The one thing that will reveal to you the gaps in your current financial situation is capital projects. A capital project is any project that is beyond your current and future financial capacity to execute. For most people, capital projects lead them into debt. Debt and Capital projects go hand in hand because the income of most people is still struggling to meet basic bills. And in instances where income is high, expenses overwhelm income. So whether you are a high-income earner or a low-income earner, the chances are high that you will struggle to fund certain capital projects in your life.

To fund capital projects, you need four things to be working simultaneously in your life. The First thing is your ability to earn high incomes. The second thing is your ability to keep a major part of that income. The third thing is your ability to grow that income without losing it. And the fourth thing is your ability to build solid Passive Income that exceeds your current Active Income. These are the four things you need to fund capital projects debt-free. Unfortunately, only a few people know how to do all four things correctly. Certain people hardly thrive in one area. But, if funding capital projects debt free is important to you. You must know how to do all four things well or surround yourself with people who can help you.

Funding a capital project debt-free is a difficult task to achieve if all you have is a modest income and meager savings. The lower your income the more things become capital projects to you. This means that what is a capital project for you may not be capital projects for another person. To help us unify our definition of capital projects. Let us use an example of capital projects that we all agree is the most difficult to fund debt-free. This example is Homeownership.

Homeownership is a type of capital project and one of the most popular capital projects because many people want to achieve it. By the time you are an independent adult, the desire for homeownership is already burning inside of you. This desire comes from parent influences, external pressure, and the frustration of paying rent to a homeowner. Owning a home is thus one of the most universally accepted capital projects with a global desire. It is also the most expensive capital project to fund. Yet despite its expansiveness, most people want to achieve it. Every year millions of people attempt to climb the homeownership ladder. A few of them make it. Many of them are buried in debt. And many more fail to achieve it. This is because the desire for homeownership does not automatically translate to owning a home. And here is why.

Many people are trying to own a home on the fragile back of a low income and low savings. The truth is one income, and low savings cannot fund the homeownership project. To fund your dream home you need multiple streams of income and big portion savings. Second, you need to overcome the temptation of owning a home too soon. Many people rush to own a remote and low budget home. A home where people struggle to come to due to its distance and neighborhood. Owning a home is not about being the first to own a crappy home. It is about being the first to own the dream home in a dream location and to do it debt-free. Attempting to own a home too soon is the reason most people end up with crappy homes that are way below their league. Homeownership is best achieved at a time when you are most financially capable to fund it. This is not to say you just sit and do nothing before then. But to say that you use that time to build the solid cash reserves you need to fund your dream home.

So how then do you fund your dream home?

To fund your dream home there are three paths you can take.

The first path is the Loan path. This is where you borrow money and end up in debt. The second path is the bootstrap savings path. This is where you painstakingly save your way to homeownership. Only a few people ever achieve this. The third and most effective path is to create your own interest-free solid cash reserves and then use them to fund your dream home. This is the Path we will be dwelling on in this article.

So how then do you create your own interest-free cash reserves?

To create your own interest-free cash reserves there are four things you must do.

The First is to develop Income security skills. The second thing is to leverage a complementary Side Hustle. The third thing is to establish a Financial defense System. And the fourth thing is to use a multipurpose, high interest yielding investment vehicle to build your cash reserves. Below I explain each of these points in detail.

Develop Income Security Skills

There is only one way to secure your income in the world. This way is not to secure your job. But to develop high-income skills that preserve your ability to earn high incomes. The truth is there is no job security out there and since homeownership is a long-term process. You need certain skills to guarantee a continuous flow of cash. There are three income security skills that can help you achieve this. The first is problem-solving or creativity skill. The second is Relationship building or Networking skills. And the third is marketing and sales skills. These are the three skills you need to secure your homeownership income. And ensure you are never recycled back into the pool of broke people. Developing income security skills is thus critical for funding your dream home. The key to success here is to invest in developing and refining these skills. And to put them to practice and perfect them. If you need help developing these skills or practicing and perfecting them send an email to [email protected]

Get a Complimentary High Income Side Hustles

No homeownership project can be funded debt-free from a single meager source of income. Thus to fund your dream home you have to grow your main income and add another source of income to it. To grow your main income you need to rise to positions that have a direct impact on profit and revenue. Then you need to find a side hustle that complements your main income.

The problem is most people do not know the side hustles that complements their main income. They are also concerned about whether or not they will like this side hustle or make the desired income out of it.

