How to stop being poor

At one time, I was extremely poor. I soon figured out that being poor was not where I wanted to be, so I decided to stop being poor.

I came to Canada as an immigrant with no money, no connections, no language skills, no intergenerational wealth, no education—nothing.

I worked my ass off, going to school and taking on jobs such as a janitor, stocking shelves at supermarkets, busboy, and any low-paying job I could find.

I invested in myself, took risks, practiced extreme frugality, and invested my money. Now, I am no longer poor. That’s it! I decided to stop being poor and I stopped being poor.

That’s what it takes! I did it, and you can too.

Many of us become comfortable in our discomfort. We accept poverty as the natural state and simply don’t aspire for more.

Others have aspirations; they manifest their dreams, share their plans on how to get rich, and start spending as if they were rich. At the end of the day, their revenues never catch up with their lifestyle.

But what if you are sick and tired of being poor and you are ready to do what it takes?

One time, a woman told me that she needed money because she was in debt.

I offered to clean my Airbnb properties for that weekend. She declined because she was going to get away for the weekend from Montreal. Obviously, that woman was not ready to get out of her poverty. She was comfortable in her discomfort.

When a person is starting from zero, the only thing that they have is their time, with low skills, to trade for money. This is the worse position to be financially. I still trade my time (as photographer) for money. Believe me, I don’t earn much. You have to trade a lot of time, only to get a little payback.

So, your main objective at this level is to save a bit of that time, to learn a new skill to get a higher compensation.

There are so many places online where you can sharpen your skills. YouTube is my source of learning, but there is Coursera, Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, etc. Many corporations, like banks, Amazon, Google, Walmart, etc., have employee training programs so that they can continue improving themselves. Corporations like Starbucks will pay for your college education.

If a person starts working as a cashier at Walmart for minimum wage, we can blame her low income on the circumstances. If five years later, that person is still working as a cashier and has made no effort to gaining additional skills, well that person needs to look at the mirror and blame himself for his low income.

When we are younger, I think that’s the time we should give it our all to make money. Our expenses are low and we want to get out of the trap of exchanging time for money. We want to start accumulating some capital so that our money can start working for us.

If we don’t work hard to get out of the trap of exchanging time for money, five years later, we will be exactly in the same position, blaming the government, blaming society, blaming capitalism, but still poor.

Formula to get out of poverty:

Cut all cost. No fashionable clothes, not expensive gadgets, no car if you can do without, not eating out, no having drinks with friends. Go to goodwill for food (I have done it and still do it from time to time). You go to work and go home, nothing more. Stay with your parents if you can. If you are not with your parents, share an apartment with roommates.
Increase your income. Get two jobs. Do your regular job, then do some Uber or another part time job, and then come home an study to gain more skills. At one time, I had my job as a dance teacher, I was managing three Airbnb properties, I was an Uber driver and I was studying finance. With low skills I was earning over $100,000 per year.
Start investing. You don’t need to be a genius to make serious money as an investor. The S&P 500 gives an average return of 8% per year, that’s a no brainer. It may not seem like much when you have a couple of thousands, but when you get to one million, that’s $80,000 per year without lifting a finger.

Things that can help you achieve your goals:

1. Choose carefully the people who you associate with. If you are hanging out with people who like to drink, do drugs, hang out doing nothing and complaining about the system, you will turn into a winy person as well. If you associate yourself with people who want to get ahead in life, you will feel more motivated to get ahead as well. If you are in Montreal, you are invited to join Solopreneurs Montreal, where we are about growing and supporting each others.

If there is anyone who doesn’t support your goals, cut them out of your life. It could be your best friend or a family member. If they are dragging down or keeping you poor, let go of them, they will come back to you when you are no longer poor.

2. Choose your partner carefully. One of the best financial decisions a person can make is to find a partner who have similar goals and ambitions. If one person wants to save and the other person wants to spend, it’s just not going to work out, you will stay poor much longer than you want to.

3. Go on an information diet. Consume books, podcasts, videos, and social media in general of things that motivate you.

Go as extreme as possible. I still wear shirts that are 20 years old and I still shop at little dingy supermarkets where I can find food at discount prices.

It’s as easy as that. If you don’t want to be poor, you don’t have to be poor.

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