Today I went to lunch with a very wealthy person. I don’t know exactly how wealthy , but based on his frequent trips to Maui, the fact that he earns a free plane ticket every month through his frequent flier points, and the fact that the other day he decided to go out and buy a truck just because he’s never had one before, there’s good reason to believe he’s close to a seven-digit earner. As I talked with him, it raised a lot of questions in my mind about how managing my finances will change as my wealth grows. If I were a millionaire would I still need to budget? Would I still want to track all my spending? Would I still need to negotiate with my wife about finances? It seems logical that with an income over $1,000,000 a year you wouldn’t need to plan as vigorously. But in the end thats a lie. Millionaires that manage their money irresponsibly can quickly lose it all and fall from grace (MC Hammer comes to mind).

Financial management principles are the same for millionaires and low-income-earners alike. Certainly the numbers your dealing with will change, but the basic principles and processes are still the same. In fact, by following sound financial management principles and optimizing your frame of mind, you can accelerate the process of building wealth and know how to keep it when you arrive. Here are 7 ideas that will help you think about and manage money like a millionaire, regardless of your income.

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I’ve been quietly updating my list of RSS Shopping Websites and I thought this new site was worth mentioning specifically. Boddit.com aggregates results from many of the major “deals” sites (most of which are on my list). I’m into convenience and efficiency so boddit.com is right up my alley. As I played with it, I was very satisfied with the thoroughness of the results. Some aggregation sites tend to be buggy but I haven’t run into any problems yet. When I searched for 17″ LCD monitor I just bought (that’s right, I finally got one) it properly showed the great $99 Best Buy deal I took advantage of (there aren’t even any rebates).

Unfortunately you can’t subscribe to specific search terms. But there is a main RSS feed and you can search on the site for specific items. Check it out!

If you’re a regular reader of GFD, you’ll know I’m a big fan of using cash to control your spending. But up to this point I haven’t really gotten into a lot of detail about how I manage my cash. To tell you the truth, there are almost NO tools out there for managing a cash-based budget other than the common envelope. Wallets are great for carrying a single chunk of cash, but they don’t help you organize cash by categories. This leaves a lot of room for creative thinking about how to manage your cash.

Greg over at StackBacks.com has a unique and GTD friendly way of managing cash involving envelopes, index cards, and paper clips. His method is a great way of divvying out your cash so you don’t spend it all at the beginning of the month, leaving you living like a pauper at the end of the month. It’s essentially a sort of cash tickler file (look under “Tools and techniques”).

Please let us know how you manage your cash!

Cash Allowance File

I’ve been posting a lot lately about spending money. Like many people, I’m in holiday shopping mode and I figured I’d share some of my favorite ways to save money on items I’m planning on buying anyway.

Last week I mentioned in passing a great site called ShopLocal.com that allows you to see Sunday shopping circulars online. It’s almost a tradition for me to browse the shopping circulars every Sunday looking for deeply discounted items and rebate deals that allow you to save a lot of money. With a little patience, you can usually find the specific types of items your looking for. That is, as long as it’s not Black Friday.

ShopLocal.com makes it even easier to find deals in the Sunday circulars. It catalogs every item in every circular and makes them searchable online. When I’m look for a specific item, it’s much easier to just perform a search rather than sifting through the other 99% of the items that aren’t relevant.

When you perform a search be sure to notice there are two areas you can search: online and local. When you perform your initial search, you’ll see the online items. To see the local items, you need to click on “switch to local offers” in purple on the right side of the screen. Once you switch to view local offers, all subsequent searches will also be for local deals.

Power Browse the Circulars

Sometimes I’m not wanting maximum efficiency, but rather want to browse the circulars to find unexpected deals. With ShopLocal you can do that too! In fact, you can power browse. To view the actual circulars, click on “See all Circulars” in the left navigation. Once you select a circular there are two different ways to look at them. By default you will see a small picture of the circular with the individual items for sale listed on the right.

You can also view a larger version of the circular by clicking “Enlarge this page” (under the circular). When you roll your mouse over an item, a box shows with the description and pricing. To get more information you just click on the box and wallah! You can also save items to a list which is useful when I find several deals on the same item and want to compare later.

The site has several other features such as browsing by category or store. Give it a try next time your looking for a specific item or if you want to have an enhanced circular experience.

Feel free to share more of your favorite shopping sites. Also check out my list of online shopping websites that use RSS feeds.

Last month I had the chance to meet Lynn from takebackyourbrain.com at a blogging workshop conducted by Steve Pavlina. She has some great ideas about advertising to yourself rather than just be exposed to the constant messages and agendas of others that surround us.

Lynn has posted a great response to my “10 ways to save money this Christmas” post. She advocates taking it easy for the holidays and negotiating a “cease fire” with friends and family by opting out of gift exchanges. Instead, use the holidays as a time to slow down and reflect on your life and goals. In particular, I liked her analogy of hibernating bears:

Most living species in this ecosystem respond to the absence of light and the plummeting temperatures by drawing inward for a long period of quiet regeneration. Except humans, who plan parties, decorate their homes, and flock like manic lemmings to shopping malls.

The very best way to save money on your Christmas shopping is to simply stop participating in the compulsory insanity. Instead, take naps, build fires, read books, watch movies, play games, listen to music, snuggle, talk and sip cocoa.

I am now free to hibernate a bit in this coldest, darkest month. I have noticed that lights and decorations seem prettier and the connections I do make with family are far more enjoyable now that I am more in sync with my inner hibernating bear.

How awesome is that? I love the idea of getting in sync with my “inner hibernating bear.” Her point is well taken. Society really speeds things up during the holidays. It would be more healthy, and less expensive, if we were to slow down and take time to enjoy the season and reflect on our lives. By doing so we would all feel less of a need to compensate for our anxiety and overwhelm by overspending. If only I had given time for such reflection before my Black Friday craziness!

Check out Lynn’s post and her website:

That perfect gift – part 1

Take Back Your Brain!