The Practical Playbook: How to Actually Get Rich in Money

You’ve done the inner work on your money mindset. Now let’s talk about what to actually do with it.

If you’re new here, welcome to The BOLD Life. Each week I write about building wealth in money and in life, because the goal was never just a bigger number in an account. It’s a life that actually feels rich. If someone sent this your way, I’d love for you to subscribe.

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What would being financially rich actually change in your life? For me, it doesn’t start with a bank account balance. It starts with what money allows me to do.

Money lets me surprise my wife with a pair of fancy purple cowboy boots just because. It lets me create memories with my boys that they’ll carry for the rest of their lives. It lets me take friends on trips that deepen the relationship instead of just filling a calendar. It lets me buy healthy food to fuel my days. It lets me build businesses and hold a portfolio of investments. And it lets me give, generously and often, to the people and causes I care about.

You would think my son won the lottery with this new mower. He really just won the responsibility of mowing the grass.

Every spoke of life gets stronger when money becomes fuel instead of the destination. That’s the whole idea. Money is not good or bad in itself. It’s fuel, and fuel only matters for where it takes you.

Are there people with more money than me? Yes, of course. Do I care? No. There will always be someone with more than you have. There is only one richest person in the world. Does that make him the happiest person in the world? I don’t think so. I’d dare to say I live a richer life than he does. Sorry, Elon.

We’ve done the groundwork already. A few weeks back we talked about knowing your target, then we identified the money mindset that’s been running quietly in the background of your decisions, and worked through what it actually takes to change your money mindset. If you’re just joining us, it’s worth going back to read those first. Today, we get practical.

The Get Rich Formula

If you remember nothing else from today, remember these three lines.

Make more. Spend less. Invest the rest.

Make more. Grow your income, whether that’s through your career, a side business, or building skills that make you more valuable. This is the lever most people ignore because it feels harder than cutting a subscription. It isn’t. It’s usually the fastest way to change your trajectory.

Spend less. Not deprivation. Intentionality. The gap between what you earn and what you spend is your freedom margin, and it’s worth protecting fiercely.

Invest the rest. This is where the real wealth gets built. Every dollar that gets invested instead of spent starts working for you instead of the other way around. Consistent, boring, unglamorous investing over time, not a hot tip or a lucky break, is what lets time and compounding do the heavy lifting.

Three levers. Pull all three, and the compounding does the rest. Simple to say. It takes a lifetime to master. But mastery isn’t the bar. Progress is. And once your money starts to grow, make your money matter. When you spend on the things you value most, it creates an internal drive to make even more of it.

Revisiting the Money Moves

I previously wrote about the 16 specific strategies that made the biggest difference in my own financial life. Sixteen is a lot to hold onto at once, so let’s zoom out. Almost all of them fall into three buckets, and they map directly onto spend less and invest the rest above.

Build a reserve for the unexpected. Before you invest a single dollar, you need a cushion. Life doesn’t ask permission before it throws a nail in a tire, an unexpected medical bill, or a broken HVAC unit in your direction. A reserve isn’t about fear. It’s what lets a thousand-dollar surprise stay a thousand-dollar surprise instead of becoming a crisis.

Be strategic with debt. Not all debt is the enemy. Debt used to buy an appreciating asset, like a home or a business, can build wealth. Debt used to fund a lifestyle you can’t afford is what keeps people stuck. Avoid consumer debt as a rule, and if you’re carrying any high-interest debt right now, pay that down before you do almost anything else. There’s no investment out there that reliably beats the return of eliminating a 22 percent credit card rate.

Start investing. Once your reserve is in place and your high-interest debt is handled, this is where the game shifts from defense to offense. Consistent, boring, unglamorous investing over time is how real wealth gets built, letting compounding work its magic.

None of this happens overnight, and it isn’t supposed to be. You build the reserve, then you clean up the debt, then you invest, and you keep doing all three at once as your life evolves. That’s how you get rich financially. Not through a single decision, but through the accumulation of many smart ones, made consistently, over a long period of time.

One Smart Decision at a Time

This week, don’t try to fix everything. Just pick one of the three buckets and take a look at where you stand.

If you don’t have a reserve, open a separate interest-bearing savings account; every dollar counts, and set up a small automatic transfer into it. If you’re carrying high interest debt, write down the amount and the actual rate on each one, then make a plan to attack it first. If you’ve handled both of those, look at whether your investing is actually consistent or just occasional. The best way to make it consistent is to automate it.

Habits are amazing. I’ve brushed my teeth twice a day for more than 40 years. But the money going into my retirement account happens without me thinking about it at all, which is even better than a habit that requires action. Don’t worry, Elon is working on a robot that will automate that tooth brushing for us too.

Pick one bucket. That’s how the long game is won. One smart decision at a time.

Your Turn

Which one needs your attention most right now: your reserve, your debt, or your investing?

Minor in money. Major in life.

If this was useful, consider sharing it with someone who could use the reminder that financial wealth is built over time, not all at once.

Don’t drift. Live boldly.

The BOLD Life is for people who want to build wealth without losing themselves in the process, people who want their success to strengthen their health, relationships, purpose, and freedom rather than compete with them. If that’s the life you’re building, you’re in the right place. New here? Start with The Blueprint of a BOLD Life, then read whatever draws your attention. Every post stands on its own.