Here’s a question: Why do you want more money?

Maybe you don’t want to luxuriate in a gold-plated bath filled with lilies imported from a meadow in the Swiss Alps. Maybe you just want to get out of debt. Maybe you just want to get a handle on your day-to-day expenses. And more power to you.

But many people want to move beyond that, into the rarefied air of the 35% tax bracket — and beyond.

So here’s my question: Why?

I ask this question with no judgment. I’m not Noam Chomsky. I’m not going to go on some anti-materialism diatribe here. When I was young and foolish, I thought anyone who pursued money was greedy and shallow. Now, I’m older (alas) and wiser (perhaps), and I don’t have as much of a problem with wealth.

Actually, if I’m honest here, I sure do wish I little more jingle in my jangle. I drive to work in a 2001 Volkswagen with an odometer that’s well north of 100K. I try to make dinner in a microwave oven that inexplicably shuts itself off after exactly 2:48. I watch TV on a ratty old couch that Mickey Rourke would probably avoid.

And I find myself thinking: “Man, it would be nice not to have to worry about this stuff.”

Maybe that’s about the extent of my wishes: As Dorothy Parker said, “I want only enough to keep body and soul apart.” But I also have an adorable two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, and I would love to be able to move into a house with a big yard for her to play in.

And to be able to buy her all of the Olivia books, without worrying if we’re going over our amazon allotment for the month.

And to be able to go to restaurants more often.

And to buy a bottle of wine without making sure it’s in this book.

And the occasional trip to, say, France.

And to sleep like Rainer Wolfcastle in The Simpsons: “On top of a pile of money with many beautiful ladies.” (To my wife Jeanne: Just kidding.)

But the point is, it becomes a slippery slope. You want just a little bit more, and soon it becomes like a drug. You want that next thing. Sure your cellphone is nice, but does it have augmented reality? No? Oh man, you have to have augmented reality!

The thing is, I know I’ve got it pretty good. As seen recently on Financial Samurai, we here in the U.S. enjoy a standard of living that most of the world wouldn’t dare dream of. My debt is pretty minimal, I’ve got a great job with amazing benefits, and so on. So I don’t mean to be a malcontent.

But I’ve been able to dip my foot into the waters of the wealthy. Years ago, my ex and I went on a bicycling trip with a high-end travel company through Tuscany. (We were only able to afford it because she was doing some travel writing, one of the sweetest gigs you can have.)

Our group rode some of the Tour de France’s route, and we saw some of the race. I even have a picture of Lance Armstrong raising a glass of champagne right at me. (Well, my ex has it now, but let’s not split hairs.)

And at one point, we stayed at the same Tuscan inn as Robin Williams, who’s apparently a huge cycling fan. And I have to say… living the way the uber-wealthy live was really, really nice. Imagine a football-field­–sized bed with the softest sheets imaginable. Elegant linen curtains. A view of the Alps. Delicious dinners with endlessly flowing hand-crafted Italian wine. And so on.

So we got to pretend that we were rich for a little while. And then, like Charlie in Flowers for Algernon, we were sent back to our middling lot in life. (And no, we never saw Robin Williams, either.)

So is it just me who wishes I had a little more? Or are you one of those people who is happy as a pig in mud with what you’ve got? And if so, what’s your secret? I’d love to know it.

Imagine in just ten years you could have one million dollars socked away in a high-yield savings account, spinning off enough interest to live comfortably for the rest of your life.  Short of hitting the lottery or receiving a lofty inheritance from a long-lost uncle, this might seem an impossible goal.  Well, it nearly is, given the short time frame.  However, if you are willing to make an incredible sacrifice, and catch a nice wave from a rebounding market, you just might enjoy becoming a millionaire in less than a decade.

$996 a Week for 10 Years

That is roughly the amount you would have to invest to save one million dollars in ten years, assuming an average 12% earnings rate.  Historically, 12% is a realistic figure, albeit optimistically on the high side.  Here is a look at how your $996 weekly contributions add up each year:

source:  DinkyTown.net

Carving Out $996 a Week

I nearly laughed out loud when I typed that heading.  I often read topics like “carving out $50 a month” or “shaving $20 off weekly expenses,” but rarely do we hear someone suggest “carving out $996 a week!”  That is nearly $4,000 a month!  If you are like me, that is more than I have to carve!  So how does the average person go about contributing nearly $1,000 a week to savings?  Using the principles discussed in books like I Will Teach You To Be Rich, you can discover ways to cut your expenses significantly while boosting your income.

Get a Side Hustle

A reader once wrote in that a friend told him “everyone needs a side hustle,” something to supplement their full time job.  It could be a small, home-based business opportunity that generates a few hundred dollars a month, an investment opportunity with a great passive income, such as peer-to-peer lending, or a substantial part-time career that you can cultivate in your off hours.