The key to identifying the side hustle that is right for you is to consider these three things. The first is your interest. Can you do and promote this side hustle easily? The second is the income speed. How soon before this side hustle produces the kind of income that you desire. And the third is the workload and time requirement. How much time do you have to invest to generate the kind of income that you desire? Adding a side hustle that increases workload. Consumes time. Reduces job efficiency and drains current income is a mistake. The key here is to identify side hustles that complements your main income. And ensure that your side hustle has the high-income capacity and is aligned with your area of interests

To find this kind of side hustle you need to identify your current area of interest. So if you are reading this article right now. Chances are high that you are interested in making more money and funding capital projects debt-free. If you can find other people within your circle who are also interested in making more money. And funding capital projects. And if you and these people are willing to invest in products and services that can help you. You can make a high-income side hustle from it. Granted that the product or service you promote solves a high-income problem. Thus to earn high incomes you need to choose side hustles that can pay you high income. Getting rich through a side hustle is thus about first solving your own problems. And then showing other people how you can help them solve the same problem. This is the fastest way to get on the High-income side hustle ladder. Every other way takes time, produce low income, and increases your workload. To fund your dream home debt-free. You must choose side hustles that require you to work less earn more and produce income in less time. This is the fastest way to fund your dream home.

Build Your Own Personal Financial Defense System

The worse way to try and fund a capital project such as homeownership is to do it without a financial defense system in place. A financial defense system is a system that can provide you income in the presence or absence of a Job. This is important because homeownership is a long-term project. And you need the continuous flow of income to survive.

So how do you build a solid financial defense system that protects you throughout the homeownership process?

To build a solid financial defense system there are four things you must do. The first is to hit a big portion savings target. The second is to make your savings failure-proof. The third thing is to shield your savings from financial distractions. And the fourth is to spend in the direction of Freedom.

i. Achieve a Big Portion Savings Target

Saving is a critical part of every investing activity. So if funding your dream home is important to you. You must save a significant part of your income. To save 50% of your income for example there are two things you can do. The first is to increase your income, to the point where it overwhelms your expenses. To do this you need high-income skills and high-income side hustles. The second thing is to reduce your expenses to the point it becomes lower than your savings. The fastest and most effective way to do this is to focus on increasing savings and not reducing expenses. And there are two ways to increase savings. The first is to increase savings by 1% every month until you hit a big portion savings target. Your expenses will adjust accordingly. The second way is to deduct a big portion of your income as savings from the source. And figure out how to live on what is left. If you survive after a month it means you can live on what is left. These are the two smart ways to increase your savings and invariably adjust your expenses.

ii. Make savings Failure Proof

One of the abilities you must have if you want to fund your dream home debt-free is the ability to consistently save without skipping it. Skipping savings is postponing your financial freedom and homeownership dream. Thus if you want to save without fail, you must make your savings failure-proof. To make savings failure proof you need to deduct savings from the source. Use compulsory savings vehicles such as group contributions or standing orders. And be accountable to someone you trust and respect.

iii. Shield savings from Financial Distractions

The biggest killer of all the savings in the world is financial distractions. The inability to stop unplanned events and people from stealing your savings. Financial distraction derails your saving from its original purpose. And this elongates your ability to own your own home. To own your own home you must shield your savings from financial distractions. To shield savings from distractions you need certain protective investment vehicles. You also need to assign a purpose to every idle fund. And to work with a mentor to keep idle funds tied up for the right purpose. This is the only way to fund your dream home in record time and without delays.

iv. Spend in the direction of Freedom

There are two ways to spend money. The first is to spend in the direction of freedom and the second is to spend in the direction of poverty. To Fund a dream home debt-free you must spend in the direction of freedom. When you spend in ways that use up big portions of your income. You are facing the direction of poverty. And when you spend in ways that save up bigger portions of your income You are facing the direction of freedom. The key here is to save more than you spend and spend in the direction of where you want to go.

These are the four things to do. To build a solid Financial defense system that supports you throughout the homeownership process.

Choose a Multi-Purpose High-Interest Yielding Investment Vehicle

There are many investment vehicles in the world. But the most suited and effective investment vehicle. For funding capital projects is the multi-purpose high-interest yielding long-term investment vehicle. This is a special purpose vehicle that has been designed to fund capital projects. It is a multi-purpose vehicle because it can fund many capital projects within the same time frame. It is also safe and high interest yielding because it is a long-term investment vehicle. So if you are considering owning a home debt-free at some time in the future. This is the best investment vehicle for you. The key to investing is to never lose money, especially when building towards a capital project.. Once you choose the right investment vehicles that preserve your investment. You will fund your dream home in no time.

