A few lucky people have won a lot of money and become wealthy overnight but in short time many of them have returned to their prior financial condition too soon. There is no trace of all the riches they have once won. Very few of them can stay wealthy long enough to actually improve their quality of life.Real wealthy people act differently upon the big cash they can get their hands on and upon everything else pertaining money and possession. And this is because they think differently from most average people in the first place.

Let’s think this through and discuss the way average people think…

As soon as they can get their hands on a big fat check, average people would almost immediately go shopping. Buy the latest model car, luxurious home, or spend it on renovation, once-in-a-lifetime luxurious vacation… blah blah blah.

They think that in order to really become wealthy, they have to possess all the stuff that wealthy people would have, travel to places wealthy people would go to, drive the cars wealthy people would drive or live in big mansions where wealthy people would live.

Real wealthy people can afford all the above simply because they have higher purchasing power. Most of us, on the other hand, would think that by having all those above we just might be considered as ‘wealthy’. We tend to think that to become wealthy we have to ‘act’ or ‘live’ like those who in reality are.

Ironically, the fact is to become wealthy we have to ‘think’ like real wealthy people.

Once again I must say that it’s the mindset that makes people wealthy. It’s neither their possessions nor what they spend their money on.

Most of us go shopping while holding on to this principle: Buy now, struggle later.

When wealthy people go shopping they think: Delay it now, invest the money, and have all you want later on! They embrace delayed gratification.

Generally, too soon, the average people would end up in debt due to their principles of immediate gratification. And in most cases their debt worsens. Car loans, furniture loans, education loans, home loans, credit cards… and who knows what else.

As the story continuous, I believe, it becomes more and more familiar to the vast majority: In order to pay off all the debts, they become slaves of their own jobs after they realised that they had been “slaves of their own debt” for some time.

To them, a job becomes a necessity as opposed to a choice. It is chosen based on how big the salary is to pay off their debt, instead of on the satisfaction the job provides.

Can these people retire early? No. In fact, they wouldn’t even dare to think about it! They are too deep in debt to quit and to just come and go almost at will.

On the other hand, not only do the wealthy know the negatives of being in a debt, they also know precisely the advantages of being debt-free. By being debt-free, they have more money to save.

The more money wealthy people have, the more they can invest in their own businesses. Exactly these businesses are their assets that generate life-long passive income for them. True wealthy people have known for decades that having traditional jobs would NEVER make them rich. It would make their bosses rich for sure but there is no way acquiring real wealth merely by trading time for money.

Can business owners retire early? Yes. Having your own business means having passive income for life (more likely even longer than that). If you work consistently on growing your business, you will come to a point where your passive income exceeds your daily living cost.

If this happens, you can choose when to work, where to work or what. Your choice of jobs will not be limited by how much money they provide. Moreover, a job for you would be more of a choice than a necessity. Even if you chose not to work, you would still have money coming in from your business.

This is what real freedom is and this is exactly how wealthy people think!

Ironically, I have met some people who sneer at the idea of investing in a business. For some reason they think that people who are interested in investing must be so much in love with money, or even slaves of it.

Most average people think that business owners must have become wealthy by the drive of their greedy, selfish minds. They tend to think that business owners must be slaves to their money and riches that they could actually have riches so abundantly now.

The truth is their mindset is exactly the opposite.

Exactly because of UNSELFISH reasons, business owners set up their businesses in the first place.

By having their own businesses which generate passive income for them, they have quality time to spend with their loved ones.

They are not too busy to go to their daughter’s first dance recital or to show up at his son’s birthday party.

They are not too busy to spend a one-week holiday with their spouse. They are not too busy (nor too broke) to be involved in voluntary social work.

The average traditional worker, on the other hand, would not be able to just go and have a holiday anytime he pleases. He has a too tight schedule to come to his daughter’s dance recital or his son’s 6th birthday party. And, hey, he’s too busy (and too broke) to do voluntary social work! He needs jobs that pay well and social works just won’t do.

