Johnny worked hard his entire life, but never felt like he had enough money. In high school, he worked as a cashier at a local grocery store, but that wasn’t enough. Later he went to college and worked on campus, but that was not enough. He eventually graduated, and got a job as a manager at a marketing firm, but that was not enough. He worked long hours, made enough to support his family, but it was never enough. Johnny lived out his days wishing he would have made more money.

 

 

Why Do You Want Money?

 

Johnny wanted money because he was never content. Perhaps there are some of you reading this that feel you do not have enough money. Everything is money, money, money. It is true that the world we live in is driven in large part by economics. Maybe the thought of having money appeals to you because if you get enough of it you will never have to work another day in your life and a life of luxury can be yours. Or maybe you just want to better provide for your family.

 

I urge you to take a step back and examine carefully WHY you want more money. If it is so you can never work another day in your life, then you are pushing against an immovable object. Getting more money takes intelligence, dedication, and focus. If you are smart, you will see that more money means a life long effort of improving upon what it is you are already doing. If you have not gained new skills, improved yourself physically or mentally, or done anything progressive in a long period of time, then the results will speak for themselves. Your growth and earning potential are stagnated.

 

Another Approach

 

You can look on the internet and see thousands of websites/people claiming they will make you the six figure income of your dreams. But think about that for a moment. Why would someone be offering this? It is obvious that they are selling you something and they will benefit if you decide to pay up and pursue their program. A lot of times, these people are not making much money themselves, but are still trying to get people to buy their products. It’s a shame.

 

Might I suggest another approach. Try looking inward at yourself and really focusing on what you are passionate about. If nothing comes to mind, you are going to have to create your passion. To pursue your passion makes sense. Why? Because you will burn out and lose interest in other things. If you are not really interested in making websites or if you are not really interested in being a sales person, then odds are if you pursue those, you will give up or burn out after a period of time. Find what your life’s purpose is. This requires time and meditation, but is worth it. For me, I seek to help people. This website is a step towards doing that!

 

Continuous Growth

 

I mentioned before that stagnation will hinder your earning potential. This is very true. You must continue to improve each and every day. Find those who are successful and learn from them. Most of the time these people created an idea in their mind of what they wanted to do, and with intense focus and determination went after it. There was no quitting when they failed. There was no quitting when things were tough. They kept after it, day after day, and eventually achieved success. This is the great secret. Success in life (including more money), comes from your passionate ideas, which you then focus intensely on with a detailed action plan. If your standards are high, you will not give up, but continuously move forward.

 

I know with dedication, effort, and focus, that you can have something much more valuable than money. You can have the power to translate your thoughts into real tangible things. The money will come. But more importantly, the ability to create what you want in your life will come!

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Last year some time, my wife and I purchased a 2009 honda fit car. My wife can tell you when we bought it, she has a terrific memory. The car has been such a great surprise to me in terms of usage and mileage, that the economic savings are worth passing on to all of you who are reading this. My focus is on how I am getting great gas mileage out of the car.

 

The Car

 

The car is equipped with a setting to see the miles per gallon you are getting at any given moment, and also a tally of the current miles per gallon you are getting for the trip you are on. The trip tells you how many miles you have gone for the tank of gas you are on. You generally reset the trip to zero after filling up on gas each time. The area just above the steering wheel, where the speed you are driving at, has an indicator below it showing your trip mileage, your miles per gallon, and your oil life. I generally keep that on my miles per gallon. Currently, I am getting about 47.5 miles per gallon. The fit is known to have this setting be a few miles per gallon higher than what you are actually getting, but even 44.5 miles per gallon isn’t bad at all.

 

The Driving Style

 

Having the miles per gallon meter on all the time has helped me change my driving habits. But before that even I had begun to change my driving style. I make sure to avoid punching the accelerator as much as possible, and I don’t drive very much over the speed limit. I make sure to keep an eye out well ahead of me, so I know when I can just coast, rather than using the accelerator. This has been a boon to the breaks of the car as I do not break as often. But this article is about the economics of the car and your driving style.  When I am coasting down hill (not touching the accelrator), or even on a short decline, the miles per gallon hits 80 +.  80 miles per gallon?  That is huge!

 

Here are a few tips for people who want to get more out of their car:

 

* Do not accelerate hard if you can avoid it.
* Avoid punching the accelerator when you are in heavy traffic. You can get by with coasting most of the time.  In heavy traffic, don’t start, stop, start, stop.  This pattern of punching it, hitting the breaks, and causing whip lash just isn’t healthy.
* Stay around the speed limit. Plan ahead and don’t get in a rush.
* Avoid using air conditioning if at all possible.
* Clean your car, inside and out.
* Stay calm, relaxed, and enjoy your traveling. Give extra time for travel and never be in a rush.

 

These are helpful tips, and I’m sure you can think of many more. Our 2009 Honda Fit gives us the best gas mileage out of any car we’ve ever owned. As I drive each day, I see many people passing others and cruising fast down the highway and city streets. I can’t help but think that if people changed their driving habits and bought more fuel efficient cars, that this would go a long ways towards a better society. I can at least dream!

 

Conclusion

 

The main point of this article is to hopefully stir you to better driving habits and greater fuel efficiency for your car. This will save you money. For me, the 2009 Honda Fit is helping a great deal. We got it for about $17,000 I believe and our monthly payments are about $275. Not too bad. My last tank of gas I filled up having gone 402 miles, and the tank is 10.6 gallons, with the miles per gallon at 44.5. I could have probably driven another 25-30 miles at least on the tank. Proactive driving with as minimal braking and hard accelerating as possible accounts for some of this. I hope that you will take a step to better driving, and if you can afford it, a more economical car.

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