The truth is you will remain the same person year after year except for your ability to make more money. Your ability to keep more money. And your ability to grow that money without losing it. The more you master these three abilities the richer you become. And the easier it will be to fund your dream home. There is nothing as powerful as having zero cash worries when you want to fund your dream home.

If you want to own your own home, make extra income, or fund capital projects debt free we can help you. Send an email to [email protected]

About author

Grace Agada is The Senior Financial Happiness Director @ Create Solid Wealth. She is an author, and column contributor in six national newspapers. She is a contributor at BellaNaija, Nairametrics and Proshare and she is on a mission to help working-class professionals and CEOs become more financially successful. To learn more about Grace and how she can help you send an email to [email protected]

Do you earn a comfortable salary? If yes, then yay! Life’s good.

But even a Warren Buffet or a Jeff Bezos still knows the value of being thrifty. It is a sure way of staying worry and stress free, regardless of any financial crises that might take you unawares in the future.

READ: How to land an 8 figure job in 2021

Advantages of Thriftiness

You must understand that thrifty is not the same as stingy. Oh no. It’s something entirely different, and even more so, should be sought after.

On the one hand, stingy means being miserly, refusing to make your life easier and hoarding the resources you possess.

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However, to be thrifty entails managing your money habits and learning to save. This could include:

• Spending less on non-essentials.
• Getting better value at a low cost
• Avoiding borrowing to satisfy leisure purposes (such as buying a car, funding an extravagant wedding, going on pleasure trips, etc.)
• Borrowing only when in dire need or for investment purposes, and so on.

READ: The best free budgeting tools to help you manage your finance

Without much ado, let’s get right to the benefits:

1. You Become Resourceful

You develop a keen sense for accomplishing more with less – a useful trait, you might admit, in any individual, be it man or woman.  

In a world of hardship and increasing scarcity, we all must learn to value what we have and use them wisely.

As the saying goes, “He who spends his money carelessly tends not to have it for long.”

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2. You Understand What Matters and What Doesn’t

Often times, we might get carried away by what our peers are doing and try to mirror these trends.

But don’t forget to cut your coat to your size. Bother less about impressing your friends. Nor should you allow yourself to be swayed into purchasing things you don’t really need (which may even cost you more money in the long run).

READ: How to avoid debt despite economic challenges

Practicing thriftiness enables you live within your means. You analyse your lifestyle and measure your spending habits to suit your earnings.

You give priority to more important things like taking care of your family, living a comfortable life, and investing for your future.

3. You are More Prepared in Times of Emergency

Spending wisely means you will have something to fall back on in case of an emergency. If you always empty your account and live from paycheck to paycheck due to bad money habits, you will find yourself in a prickly situation should you lose your job or face some other unforeseen event.

READ: Personal Finance Culture: The 4 Cs of Financial Success 

4. You Have a Happier Relationship With Your Spouse

Money problems are some of the top causes of marital strains. Therefore, being financially responsible makes you better able to carter for your family and prevent getting into squabbles with your spouse.

5. You Worry Less About Incurring Debt

Spending wisely implies you won’t face the unpleasant situation of borrowing to carter for your basic needs. You sleep better at night knowing Mr. Ade won’t come banging on your door come morning, demanding you pay him back.

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6. You Invest More

Being thrifty helps you increase your savings, which you can then use to make profitable investments. You therefore get closer and closer towards achieving financial freedom and retiring early.

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7. You Become More Disciplined

Managing money wisely makes you a better person all round. You may ask how. Here are a few ways:

• You take better care of your health since you know falling sick will cost you.
• You feed better by cooking your own meals rather than eating out.
• You maintain your personal belongings, including cars, work tools, clothes, etc., and ensure they last longer.
• You keep your living space tidy by not accumulating clutter – You purchase only the things you need, and sell or give away items you no longer use.
• You are able to pay off your debts promptly and give yourself a good reputation.

READ: Christmas and budgeting: How to control your spending during this festive season

Conclusion

Being thrifty means you use your money and resources wisely. It ensures you don’t live from paycheck to paycheck and that you have something to fall back on during a rainy day.

By growing your savings, you can have a comfortable life whilst working towards financial freedom and an early retirement.

One of the popular questions I get asked all the time as a Financial Expert is this. What is the fastest way to create wealth and get to the top? I almost always have one answer to this question and it is to build wealth creating relationships. And here is why. All the wealth in the world is created in the context of a relationship.

READ: How to make your ideas breakthrough in the business world

This means that without relationships wealth cannot be created. According to Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, a one-time legendary speaker and author, you remain the same person year after year except for the people you meet and the books you read. So if becoming wealthy is important to you. You must master the art of creating wealthy relationships. Creating wealthy relationships is important because it helps us solve important problems.