Well, who is the selfish one now?

Most importantly, because the businesses wealthy people own generate passive income not only throughout their lives but also throughout the lives of their children and grandchildren, business owners prove themselves even more UNSELFISH than the average people do.

People with typical jobs will either retire broke or die poor, leaving their families with nothing (if not with their remaining debt).

By having the right mindset, you will not only be able to have abundant riches, but also a great chance to live abundantly: do all the things that provide satisfaction, spend quality time with you family and friends, and have all the time and money to voluntarily help other people and make your part of the world a better place to live.

Above all, having the right mindset will give you a chance to care and provide for your family even after you leave this planet.

Are you ready to adopt the wealthy mindset?

Almost everyone uses plastic credit cards in place of money for the purchase of many of the things they want and need. Most people aren't aware though, that in addition to merchandise and services, you can also buy money with these credit cards.

The "Cash Advance" privilege of these cards is actually the best and easiest way to raise cash - immediately and with no questions asked. Generally, most people can write themselves a check for at least a thousand dollars against these credit cards and with no questions or quibbling relative to the amount requested.With an American Express card, you can even write yourself a check for $2,500 with no argument. Now then, if you have 10 of these credit cards, and you needed $10,000 - all you'd have to do would be to write 10 different check for $1,000 each - a $1,000 check against each of your credit cards with this cash advance privilege - present the checks at each of the banks sponsoring the credit cards, and you've got the $10,000 you were needing.

Besides the no-fee cards such as MasterCard and Visa, there's a growing number of travel and entertainment cards such as American Express, Carte Blanche and Diners Club.

Your annual income and credit rating has to be higher than for many of the others, and they charge you an annual service charge for the privilege of using them, but the amount of cash you can draw against them is much higher. For instance, with an American Express "Gold Card," you can draw up to $5,000 in instant cash, immediately with no questions asked. In addition to the "cash advance" privileges of most credit cards, most modern bank accounts include an automatic overdraft provision. This amount to the privilege of your being able to write a check for more than the balance you have in the bank, and the bank honoring your check by merely loaning you money to cover the amount of the check.

In effect, this is an immediate and automatic loan to you - without questions. Most of these "check guarantee" accounts will cover you up to at least $1,000 and if you have 3- such accounts, you can write three $1,000 checks, and be on your way with whatever you need instant cash for . Another source of money is your circle of friends and relatives. Therefore, it's always to your benefit to make friends, encourage them as necessary, and keep them believing in you. One of the easiest of all money-raising ideas to promote amongst your friends and relatives is the sale of "private stock" in your idea or project. For instance, if 100 of your friends and relatives were to give you $100 each, you'd have $10,000 with which to either jump into or launch a new venture.

And by-the-way, it's always important to have at least 3 people you can count on to co-sign a note or loan for you if the need should ever arise. Loans against life insurance policies are another source of "no questions asked" instant cash. You simply borrow against the cash value of the policy, and in most cases, the interest you pay is far lower than against other loans, plus you never have to pay it back nor will your insurance policy lost value, so long as you keep the interest payments up to date.

Still another avenue to explore is the feasibility of using your insurance policy as collateral when you don't seem to have enough unassigned collateral otherwise. If you're buying the home you live in, and have a conventional home mortgage, you can often-times borrow against the equity you've built up. Generally speaking, if you buy a home for $50,000 - live in it and make regular payments on the mortgage for 10- years - the value of your home has probably increased to the neighborhood of $100,000 and conceivably, you could borrow $50,000 against your equity. In these times of tight money, this is a most intelligent method of coming up with the cash you need to start a new business.

There's also a lot of possible instant cash just lying dormant in people's attics, basements and garages. Go through all the things you've got stored - you may find valuable heirlooms, priceless antiques and collectibles that other people are looking for, and willing to buy from you. And, don't forget all the money you've loaned out to friends, neighbors and/or relatives over the years - check your memory and get in touch with these people - ask for repayment.

