Sooner or later almost everyone have to deal with some sort of problems related to money.

While “money don’t buy happiness”, they certainly can give some security when is time to pay the bills or, more important, to get some food.

If you used to be wealthy and for some reason your lifestyle had to shift drastically in the opposite direction you are probably facing a huge deal of changes in your habits.

Descending the stairs of success is not that amusing as ascending them. There are quite many painful moments to swallow.

Most friends who used to hang out with you will slowly be more busy until you have no more contact with them. However, this is the time where you can see who sticks around and enjoy to have a nice conversation with you about stuff that you normally do together. It’s like an automatic quality friends filtering system.

Simplicity will take over and you have just to adapt and understand it.

There is a saying that goes: “understand death to understand life” and even if it sound scary at first, you should try to open up to a new level of understanding of the meaning.

Try this translation for instance: “understand poverty to better achieve and enjoy richness”.

Instead of whining about your situation and be scared of getting worse you may want to try to embrace your situation as it is and enjoy this very moment as it comes. Once you understand the whole book, the beginning and the end, you’ll know what parts you enjoy the most and how to get back on the other side.

There are few things you can do in order to get ready to be back to the lifestyle you want.

1) Avoid Debts

Don’t borrow money! Especially if you have no clue on how to give it back. Avoid any money related problem, and if you already have it try to fix it as your first priority. Remember, debts create more debts. Most importantly, do NOT borrow money from your friends. Don’t confuse “borrowing” with “investing”. If you ever get money from someone you should use them wisely to generate more income instead of just wasting them.

2) Save money

Even if it’s difficult, try to save 5% to 10% of every penny that comes in your pocket. Save it, forget it and NEVER spend it. It will feel good to know that you have a nice amount in your savings and it will help you to get to your desired high level faster. Your money is like a treasure to be saved and never wasted. Love your cash and see it like a collectible item. Think about it all the time. Would you use your precious collection of notes to buy something that you may not really need? You don’t have to be greedy but you should fix the concept of the right value and learn to do your math.

3) Eat what you need, not what you want

Gichin Funakoshi taught us to use modesty when we eat. Eating more than what we need is just a waste. Spending money to buy “ready to eat” food is a habit that comes from the society we are living.

If you used to go to the supermarket or restaurant to get your food, there is a great chance that you’ve always paid a lot to eat something you don’t know. But there is a better way than just trusting the cans. Find a fresh market.

Get fresh fruit, vegetables and meat. Leave the junk food to the TV advertisers and start to see with your own eyes.

Eggs, fruits, nuts, chicken, textured soy, mixed salads are all cheap food and provide a great nutrition level.

4) Learn

Learn everything you can to make anything on your own. Understand how things work and apply them to your own life.

Study about nutrition and how to improve your meals with basic needs. Learn new stuff that you’ve always wanted to do but you were too busy or too lazy to actually do it. You may find your way to discover something great that was always in your dreams but you forgot about.

We live in the second millennium and information can be found for free everywhere; Internet, magazines, books, free courses, you name it.

5) Train

You don’t need money to train. Just a t-shirt, shorts, shoes and a towel. That’s it!

Get a habit of moving your body regularly. If you are wealthy you can afford to be lazy potato couch because you can pay a private hospital to take care of you. But remember, your body is ALL you have. It’s the vehicle that your soul is driving and you must take good care of it.

If you can’t afford medical expenses you should be healthy like a running rabbit. Have you noticed that many famous athletes come originally from poor countries? Because they enjoy what they do. Because they have a goal, Because they don’t want to be poor anymore. And they did it!

You don’t need a gym to get fit. Calisthenics is a great form of free body training to make you look awesome and to be healthy. All you need is yourself and perhaps some friends to add more fun on your new habits. Making your body feel better will make your brain think better.

6) Enjoy yourself

When you really reach the bottom you can’t go lower. There is a point where you understand that life is not about winning but about enjoying the moment. Doesn’t matter how bad the situation may look, you can’t get lower than this, right?

Don’t judge your situation because it would be like judging yourself. If you judge yourself you are not taking care of yourself. Up value your self-esteem.

Use what you’ve learned to create something new every day. Think more straight about your target and goals.

7) Receive

Be aware of what is going on around you, your connections, your communications, and like a radar you will notice that something is attracting you in their direction. It may be a voice, a vibration, an energy, or what ever you want to call it that is getting stronger and stronger every day. Forget the achievement of money for a moment. Get into the feeling of achievement of yourself in the way you want to be if you had everything you want. Get the feeling, not the picture.

Bruce Lee once said: “Here I am as a human been. How can I express myself totally and completely?”.

So, improve yourself as the person you want to be.

If you used to think that the money make your lifestyle , you should start to think that the lifestyle may make your money.

Photo credits:

Milan Vegetable Market By Karen (originally posted to Flickr as Weekly shopping) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons