When I first started blogging a few years ago I noticed that a lot of bloggers shared their net worths with their readers. It kind of blew my mind- these people put how much money they had out in the open!
Remember that when I first started blogging I had a negative net worth, because I still carried a lot of student loan debt. I was also earning a super low income, so I didn’t have a lot of money to work with. My first goal was to pay off my debt. My second goal? To become rich!
The question ‘How rich am I?’ is one that can be answered in a lot of ways. I’m personally rich in health and love. Those are things I’m super grateful for.
When it comes to numbers ‘how rich am I?’ is another ball game. I started tracking my own net worth privately a few years ago. I’m not one of those people who publishes their numbers. But if you want to see who does and how much they have, head over to Rockstar Finance’s Net Worth Tracker!
Determine Your Net Worth
A good place to start when you’re trying to figure out how much money you have is to determine your own net worth.
Net worth can be calculate super easily. Here’s a basic formula: your total number of assets – your total debt = your net worth.
If you want a more in depth look (and I know you do, because you’re a money nerd like me!) you can use this calculator from Investopedia to determine your net worth.
How Rich Do You Want to Be?
You can only answer the question ‘How rich am I’ if you know how rich you want to ultimately be. If you’re aiming to be the next Jay-Z and you only have 10k in the bank, you’ll feel poor. If you want to have $10,000 in the bank and you have $4,000 already saved, you’ll feel well on your way.
Reverse engineer your path to wealth. Set a goal for yourself and then figure out what you need to do to get there. There’s a simple formula to getting rich: spend less than you earn and invest the difference. Life does have a habit of getting in the way, of course, so it’s hard to stick to that long term. And if you’re low income, it’ll take longer to save a large amount of money.
However, the good news is that any amount of money saved is a gift to yourself. Any money saved is a start on the path to becoming rich.
I find hearing other people’s money stories to be inspiring, and I’m always learning from those who are further down the path to wealth. Checking out people’s net worth’s is helpful, as is their stories on how they got there. You can take tactics, plans, and strategies from their lives and apply them to your own to achieve your own level of rich.
Looking for more great articles on how I handle my money? Try these articles:
Why I Have Trouble Spending Money
How I’m Paying Off That $1,200 Credit Card Bill
Kara Perez is the original founder of From Frugal To Free. She is a money expert, speaker and founder of Bravely Go, a feminist financial education company. Her work has been featured on NPR, Business Insider, Forbes, and Elite Daily.