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Hello Everyone,

Welcome to another book review on my blog. Lately, I have been revisiting some lessons I learned in the past from books I have read and relating these lessons to the present world. Today's lesson is coming from the pages of Thomas Stanley's book, The Millionaire Next Door. 

I read this book way back in my final days in university, after a conversational argument with a friend about the showcasing of wealth. It is amazing that I still remember what the argument was all about. My friend had the opinion that silent wealth, stacking up for financial freedom, should be a private endeavor and not something flamboyant where you show it off to the world.    

On the other hand, I thought the purpose of having so much wealth is so you get to use it however you want. Spend to your taste, if that is showing off, who cares? You have it, so why don't you spend it? The whole compass of the conversation was based on frugality against intentionality. He believes being frugal speaks more about wealth, and I believe being intentional about what you spend on is the true wealth. 

That is what brought about the book The Millionaire Next Door. He recommended the book to me, and the lessons that stuck with me the most are:

- Living Below Your Means
- The Millionaire Next Door vs. The Big Spender
- Wealth is what you do not see. 

Although there are many more lessons, these are the ones that stuck with me. 

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# Living Below Your Means

The first lesson I learned from the book is the ability to live below your means. It is not all about making a lot of money, but how much of that money you spend. Like the example from the book, a worker who makes $200,000 a year but spends $220,000 in that same year is not doing well, compared to a worker who makes 80,000 and saves 20,000. It reminds me of the knowledge from the book: *The Richest Man in Babylon:* *a portion of what you make is yours to keep*. 

It is not all about making the big cheques, but how much from the big cheque you have stacked away for the future. 

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# The Millionaire Next Door vs The Big Spender

Under this lesson, the author buttresses his point about how millionaires tend to be frugal with their spending, having a track of their expenses and income. Hence, the use of a budget and not just that, but being disciplined with the budget.  You could have a budget, but what use is it if you do not take action with it? 

In today's world, it is so easy to get lost when there is much out there crying for our attention and, above all, our hard-earned cash. It is hard to tell you that I do not encounter at least five to ten things calling me and asking for money, especially when I try to stay on a budget. Is it the newly opened restaurant not too far from my house that entices me with its nice aroma from its sumptuous meal? Although I might not burn a hole in my bank account if I purchase their meal but buying it on days when I do not plan for it cuts beyond the discipline I am trying to adopt.  

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# Wealth is what you do not see.
Last but not least, wealth is what you do not see. This is one lesson I have come to learn with my country. With the establishment of the poverty image driven by the media coverage on Africa, it can be daunting at times to believe there are actual millionaires residing in Africa. It is amazing to know that the real money holders and wealth builders are not out flaunting it; rather, you get to know about it on a one-on-one encounter with them. When you have conversations, you get to see how financially free they are.

Also, with the use of the internet and a good search about certain companies, you will get to see that a couple of businesses are intertwined with one another through friendship or family bonds. A perfect example is that the founder of Providus Bank is married to the founder of Northwest Oil and Gas. Now that is some wealth connection there, but you do not see much about them flaunting wealth. 

If there is something I would like you to take as your parting words from this post is these words from Morgan Housel 
*Riches talk, but wealth whispers.* 

Check out The Millionaire Next Door from Thomas Stanley.

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<sub> I am @samostically. I love to talk and write about chess because I benefited a lot from playing chess, and I love writing about chess. </sub> 

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