Being rich, at least for most people, is measured in terms of liquidity, i.e cash in the bank. Per this definition, you become richer when you have more cash in the bank tomorrow than what you had the day before. Let’s work with this and let me ask you:

Can you think of a way to become richer by tomorrow that doesn’t involve any investments or products and with minimal to no effort? If you haven’t figured out the answer for yourself yet, then you really need to start exercising your creativity muscles.

You can become richer by tomorrow by not spending any money today. So if you add what you would have normally spent today and kept it in your bank account, then tomorrow you will in fact have more money, and that will make you richer.

Now, imagine how much richer you could be if you saved every single day. Don’t believe me? Let the millionaires speak for themselves…

1. Do You Have a Millionaire Mind?

In his book, The Millionaire Mind, Thomas Stanley conducted a thorough study on the skills and habits that helped American millionaires accumulate their wealth, and this is what he found:

What all the millionaires had in common was that they lived below their means. They didn’t live above their means. They didn’t live within their means. They lived below their means. This includes the house they lived in, the vacations they took, and the everyday stuff they bought. In other words, they were committed to save more than they spent.

Moreover, the average millionaire didn’t attend a top-tier university or have a higher than average IQ. What American millionaires were better at was self-discipline. They were able to restrain themselves from overspending whenever was possible. And they became rich because, well, they exercised the habit of saving well before they had any wealth. Simply put, they became millionaires because they had a saving mindset. And the saving mindset, by many accounts, seems to be the right place to start for slow and gradual accumulation of wealth.

Moreover, contrary to what most people think about them, rich people usually live frugal lives. The best example of this is Warren Buffet. He’s perhaps the most frugal billionaire in the world. In one interview, he was asked about why he was still living in the same old house he bought 40 years ago and he said, “It keeps me warm in the winter, and cool in the summer. I’m happy here.”

On that note, some of the richest people I had the pleasure of meeting in my life have repeatedly said that “the best things in life are free” or “they cost less than what most people will pay for them.”

Can you go for a weekend without spending a dollar just to see how much free stuff there is around you? I challenge you to give this a go. It will open your eyes to what’s available and you will probably have more fun that you’ve had in a while.

Start with your local newspaper and look for festivals and community events you can go to. Check the website of your local College and see their schedule of public lectures. There’s always fun events at Colleges near you.

2. Desperate People Will Do Desperate Things

If you’re desperate and you need to make money fast, then you’re standing in your own way of creating long-term wealth. Every time you come from a place of need or a place of scarcity, you will make hasty decision that are likely to hurt you financially. Good business decisions require two key things:

1. Knowledge about the product and service you want to sell (the product or service has to have been within your area of focus for some time).
2. On the basis of that knowledge, you’re able to make more good predictions than bad ones about the future of the business.

Without either of these two criteria, you will make a lot of rookie mistakes and you will most likely get involved in deals you don’t know enough about. In fact, the less you know about something, the better it’s going to sound to you. And that’s where you’re bound to make bad purchases, bad investments, and even hang out with “bad” people. To me, the idea of quick money is perhaps the best way to scatter yourself and waste your talents. A better use of your resources is to focus on creating long-term value for your customers. If you succeed at that, you will be handsomely rewarded for it.

That’s why you also need a well-trained sense of temperament. Not every business is a good business, and you have to know when to go in and when to hold back. This is in contrast to the person who wants to make quick money. People who want to make quick money don’t value temperament. They want to give the first chance they get a go, and accordingly their chances of making money is as good as winning the lottery.

3. Don’t Waste Hard Earned Money

People spend their hard-earned money buying top shelf products. For example, they’ll spend $200 on a pair of sneakers when they could’ve bought a decent pair for $40 and in some cases even less. No pair of sneakers is worth $200. You’re probably going to buy new ones every year, so be very cautious when it comes to spending your money because as easy it is to spend, it’s also easy to save it by buying decent things. You save a lot of money when you buy a decent car, a decent laptop, a decent dress, decent furniture, and ton of other decent stuff as opposed to top shelf and be very happy with your purchases.

A better investment of your hard-earned money would be to invest in yourself. Have you thought about taking fitness classes? Drawing classes? Investment classes? Personal development classes? What about going to workshops? That’s a much better use of your money.

4. Don’t Borrow Easy Money

Credit cards are so easy to get these days. Unfortunately, most people use them as though they never have to pay that money back.

However, credit cards can be good to use if you are disciplined. In fact, if you pay your credit debt on time each month, you will quickly rack up points that you can convert to cash. So there is really an incentive in having credit cards. But that’s not for everyone, since most people don’t have the self-control necessary to use their credit cards wisely.

5. Prestige Will Only Make You Miserable

A lot of people derive their sense of worth from their possessions.

They feel that they have to buy expensive things in order to receive positive social feedback. While you might look rich to others and get a few more friends, they probably could care less about you or your friendship if you lost it all tomorrow. It’s much better to think of you possessions in terms of utility as opposed to prestige. You will be much happier.

Moreover, if you tie in you self-worth with possessions, then what are you going to do if you lose it all? Are you going to feel worthless? Are you going to become depressed and give up? We’re living in hard times and if you don’t train yourself to be happy with less, you’re going to set yourself up for a lot of pain. I encourage you to see money as a tool for happiness, and not a definition of happiness.

Ultimately, I think it’s useful to make a lot of money; not for its own sake, but in order to free yourself to pursue the things you’re most passionate about. That’s what’s most rewarding.