READ: How to enter retirement with financial confidence

The truth is there is an unequal distribution of wealth and advantage in the world.  This means that to create wealth you need other people. Other people have the answers, deals, money, access, power, and influence that you need to create wealth. And without their cooperation and support, it is hard to create wealth. To create wealth, two or more people must agree to solve problems for each other. And it is only when these problems are solved that wealth is created. Thus wealth is created in the context of a relationship. And the element in a relationship that makes wealth creation possible is trust. Trust is critical for wealth creation and the most trusted relationships in the world are close relationships. Thus, developing close relationships is the fastest way to create wealth.

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But if close relationships are the answer, why are we not all wealthy?

The answer is simple

Not all close relationships are wealth creating in nature. Certain close relationships are actually set up to make you poor.  But before I show you the close relationship that can make you wealthy. Let me first define what a close relationship is.

A Close relationship is any relationship that is bound by mutual interests, mutual environment, mutual source, or mutual loyalties and beliefs. Close relationships are formed in private and sometimes exclusive environments. The nature of these environments encourages engagement that leads to close relationships.

READ: Networking, way to success in Nigeria

Examples of Close relationships include family relationships, friends, Classmates, Work Colleagues, Club members, Neighbors, Estate Associations, Parent associations, Events, Gyms, etc. The environment that forms these relationships is embedded with Trust, Safety, and Relaxation. This gives members the justification to connect with other members and engage with them. Relationships formed under closed environments are the best because they can convert total strangers into friends in minutes.

So now that you know what a Close relationship is let me show you the two kinds of close relationships.

There are two kinds of Close Relationships.

The First is the wealth-draining Close relationship. And the second is the Wealth creating close relationships.

The wealth draining Close relationships is any relationship that drains wealth. It comprises family relationships, friends, and religious organizations. These relationships use up capital because embedded in them are problems that can majorly be solved using money. Wealth-draining relationships may provide emotional support but it is the most difficult relationship to create wealth from and here is why.

First, most people are from average families and poor homes. This leaves them with little or no room to create wealth. Second, most wealth-draining relationships are set up to drain wealth. Members of this group encourage one another to do things for each other for free. This entitlement to free is the single biggest reason why wealth draining relationships fail at creating wealth. Third wealth draining relationships have a set impression of you. And it is hard to take you seriously when you change this impression. To create wealth with speed you must focus on close relationships that are primed for wealth creation. These relationships are the wealth-creating relationships

Wealth-creating relationships are like business relationships. They comprise relationships with your co-workers, Club members, Neighbors, Estate Associations members, Customers, Parent Association, Vendors, Professional associations, Events, Gyms, etc.

Members of these groups are open to learning about new information. Discovery New opportunities, and meeting new people. And they rarely solve problems for each other using money. The way this group solves problems is to point each other in the right direction. They connect each other to people, businesses, and organizations that can help them. And support one another through difficult crises. all for Free. But there is a ways to this in exchange for wealth.

Thus for a close relationship to be wealth-creating, it must have three main components.

The first component is the presence of people with problems to solve or Goals to achieve. The second component is the willingness of these people to pay for solutions that can help them solve their problems. And the third component is people that can solve the problems. These are the three components that can turn ordinary relationships into wealth-creating relationships.

So now that you know how to turn ordinary relationships into wealth-creating relationships. How do you create wealth from them?

To create wealth from your close relationships you must first become valuable to them. Becoming valuable to them means finding out what they want and developing the skills to solve their problems. Helping your close relationships solve problems is the only way to help yourself.

Unfortunately, only a few people know how to do this comfortably.  Many would rather remain on their own than talk to a close relationship. But if wealth creation is important to you. You must develop the confidence to talk to your close relationships. Thankfully talking to a close relationship is less threatening than talking to a total stranger.

So how exactly do you create wealth from close relationships?

To create wealth from close relationships there five things that you must do.

The first thing is to Target the right relationships. The second thing is to create value that is relevant to these relationships. The third thing is to grab their attention. The fourth thing is to Build wealth-creating Rapport. And the fifth thing is to exchange the value that can make you wealthy. Below I explain each of the steps in detail.

1.Target the Right Relationships

Targeting the right relationship is simply identifying who you want to become valuable to and what means value to them. There are two people you need to be valuable to if you want to create wealth. The first person is your close relationships. And the second person is the solution provider. To be valuable to your close relationships you need to know who they are, what they want, and what they are willing to pay for. And to be valuable to solution providers you need to know what they are willing to pay you for. Your goal is to identify the people that can help you create wealth and understand what they need to support you in your wealth-creating journey. Targeting is thus all about identifying who you need to become wealthy.

