If you were living on a certain amount of income and you either get a promotion or find yourself fulfilling a niche where your income rises either marginally or substantially chances are fairly high that a change in consumer spending patterns will follow.

Examples of such consumer items are furniture for your house, a new car, a more upmarket holiday than usual. All of them amount to the same thing - a reduction of your extra income as if it hadn't been received in the first place.

Consumer items suffer from the "I Want It Now" or " I Must Have It Immediately" illnesses that, apparently, are only cured when you spend your money on items or assets that will give short or maybe even long term happiness but will definitely not increase in value. In other words - A Depreciable Asset".

If you spend all of your excess $$$, ¥¥¥, £££ or Deutsche Marks on consumer items then after you've finished with the item you have an asset of substantially reduced value. It may even have no residual value at all! You have very little to show for your extra work if you spend most of your surplus income on such items. Sure, consumer items give us joy and happiness as we use them but do not put the cart before the horse. You must firstly build your wealth by spending it wisely. In fact we'll change the wording from "spending" to "investing".

Although both words ultimately mean that your cash is no longer at your disposal there is a huge difference in that one portrays the image that the money is gone (spent) while the other gives off the image that your money is actually working (investment) at producing some offspring to expand your money family.

Okay - so we now have an idea what consumer spending entails what's the alternative? On the investment side of parting with our cash is capital spending. It's called so as you are increasing your net worth i.e. capital. This involves putting your excess funds into assets that will appreciate in value thus giving you more in return than you initially invested.

Examples of capital investment are units, land, residential housing and all other forms of Real Estate. Other examples include shares, funds, collector items, your own business and many others.

Many articles, books and manuals cover how to make money and market your product(s) to the world. This, naturally is very important. Equally as important is your style of spending and investing. After all it makes little sense to work so hard for your income and then fritter it away on financial mismanagement

You must learn to think with a wealthy mind and discipline yourself accordingly. It is only prudent to put a great amount of your liquid resources into areas that will grow. Your financial tree won't grow unless you plant it, water it and look after it carefully. If you try to cash your seeds in before they have bloomed or blossomed then you'll only get pennies and whittle what little there is away in no time at all.

To some diverting their resources is an opportunity to commence their own business. To others a more secure asset management fund may be the order of the day. Others may opt for property investments. It's way beyond the scope of this article to go into various investment options. You will need to do your own homework and do it thoroughly. Leave no stone unturned, answer all of your questions and enact only when you are 110% sure that this is the way you'd like to go. Over time you will more than likely diversify your assets giving credence to most recognized forms of investment.

You have $100, Marks, Francs or Pounds in your pocket. Is the first thing on your mind to go and spend it on an extra pair of shoes, a night on the town or a fictional trilogy. If so then it will prove very difficult to get your tree into full bloom with healthy branches, leaves, buds and blossoms. Instead you need to put yourself under the hammer and train yourself into putting at least 10% of your take home earnings into savings so you can then invest it into building your nest egg.

Too many of us retire with nothing. It is this consumer "must have now" mentality that is possessing and owning our lives. If you can do without it then do so until you have put yourself into a position where you have a tight grasp on your financial situation and are in a position where you can add the cart to the horse and enjoy the ride.

A quick test is to look at your current liquid assets by examining your bank account and your weekly cash flow statement. If your outgoings take up virtually all of your income and you're not really sure where it's all got to then it's probably safe to say that your consumer spending habits are keeping you broke.

I know people on $100,000US/Year who have barely a penny to their name! Sad but true. I also had the privilege of meeting a very special lady a number of years ago in London in her mid 40's who was earning an average salary. In fact she had only just reached an income of £25,000 ($40,000US) and her net worth was £1.2million ($1.8m US). So it goes to show that a sound financial plan is paramount in giving you financial freedom.

She chose property dealings in central and southern London over a 20 year period to build herself up this level. She's build up a very healthy nest egg which allows her to indulge a little on consumer spending. After all she's earned it.

Get your financial plan into high gear today and you will reap the benefits tomorrow.