I could have been richer

When my wife asked me how much my net worth was, I could think of any interesting answer. For a moment, I was speechless. I knew I could not explain my financial life; and I often get misunderstood for it.
At first, I thought she was interested of the amount of cash I brought into our marriage, but swiftly, I assumed she was curious about how I mismanaged my money when I was still single. And I was right. She kept on smiling when I relayed details of my previous lifestyle.
On my case, poor spending habits and the lack of drive to earn more could be the foremost reasons why I am not richer today (actually, I am not rich but I should not think I am poor). Despite being educated in financial literacy and being familiar with theories of the rich people, I could not apply the lessons to myself.
Unfortunately, I am not alone. A lot of us still join the rat race of personal finance. We have less financial freedom as we simply depend on passive income, which may not suffice our wants and needs.
Ideally, average earners or employees have only four lessons in personal finance to live by. One cannot proceed to the next principle without internalizing the preceding rule.
First rule is to get out of debt as soon as possible and then to stay out of debt. Less income, schooling children, and high cost of living are unacceptable excuses.
The second rule is to live within your means, that is, income should be higher that expenses. It is accomplished by increasing the income or by cutting off expenses. Either way is plausible.
The third principle is to invest and reinvest the excess funds. Business and investment is the key to financial freedom. Invest only a portion of the whole savings. When things seem to go wrong, one should divert business but should not stop. If you win, you will win big. If you lose, invest elsewhere.
And the last and definitely not the least rule is to be hardworking, patient, and creative. Wait and let the money work for you. Trust the power of money making money for you. The more you have it, the more you are capable of grabbing opportunities. That’s why they say the rich get richer.
If I had only decided years ago to save and to earn more, I would have earned millions by now. But time is still generous. We can never be too late if we act today and we embrace the compelling reasons why we have to earn and improve our respective lives. And whatever we do, it has to be appropriate, decent, and respectable.