In the next few minutes I’m going to show you the answer to your money problems and how to fix it.
But First A Quick Story (I promise it’s worth it) :
There once was a small child who lived in a village. Every morning the child would go to the well to help the family get water. The child would work the pump for hours until the water came out of the well.
This made the child very tired. Once the water finally came out, the child would fill their tiny bucket and walk it back back home.
But the bucket was old and had many holes in it. By the time the child got back to their house, most of the water had fallen out along the way.
The child would show the water to their family. They would use it immediately. Then, if there was any water left, the child placed the extra water in the reservoir.
Then the child would return back to the well to start the whole process over again.
The child did this from sunrise to sunset, priming the pump, filling the bucket, losing half or more of their efforts on their way home, and placing what wasn’t used into the reservoir to use when it was needed.
But there was never any water left over.
The Answer is Pretty Obvious
When you hear this story you’re likely thinking: “JUST FIX THE HOLES IN THE BUCKET!” Doing that would cut the effort in half.
But the child is too busy getting more water, that they don’t think to fix the bucket.
All the child is thinking, ‘we need more water, so I’ll get more water‘.
The answer is so simple.
It’s often simple when we are fixing someone else’s problems.
Let’s Try That Story Again, With a Few Small Changes
There once was a small child an adult who lived in a village city. Every morning the adult would go to work to help the family get water money. The adult would work for hours until they water came out of the well had enough money from work.
This made the small child adult very tired. Once the water money finally arrived, the adult would fill their tiny bucket wallet and go back home.
The bucket wallet was old and had many holes in it. By the time the adult got back to their house, most of the water money had fallen out been spent along the way.
The adult would show the money to their family. They would use it immediately. Then, if there was any money left, the adult placed the water in the reservoir money in their savings account, only to return back to the well work to start the whole process over again.
The adult did this from sunrise to sunset, priming the well for water working for money, filling his bucket wallet, losing much of his efforts, and placing what wasn’t used up into the reservoir their savings to use when it was needed.
But there was never and money left over.
Is The Answer Still Pretty Obvious?
Are you thinking: “JUST FIX THE HOLES IN THE BUCKET WALLET (a.k.a. SPENDING)”?
Doing that would cut the adults effort in half.
But the adult is too busy getting more money, they don’t think to fix the bucket their spending. They are so focused on getting more money that they never take step back to see the real money problem and how to fix it.
Here’s the Problem We All Have With Money:
Most of us are so focused on getting more water money that we don’t think about how we are losing it along the way.
More money doesn’t fix your problems until you fix the causes for money going out the door. a.k.a. your spending.
Don’t believe me?
Think of lottery winners. According to USA Today supposedly 70% of lottery winners find themselves broke after winning more money than they could ever dream.
Still don’t believe me?
What about all the professorial athletes that make millions while playing only to end up bankrupt years after their careers end?
The reason for this? They don’t have the skills to handle the money they were making before winning the lottery, or signing the big contract.
More money only magnified that problem.
There is an order to getting good with money, follow it and life gets easier.
Ignore it and you will be walking back and forth to the well the rest of your life.
Back to our story… And The Answer To Your Money Problem
The right way for the child to improve their situation is to:
1. Fix the holes in the bucket
2. Start looking for ways to handle more water, like a bigger bucket
3. Put some water into the reservoir first and then
4. Use the water that is left over.
The right way for the adult to solve their money problems is to:
1. Fix where they are leaking money (a.k.a. over-spending) (We have action steps for you here)
2. Look for ways to make more money (better work, side hustles)
3. Save the extra money they make first so they don’t have to work forever (retirement accounts)
4. Spend what is left over
It’s All About Putting Things In The Right Order
You MUST get the order right. Then, and only then, will you start to see your money grow. You’ll find that as you start to earn more and more money you will wonder where it’s been all those lean years. It was there all along, slipping through the holes.
Get the order wrong and you will constantly wonder why more money isn’t solving your problems.
Looking for More Stories? Check out our Greatest Hits:
Get Our Best Tips On Saving Money
Sent To You Once A Week.
So You Can Take Action!
Get our weekly email with our best ideas for saving money.
And if you are as old as me and actually have pumped a lot of water you also have to pour some water into the pump to seal it, called priming the pump, before it will get suction down to the bottom of the well. But that wouldn’t help the analogy any! Great post and sadly a very accurate model of why the lottery is even more dangerous to the people that win that it is to those that lose.
Thanks! I’m sure we could figure a way to work it into the story 🙂