I enjoyed this post by Derek Sivers on being rich.

A friend wants to know how he got rich.

So Sivers explains:

I had a day job in midtown Manhattan paying $20K per year — about minimum wage. On weekends I would earn $150 per day performing circus shows for kids, though I’d spend about $50 in bus fare to get to the gigs. I was sharing a three-bedroom apartment with two other roommates in Queens, so our rent was $333 per month each. I made peanut butter sandwiches for three meals a day, and at night maybe some eggs. I never ate out, and never took a taxi. My cost of living was about $1000/month, and I was earning $1800/month. I did this for two years, and saved up $12,000. I was 22 years old.

Once I had $12,000 I could quit my job and become a full-time musician. I knew I could get a few gigs per month to pay my cost of living. So I was free. I quit my job a month later, and never had a job again.

Of course, everyone wants to know how Sivers sold CD Baby for $22 million, but that misses the point.

The point is that he was free.

Making $40,000 per year, or making $500,000 per year would not have changed his lifestyle.

It shouldn’t change yours either.

Get it?

Simple advice on getting rich is here from Donald Miller.

For an extensive discussion, listen to Naval talk about wealth.