How to Live a First-Class Life Without a Millionaire Budget

If you're waiting until you hit some magic number before you start enjoying life, you're probably going to wait forever. You'll work, save, stress out, and then look back wondering, what was it all for? I've helped millions of people stop waiting and start designing their rich lives using a concept I call money dials. In this video, I'll show you how to use that framework to create meaningful luxury right now, not 10 years from now, not when you're 75 years not after some arbitrary savings goal today. Whether it's flying business class, eating out guilt-free, or taking a month off of work, I want to show you how you can start today. Let's get into it. When you hear the word luxury, what do you picture? A lot of people think yachts and Lamborghinis and penthouses with those infinity pools. Okay, fine. If that's what you want and you can afford it, fantastic. I'll help you do it. But that's not what I think of when I luxury. Luxury can be as small as seeing two appetizers on the menu that both sound good and saying, I can get both of them. That's one of my first rich life goals to be able to order appetizers at all. And so here's the framework that I personally use. It's called money dials. You identify the thing that you love spending on. Then you turn that dial up. And how do you pay for turning that dial up on food or travel or whatever the thing is that you love? Well, you cut costs mercilessly on the things you don't care about. This is the opposite of what everybody else does. Most people nickel and dime themselves on everything. They cut back on lattes. They cancel Netflix. They get the cheaper bread at the grocery store. They walk around trying to save 5% on everything. That's not living a rich life. That's living small, scared, and restrictive. Let me give you some examples of how people have used my money dials framework to redefine luxury. One of my readers spends $21,000 a year going out. Zero guilt because that is what they love to do. Another family I know prioritizes travel. They build their entire year around their vacations. And another pays for private school for their kids. For them, education is the dial that matters. Now, I want you to notice the pattern. It's not always about having tons of money. It is about intentionality. So that's the theory, but I want to get really specific with real examples. I want to tell you how this played out in my own life. Part two, how I went from the subway to business class. First of all, let's get one thing straight. I still love the subway. I take it all the time when I'm in New York. I have people on social media who go, there's no way you take the subway with me. Oh, yes, there is. Take a look at this. Now, when I started out, when I was in my early 20s, I had to take the subway because that's what I could afford. But my dream always was, man, when it's August and it is sweltering down there, maybe, maybe, just maybe I can splurge for a cab or a lift. That was luxury to me. And eventually, when I made enough, I could do that. Later, I upgraded to a car service at the airport. At the airport, of course, I discovered lounges. Suddenly there's Wi-Fi and food and a quiet place to sit. For flights, I used to take coach. That's the only way I travel. That's the only way I could afford to do it. But I decided after a certain amount, I'm going to fly business class. In fact, I made a rule for myself. Any flight over four hours, business class, I'm not even thinking about it. More space, better food, I rest. Before I land, I value my time and energy. Now, these upgrades did not happen overnight. They were incremental. And the framework here was basic, upgraded, even more upgraded. And that's the system. You don't need to do it all at once. You pick one dial, turn it up 10%, see how it feels. The truth is some of the stuff that I spent money on, I actually don't care about, so I turned it back. But some of the stuff I loved, so I turned it way up. Now, I don't expect anyone to jump straight to business class. The real question is, what does this look like for you right now with your income? Before we talk about how you can do this for yourself, there's one thing that always gets in the way, wasting money on stuff you don't even use. How many times have you signed up for a free trial, forgot about it completely, and then realized you were paying $19.99 a month for six months for something you don't even care about? There's an easy way to fix that, and that's where our sponsor, Rocket Money, comes in. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Stop wasting money on things you don't use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to rocketmoney.com slash Ramit Sethi or clicking the link in the description below. Think about it. Every dollar you cut from some random subscription you don't even love is a dollar you can redirect to your money dial, the thing you actually want. And that brings us to the fun part, designing your rich life today. If your money dial is food, maybe that means trying one really nice restaurant this year. Not every weekend, just once in a year, and you savor it. You look at the menu, read the reviews, find the pictures of what you want to order. You're relishing in the experience. What if your money dial is convenience? Maybe you hire a cleaner once a month. Suddenly, your Saturdays are free to spend with your family. If health is your money dial, it might mean hiring a personal trainer for a few sessions or buying better quality groceries without feeling guilty. I want you to ask yourself, what is your luxury, even if it costs $25? It sounds simple, right? But if it is so simple, why do so many people struggle to actually spend money on the things they love? If we can redefine what luxury means by using the framework of money dials, then why do so many of us wait? Well, a lot of us think we need to deserve it. We have this puritanical streak that runs through us. The idea that that's for rich people. I am surely not rich, so I can't afford to hire a house cleaner. Or we tell ourselves, I can't afford it. Maybe, but how do you know? These are what I call invisible scripts. They are messages that we picked up from our parents and friends and society, and we internalize them without even realizing it. They often keep us stuck. On my podcast, I talk to people who often have lots of money and they still will not order the thing they want at a restaurant. Oh, that's crazy. That would be outrageous. They still will not travel any differently than they did when they were 21 years old. Oh, that's so expensive. That's ridiculous. But they are not accounting for the fact that they earn more and that they value certain things. The danger of these negative scripts is very simple. You delay joy forever. You play smaller than you have to. And the truth is, feeling rich is not just