2.Create Relevant Value

The only way to become valuable to a person is to create value that is relevant to them. Value creation is all about creating value that is relevant to your close relationships and solutions provider. To create the value you need to do two things. First, you need to develop high-income skills. And second, you need to develop certain abilities.

There are three high-income skills you need to develop if you want to be wealthy. The first skill is creativity or innovation skill. The second skill is Relationship building skills. And the third skill is marketing skills.

To create wealth you also need to develop certain abilities. There are five abilities you must have to become a wealth-creating persona.

So what are these five abilities?.

The first ability is Attitude. All wealth-creating persona have a positive attitude. They have a healthy world view of themselves, other people and the world. The second ability is clear Communication. All wealth-creating persona express their ideas, in clear simple language. They also ask meaningful questions and listen to other people’s ideas. The third ability of a wealth-creating persona is self-Leadership. Self-leadership is the hallmark of effective people leadership. And Wealth creating personas live by example. The fourth ability is Confidence. All wealth-creating persona have a healthy self-esteem. They exude confidence and are magnetic to their target audience. And the fifth ability is Character. Character is the bedrock of Trust and Trust is essential in every relationship. These are the five abilities that turn a person into a solid wealth creator

The key to success here is to develop the skills and abilities you need before you form wealthy relationships. You can also partner with someone that already have these abilities and learn in the process. This is important because first impressions matters in every relationship. And once a wrong first impression is established it is irredeemable. Creating wealth in trusted relationships with the right skills and abilities is thus the fastest way to unlock your income potential and wealth.

3.Grab the Right Attention

One of the fastest way to grab anybody’s attention is to give them what they want. People are attracted to what they want in the same way a Fish is attracted to the right bait. Attention-grabbing is thus all about understanding what your close relationships want and to give it to them. Without the ability to command this sort of attention you cannot create wealth. To grab the attention of your close relationships you need to position as a friend and helper and not a sales Man. Salesmen grab rejection only Helpers grab attention. To position as a helper you need to focus on your close relationships and not on yourself. You need to identify what they want. Choose wealth-creating problems. And genuinely be interested to help them.  To discover wealth-creating Problems you need to ask problem revealing questions. This the only way to identify problems that can make you rich. Attention-grabbing is thus all about coming to your close relationships with solutions they are already programed to accept.

4.Build Wealth creating Rapport

The process that begins every relationship is rapport. Building wealth-creating rapport is thus about developing the ability to connect with, converse with and add value to your close relationships. And there are two ways to create a great rapport. The first way is through positive connections. And the second way is through meaningful Conversations. To create positive connections you need the right non-verbal cues. Non-verbal cues like smiling. Confident Posture. Confident walks. Body language, Smell, and Touch are great rapport builders. Creating positive connections is critical if you want to build wealth creating relationship. Conversations take the relationship further from just connection. And conversation has to be wealth-creating to create wealth. To create wealth-creating conversation you have to be able to lead one or participate in one. The components of a great wealth-creating Conversations include introductions. Getting to know the other person. Establishing alignment in perspective and value.  Asking the right questions. Identify wealth-creating problem. And asking for permission to suggest a solution. When you develop the ability to build rapport with ease. You become a center of influence. Becoming a center of Influence is great because it increases believe. And make your close relationships want to act on what you say. This is a powerful position to be in if you want to create wealth.

5. Exchange Value that can make you wealthy

The value exchange process is the final process in the wealth-creating and problem-solving value chain. Value exchanges occur when a close relationship decides to become a customer. This decision creates a series of value exchanges. First, the customer exchanges cash for the solution that they desire. Second, the Business owner accepts cash in exchange for the desired solution. And third the value connector or helper accepts a financial reward in exchange for their connections. Everyone wins and this ends the problem solving and wealth creation process.

To create wealth with speed in the age and era where wealth creation is elusive, you must develop close relationships. Developing close relationships that create wealth is the best short-cut you can take to wealth.

If you need help developing wealthy relationships or optimizing close relationships to create wealth. We can help you. To get help send an email to [email protected]

The hardest way to create wealth is through complete strangers. You need close wealth-creating relationships to get Rich.

About author

Grace Agada is The Senior Financial Happiness Director @ Create Solid Wealth. She is an Author and Column Contributor in Six National Newspaper. She is a contributor at BellaNaija, Nairametrics, and Proshare and she is on a mission to help working-class professionals and CEOs become more financially successful. To learn more about Grace and how she can help you send an email to [email protected]