Page 98 - Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money

In order to create a budget surplus, a surplus must be a priority. The best
way to make a surplus a priority is to reprioritize your spending habits.

Make saving, tithing, and investing at least priority #2, and list them as an
expense on your financial statement.

EASIER SAID THAN DONE

I know most of you can agree with the logic of what I am saying and agree
that people need to make saving, tithing, and investing a higher priority. I
also know this is easier said than done. So let me tell you how Kim and I
handled this problem.

Soon after we were married, we had the same financial problems many
newlyweds have. We had more expenses than income. To solve this
problem, we hired Betty the Bookkeeper. Betty was instructed to take 30
percent of all income off the top, as an expense, and put that money in the

asset column.
Using simple numbers as an example, if we had $1,000 in income, and
$1,500 in expenses, Betty was to take 30 percent of the $1,000, and put that
money in the asset column. With the remaining $700, she was to pay the

$1,500 in expenses.
Betty nearly died. She thought we were nuts. She said, “You can’t do
that. You have bills to pay.” She almost quit. You see, Betty was a great
bookkeeper, but she budgeted like a poor person. She paid everyone else

first and herself last. Since there was rarely anything left over, she paid
herself nothing. Her creditors, the government, and bankers were all more
important than Betty.
Betty argued and fought. All of her training told her to pay everyone else

first. The thought of not paying her bills or taxes made her weak in the
knees.
I finally got her to understand she was doing us a favor. She was helping
us out. I explained to her that she was helping us solve a very big problem,

the problem of not having enough money, and as you know, solving
problems makes us smarter. When she understood she was actually creating
income through expense, she was willing to go along with our plan to create
a budget surplus. For every dollar of income, Betty would take 30 cents and

put it in savings, tithing, and investing. She knew that saving, tithing, and