decade to get a handle on the financial wisdom that actually grew my money. So today I want to help you gain the same wisdom it took me years of failure to figure out.

There are 3 simple principles to money:

1. How to make it – the most basic!
2. How to keep it – there are an endless number of places to spend money. There will never be a shortage of things to buy.
3. How to make it grow – making money your slave, instead of becoming a slave to that spending.

Today, Americans have a 13 trillion dollars in credit card and mortgage debt and that isn’t even counting Canada, the UK or any other countries. The harsh reality is, debt has been sold to us as a normal part of life. But there is another way to live! You don’t have to add your debt to that statistic. You don’t have to be a slave to money, a slave to your debt. Because make no mistake, debt is modern-day slavery.

Do you want to pass down your financial failures and that bondage to your children? NO WAY! That means you need to start thinking outside of the box. Here’s what I want you to think about. What are your priorities for money?

List out your basic human needs on a piece of paper. Rent/mortgage, bills and food. Think about what you want to do in life. Do you want to save a year’s salary, put money in a college fund, feed orphans, travel the world or get out of debt? Start setting aside a small part of your money to each of those goals every month.

You see, money is always looking for a place to go. If you do not tell it exactly where to go, it will get sucked into the first sale weekend at Nordstrom’s or the steak & lobster special at your local restaurant. Budgeting doesn’t sound like fun, but it is literally one of the most simple things you can do immediately, to revamp your finances.

Just make sure you have a fun budget! It will help you stay on track and allow you to have fun. Sometimes it is as simple as choosing between going to the movies or a nice dinner. Buying a new pair of shoes or going out for coffee this week. Don’t do both!

You’ll start seeing other places you where you could really save money and put it toward other things. I can promise your food budget is probably the biggest money pit right now. Whether it’s eating out, going to the grocery store 4 times a week or loading up on processed foods and sugary drinks you don’t need. If you need more help on how to save money or cut your food budget, I have it already outlined for you!

Let’s get out from under that financial pressure.  You can’t expect the government to help you out of this. They like keeping you right where you are. I used to be afraid of financial failure, but not any longer! I want you to rise up as an example within your circle of influence. When you step up as a financial giant in your life, you can then help your family and friends to do the same thing. Let’s stop this madness, this slavery, this financial stupidity in our country.

I hope this motivated you to get out from under that giant weight of debt and financial pressure pushing you down and stressing you out! Leave me your comments and Like and Share this message with your friends and family.

Start your week out right. Join us this afternoon for The Dani Johnson Show at 12 pm ET/11 am CT. You can tune in to the show on either your TV or radio and please remember you can always stream today’s show right on our website.

In great faith,

P.S. Like what you read here? Just hit the “like” button at the top of the page! That will help your Facebook friends find this message!