about your net worth. It is about your control and your design of your life. I've seen it again and again. A couple taking international vacations every year paid for entirely with points or parents sending their kid to private school because that's their money now and they plan for it. Or people spending guilt free on a restaurant that they really love once every 14 days. They don't have to be millionaires. They are intentional. You know, a lot of people are just winging it with money. They're guessing about investing. They're trying to save when they can. And then deep down, they just hope it'll all work out. But that's not the way we want to approach money. That is why I created my money coaching program. So you can stop guessing and finally take control of your money. In my money coaching program, you'll get monthly coaching from my team and me, step by step playbooks for earning more and paying off debt and investing, plus the accountability to really follow through. Imagine logging in and seeing the exact next move for your money. No more confusion, no more homework that you've assigned yourself to figure it out later. That's exactly what my money coaching program does for you. Go to iwt.com slash money coaching or click the link in the description below to join us today. So once you've identified your money dial and you have started to challenge these old scripts, you need a system to put it into practice. And that's where this next part comes in handy. Now, it's one thing to say you want to live a rich life. It's another thing to know what that looks like day to day. So let's get tactical. I want you to picture three tiers. Basic, upgraded, maxed. This framework takes this fuzzy idea. I want to feel rich. I want to live a rich life and turns it into something you can actually see and act on. Let's start with travel. Basic looks like taking the subway, having a friend drive you to the airport, economy seats, maybe splitting Airbnb with friends for a weekend. Perfectly fine. Upgraded might look like taking a lift to the airport, premium economy seats, maybe even a boutique hotel for the week. Maxed. This could be private service to the airport, business class seats, staying in a luxury resort for two weeks. Of course, you can max it out even further depending on your finances, including flying private. There's essentially no limit, but I want you to start thinking in terms of levels. What level do I care about? What level do I want? What level can I afford? Let's do another example. What if your money dial is food? What could that look like? Basic looks like cooking at home, maybe trying a new recipe every couple of weeks from that new cookbook you bought. Upgraded looks like trying a new restaurant every other week and maybe you order two appetizers or desserts just because. Maxed looks like a Michelin star meal every few months or maybe even hiring a private chef for special occasions. Do you notice the pattern? You don't have to live in the maxed level for everything. In fact, you probably shouldn't. The real magic comes when you live in the first tier for a lot of things and then you selectively move into a higher tier for one or two money dials. This is sprinkling in luxury and when you sprinkle it in the areas that you really value, you create a rich life today and a richer life tomorrow. By the way, you've probably noticed this is the only personal finance channel where I actually show you how to spend more money on the things you love. I don't make you feel guilty for wanting to use your money. If you want more strategies like this, hit subscribe. I'm going to show you how to live an amazing life without waiting until you're some multi-multi-millionaire because let's be honest, your parents are not going to teach you this. Most of the personal finance people you follow are not going to teach you this, but I want you to know how to use your money to live a rich life. Click subscribe. Now, designing these tiers is one thing, but to actually live them, you got to make a plan in your life. Otherwise, it's just ideas. Part six, stop winging it, start designing it. Let's zoom out for a second. Think about two people. One goes through life just winging it. They're scrolling Instagram. They're booking last minute trips. They're buying a bunch of stuff at Target and then wondering, where did all my money go? They are constantly reacting to whatever the world throws at them and whatever is put in front of them. Oh, I think I'll buy that because it popped up on my feed. Now, imagine someone else. Every really matters to me this year. What's my theme? Is my theme travel or slow mornings or health or time with family? Once that is clear, they put it on their calendar. They put aside money for it. They design their life around those priorities. That's intentional luxury. That's what my wife and I do every December. We plan our upcoming year. What's our theme? Where do we want to travel? What kind of experiences do we want to have? Who do we want to bring with us? We don't leave it to chance. We design it. Here's how you can do this too. You can get the numbers right on your fingers first of all. Step one, pick one or two money dials you want to turn up this year. Step two, block the time on your calendar right now to plan for it. Don't say, I'll take a trip someday. Give it five minutes of thinking. Probably we're going to do it in June because that's when we have time off. Probably it's going to be the last week of June, et cetera, et cetera. Then step three, set aside the money. Estimate how much it will cost. Include things like hotel travel, whatever, or if it's a restaurant, look up the prices. Automate a small transfer each month into your rich life fund. Even 50 bucks a month adds up. That's how your best ideas become real experiences instead of someday wishes. This is intentional luxury. It's proactive, not reactive. The bigger mindset shift is to stop waiting for this to someday happen. You will never trip and fall accidentally into a rich life. A rich life is constructed. It is beautifully, meticulously designed. It is never an accident. A rich life is also not about hoarding money. It's about using it to create memories and experiences and joy today. Yes, still while saving and investing, but while being intentional right now. Here's your assignment. Comment below with your money dial. What is one small luxury that you could upgrade this year? I want you to give yourself permission. Stop feeling guilty. It's okay to spend more on the things you love as long as you are hitting your other numbers and cutting ruthlessly on the things you don't care about. If you are fired up about creating your rich life today, the next step is knowing where you actually stand. That's why I want you to watch this video next. It's going to give you the benchmarks to see where you're at today and what you need to do to level up.