From Paycheck-to-Paycheck to Abundance: Your 30s Money Mindset Makeover

Photo by Katie Harp on Unsplash

It can be very easy to fall into the habit of living paycheck-to-paycheck. Maybe you don’t have a good budgeting system in place. Maybe you haven’t started to automate your savings. Maybe lifestyle inflation is making it hard to save and invest as much as you would like. And maybe you haven’t set any financial goals that would encourage you to save and invest more.

But if you want to go from this tendency to living a life of financial abundance, you have to address the real root of your money issues. And that’s your money mindset. I learned about this concept from the book Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker.

Here, I’m presenting five money mindset shifts that can help you go from spending everything you make—or even more than you make—to getting on the path to building wealth in your 30s.

5 Money Mindset Shifts to Help You Go from Financial Struggle to Financial Abundance

1. Understand that money is abundant.

   When you understand that money is everywhere, you don’t insist on receiving it from only one source, like by relying on one paycheck to meet all your financial needs. And you don’t insist that you can only make money in one way—like by, for instance, doing the same type of work you’ve always done.
   
   In this post, I talk about the 5 Principles of Wealth-Building to keep in mind when building wealth in your 30s. Principle 4 is to increase your income because having more money means you have more to save and invest, which is principle 2 and also where real wealth is built.
   
   Understanding that money is abundant allows you to open yourself up to new sources of money so you can increase your income without necessarily having to get another job or go back to school. It may encourage you to take on a side hustle or find passive income streams that you can add (more on this in #4). Knowing that there are numerous ways to make money can help you be more open to those innumerable possibilities and ways to start building wealth for yourself.
   
   But it’s also important to understand that even though money is abundant, it can still take time to build wealth. Think about an apple tree. If you cut the tree down before it’s even able to provide fruit for you, you won’t be able to enjoy its fruit. You have to wait for the tree to grow, and even then you have to tend to it and nourish it properly so it can keep bearing fruit.
   
   In the same way, if you spend everything you make, you won’t be able to enjoy the fruit that comes with wealth, like financial freedom and the ability to donate generously to the causes that are important to you. So, yes, see money as abundant. But also understand that wealth takes time to grow.

2. Release limiting beliefs about money.

   People will have different limiting beliefs about money, but here are some of the common ones: “I have to work hard to make money,” “There’s never enough money to go around,” and “I can’t afford that.”
   
   Let’s take a look at the first example: “I have to work hard to make money.” While hard work can be necessary to make money, hard work alone won’t lead to wealth. For that you need leverage. This is when you put systems and/or people in place who work for you and allow you to do more than you could on your own.
   
   Say, for example, you’ve just started a business but you’re not great at accounting. You might consider hiring an accountant so you don’t have to manage the money on your own. In fact, you can delegate any task you would prefer not to do, leaving you to focus on what you do best. So, while you’re still working hard, it’s not as hard as if you were doing everything yourself.
   
   And if you’re doing something you enjoy, it won’t even feel like you’re working. Throw in a few passive income streams (see #4), and now you’re not even having to work so hard. This is how you release a limiting belief like that.
   
   Take time to analyze your personal limiting beliefs around money. Do you ever look at something you might call “expensive,” sigh, and then say, “I could never afford that.” Talk like that will keep you from developing your money muscles. It puts a stop to your brain’s efforts to figure out how you can afford it.
   
   But if you say instead, “I can afford that,” now your brain goes to work trying to figure out how you can afford it. So, as soon as you’ve identified your limiting beliefs around money, try to reframe them as empowering beliefs that open you up to possibilities.

3. Associate money with positive things.

   Money itself is neutral. It’s not good or bad, it’s not positive or negative. Money is just money. We’re the ones who bring value to it. We decide whether it’s good or bad, positive or negative. And the way we choose to classify money will determine our relationship with it and how much of it we’re willing to welcome into our lives.
   
   What do you currently associate money with? Do you associate it with evil or greed? Do you associate it with inequality or injustice? Regardless of the negative associations you may have with money, you can decide right now to associate it with things that encourage you to invite more of it in.
   
   To develop a healthier money mindset—one that can allow you to receive financial abundance—try to associate money with positive things. How about freedom? Or choices? Or generosity? If you’re someone who enjoys giving money to others, having more will allow you to have that much more to give.
   
   And if you already associate money with things that may seem positive—like, for instance, using it to splurge on expensive things that give you pleasure—you still might want to understand the negative association there. Essentially, you’re telling yourself, “It’s ok for me to spend money now, even if it means I go into debt or don’t have money to save and invest for the future.”
   
   To make this association positive, try to think about how it’s true that you want to be able to enjoy some of your money now, but you also want to have money to enjoy in the long-term.

4. Think of passive income as the next best thing to winning the lottery.

   People often talk about winning the lottery as if that were the only way they would ever have the large quantities of money they dream about. But there is another way to become wealthy, and it doesn’t require you to pick any winning numbers.
   
   Passive income is income that comes to you with little effort on your part, and there are many different types. There are more traditional forms of passive income, like stocks and real estate. And then there are less traditional forms, like money earned from selling an ebook or an online course. I personally prefer the nontraditional forms, and here I talk about how to build wealth without stocks or real estate.
   
   While you usually have to do some work upfront to start generating these income sources, all of them can lead to a place where you’re bringing in money while you sleep. And that can be very helpful for building financial wealth.
   
   The thing is, passive income isn’t something most of us are taught to pursue. We’re taught that getting a good job is the surest form of security, and this is considered active income. As the name implies, you’re actively working to earn it.
   
   While having a job can provide you with the capital you need to start earning passive income, passive income can expedite your wealth-building journey. So, the next time you wonder what it would be like if you won the lottery, why not ask yourself instead something like, “What would it be like if I created a passive income source that allowed me to pursue my passions without having to worry about money?”

5. Redefine the way you see investing.

   Often, when we hear investing, we think about investing in the stock market or investing in real estate or things like that. But we often forget about the most important investment we can make—in ourselves. There’s no investment you can make that’s quite like the one you make in yourself.
   
   Imagine if, for example, you decide to invest in a course on how to start a successful side hustle. By taking that course, you’re learning how to bring in another stream of income that could potentially become lucrative for you. This means you’ll be in a better position to continue to enjoy your current lifestyle while having more money to save and invest—as long as you’re careful to avoid lifestyle inflation.
   
   Or if you invest in books on financial literacy, you can learn how to manage your money better so you can end the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, get out of debt, and start building wealth. And even if you’re not in a position to invest money in these things right now, you can invest your time to learn about them. That kind of investment can be very valuable, too.
   
   When you first start taking investing seriously, be serious about investing in yourself. Invest in your education. Invest in your personal development. Take courses, read books, hire a coach, attend seminars. Just do whatever you need to, to become the most empowered version of you. That’s the version of you who’ll be ready to welcome more money into their life and who’ll know how to use it wisely.

Final Thoughts

Wealth-building in your 30s—and at any age—starts with your money mindset. If you’re convinced that living paycheck-to-paycheck is a normal and acceptable way to live, you’ll find it hard to start building wealth for yourself. But with a few money mindset shifts—like the five I just mentioned—you can put yourself in a better position to go from financial struggle to financial abundance.

~ Ashley C.

P.S. If you would like to start transforming your relationship with money, feel free to subscribe to the Alternative Money Mindset newsletter. There, I offer tips and advice on topics like budgeting, paying back debt, and building wealth with love. Don’t miss out!

Note: The advice presented here is for informational purposes only. If you’re in need of professional financial advice, please see a qualified professional.