Either way, this “side hustle” could represent the majority of that $996 you have to come up with to hit millionaire status in ten years.  Obviously, some of the profits from this side gig will have to be reinvested to help it grow, but for the most part, your goal should be to try to save as much of those profits as possible.

Pay Off the Mortgage Early

If you have a $1,000 mortgage payment, paying it off early buys you one week’s worth of savings each month towards your millionaire dream.  Eliminating a $2,000 mortgage provides two weeks.  Pay off the mortgage early, and instead of sending a payment to the bank each month, send a deposit in that same amount.  This step alone will put you on the fast track to building significant wealth.

Two Income Households-Save One, Spend One

In households with two working spouses, make an effort to live on one income and invest the other.  Open a high-interest online savings account at one of the best online banks, and point one spouse’s direct deposit there.  All further investments, such as transfers to online brokerages can be automatically deducted from that account.

If one spouse brings home $4,000 a month you just found the source for your $996 a week contributions.  Living on one income may require downsizing homes and cars, and living way below your means, but the payoff is well worth it in the long run.  Invest some of this money in equities, either in single stocks or in broader mutual funds.  Sign up for a quality online brokerage account to put a little bit of those saving to work for you.

I don’t mean to trivialize the amount of sacrifice (and luck) required to make this plan work.  $996 is a significant amount of money, and at this phase in my life I could barely afford to contribute half that amount on a weekly basis.  But it is a goal–something to strive for.

It is also important to point out that there is nothing magical about the one million dollar mark.  You may find that you could live quite comfortably on the interest generated from $750,000, or even $600,000. Your “number” is a personal choice, but one million dollars provides most of us a stretch goal.

With NCAA College Basketball’s March Madness in full swing I thought a post about “Cinderellas” would be particularly appropriate. I’m not referring to Cinderella the step-daughter turned Disney princess, I am referring to a dark-horse team, usually from a small conference, that knocks off the top seeds to make a run at the Final Four. It’s happened a few times, and when it does the team is instantly branded a “Cinderella” after the inspiring climb from obscurity to instant fame.

There are no Cinderellas. Some teams take offense to being called a Cinderella, because they felt they had just as much shot at the title as the other guys. The label is frequently used to slight their accomplishments by insinuating “they got lucky.” Sometimes luck plays a part in it, but most Cinderellas pull off the upset because they out-worked, out-hustled, out-coached, and out-played their opponent. The pinnacle moment in their sports careers comes as a result of hours of preparation, workouts, shoot-arounds, two-a-days, and film study.

How does this apply to finances? Many of the wealthiest people in our country are also some of the most envied. Sure, we all would like to be Bill Gates for a day, but why do so many people speak ill of successful people like Gates? Is it jealousy? Or is it the realization that they don’t have the fortitude, the work ethic, the determination to be as successful as those in the wealthy class.

“I guess it is easy if you receive an inheritance.” Believe it or not, most millionaires are self-made, first-generation rich. They do not stand to inherit a large sum of money ala Paris Hilton. They did not strike it rich in the lottery, or win a giant lawsuit. They worked every single day for many, many years at their craft. They built multi-million dollar businesses from card tables in their living rooms and heads full of ideas. They led large corporations of hundreds of employees. They spent hundreds of hours writing, editing and marketing their book ideas to anyone who would listen. These millionaires did not become overnight successes.

How can you become a financial “Cinderella?”

• Get out of debt, for starters. Carrying around debt is like trying to climb Mt. Everest with a fifty pound anvil tied to your back.

• Turn off the television and read to learn something. Knowing the last five winners of Survivor won’t make you a success, but studying these five winners will: Warren Buffett, Donald Trump, Zig Ziglar, Dave Ramsey, and Dale Carnegie.

• Stop trying to impress people at red lights you will never meet again. The average new car payment in America is $475 a month. Sell that sporty new car, buy an old, reliable, used car with cash and drive it until the wheels fall off. Keep driving used cars the remainder of your life and deposit $475 into a mutual fund every single month. In thirty years you will have over $1 million dollars. Don’t believe me? See for yourself.

• Don’t mortgage away your future. Stay well under the 28/36 suggested debt-to-income and payments-to-income ratios (suggested by the lending industry, primarily). I personally wouldn’t tie up more than 20% of my take-home pay in housing. Doing so would mean less to save and invest, and that’s a trade off I’m not willing to make to score extra square footage.

• Practice frugality in all areas of your life. Buy clothes on sale; and only when you need them. Avoid paying for name brands when quality alternatives, or homemade solutions, exist. Be a frugal grocery shopper. Eat at home; it is healthier and less expensive. Invest in yourself; you will live longer and pay less for it in medical bills and insurance premiums.

Finally, after a couple decades of sacrifice, determination, and dedication you could become an overnight success, and be called a financial “Cinderella” yourself. Do not take offense, because you can proudly reflect on the effort you invested to reach your financial goals.

Watch the commercial that inspired this post: There Are No Cinderellas