Finally, if you want to start a business, and you've got your business plan all together, don't be afraid to take it in and show the people at your commercial bank. These banks - as opposed to regular savings banks - are always on the lookout for new businesses to invest in, and are willing to take risks they'll welcome you with "open arms" and can really help.

So what’s your plan for 2010? If you decide that a cash-only lifestyle is how you want to live the rest of your life, you must first create a budget. That is the key to making this whole plan work. You must know how much you need to spend in any particular area. A budget is the simplest form of a "cash-in and cash-out" system and by using only the money that you have on hand has a way of encouraging you to not spend what you do not have; which runs contrary to all of the hype that you see for credit and credit cards in our American society.

Those who have already started using cash-only have experienced a real decline in their spending. That’s because they are only spending money in their personal or small-business banking accounts. By using a debit card, you still have the convenience of using a card while not being encouraged to spend more than you have. You now have a limit and you have a financial plan in the form of your monthly budget.

Some people argue that if you don’t have credit, you can’t build your credit rating but that’s not entirely true. There are methods of building your credit without a credit card but most times this will include borrowing money. You might get your car financed, and then pay off the entire amount after a couple of months. You may also consider getting a secure credit card (which is really just a debit card that is reported to the credit bureaus) to help you build a credit rating without using true credit. But be very careful when it comes to the fees they charge; many are very high.

Another interesting sidebar of living without credit is that people who are doing so have noticed they are sleeping better at night knowing that they don’t have a mountain of debt weighing on them. If you are mentally healthy then chances are you will also become physically healthy too. Stress is everywhere in life and if you can rid yourself from the stressful situation of a debt load then that’s all the better for your personal well-being.

Finally, as you are learning to live within this new, cash-only lifestyle, make sure you teach your kids about money. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the various school systems around the nation, from elementary to college; just do not do a good job of teaching our young people about their finances. Because of this, they take a large amount of financial ignorance into their personal lives and the nation’s consumer economic problems are perpetuated. So, using common household lessons, teach your kids about money and credit. Put that at the top of your New Year resolution list.

Did you know that almost 1 in 2 American adults spend more than they earn? And did you know that recent studies show that personal bankruptcies have doubled in the past 10 years? This article helps to ensure that you don’t add to these statistics and helps you to review your personal finance.Reduce Your Debts

In times of recession, it’s essential to reduce your debt; particularly expensive unsecured debt like hire purchase, credit cards and personal finance loans. Typically it makes sense to pay off those debts that attract higher interest rates before other cheaper forms of finance. Review your savings and the rate of interest you earn from them. If necessary, use these or any spare cash you may have to pay off debts as soon as possible as it's unlikely that the interest on your debt will be much more than what you're getting on your savings. You might want to maintain a small ‘emergency fund’ but your focus should be on paying off outstanding debts on your cards and loans.

Budget mercilessly

You should plan your personal finance very thoroughly and down to military precision. If you are not doing it already, you should record all the cash you spend - on food, utility bills, insurance, 'phone, fuel. etc. You should then determine how much you spend each month and compare that figure to how much money you earn. On which expenses can you make some quick cutbacks? Keep in mind that you have to start creating a surplus to begin to pay back debts.

Slash discretionary bills and expenses where you can

Thoroughly investigate and try and cut back or reduce some things. Have a good look at everything you purchase to establish what things you can get for less - switch off lights, buy food in bulk and everything you can think of! Ask yourself if you eliminate some spending entirely such as morning coffees, magazines or lunchtime snacks how will this affect your personal finance.

Think sensibly before signing up to long term expenses

Think very carefully about locking yourself into to long hire purchase agreements. Ask yourself whether you really need to have a new 60 inch television? Of course, it would look nice with the brand new surround system you recently bought on hire purchase on an expensive 4 year deal. But you may end up having both of them repossessed if you cannot keep up with the payments.

In difficult times, it's important that you can take some responsibility to review your personal finance.