Your Portable Empire: How to Make Money Anywhere While Doing What You Love

Chapter 13. Burn Rate

When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose.

—Bob Dylan

If you're not spending more on your shoes now than you used to spend on cars, you're not living prosperity.

—Randy Gage

The difference between winning and losing is timing.

—Pat O'Bryan

I guess I was lucky, in a way.

When I first started building my Portable Empire, I was debt free. My trailer had been repossessed and nobody was going to give me a credit card. My truck was paid for.

My "burn rate," or the amount of money I needed to just break even, was almost zero.

So, when I started making money, I could feel it. If I made a dollar, I could spend that dollar on new acquisitions. I didn't have to go backward and service debt with it.

I've been in debt. It sucks. It sucks your income, and it sucks your energy and enthusiasm. It's just no fun.

I'm not qualified to act as a financial advisor, but since I'm here to help you build your Portable Empire, I'm going to just go ahead and advise.

If you're in debt, get out.

As your income starts to go up, you'll be tempted to increase your spending. Wait. You can have all the toys you want, but there's a step in between. Don't skip this step.

On the subject of "burn rate," it's a good idea to revisit Robert Kiyosaki's book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad (Time Warner Paperbacks, new ed., 2002).

The missing step he recommends is using your income to buy investments, and using the income from investments to buy toys.

The most important investments are in yourself and your business. Books, ...