Tip of the Week #204: Stop Acting Rich

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A few weeks ago, I read the book Stop Acting Rich: And Start Living Like a Real Millionaire.  

You may remember the author.  Thomas J. Stanley also wrote The Millionaire Next Door and The Millionaire Mind.

I had read his earlier books years ago.  This month, when Stop Acting Rich showed up in Scribd, I decided to read it, too. 

Turns out, you can learn the same lesson from any of the three books.  In many ways, all three say the same thing. 

Millionaires don’t really act like millionaires.  

They don’t flaunt it.  

As the back cover of the book states, “Life satisfaction comes not from cruising down the highway in a chunk of your net worth, but from having the financial resources to choose to spend time with family and friends, to volunteer, to pursue interests.  

I live in a “rich” town.  I still don’t get it.  We don’t have a beach.  We don’t have mountains.  We don’t have a ski resort.  But, we do have humidity and mosquitoes.   Nonetheless, Franklin Tennessee is a “rich” town. 

Maybe.  There are lots of Teslas, Porsches, and Range Rovers driving around.  But, according to Thomas Stanley in Stop Acting Rich, these are not the cars the wealthy drive.  Ironically, the wealthy prefer the long-lasting (and much less flashy) Toyotas.  

In other words, don’t believe what you see.  Many people are displaying “badges” of wealth to impress their friends and neighbors.  And, yet they aren’t wealthy. 

Meanwhile, the millionaires are frugal.  No surprise there.  How do we all think they became millionaires in the first place?  

My takeaway from Stop Acting Rich?  Well… Stop acting rich.  No one really cares if you are wearing a Rolex watch, or driving a high-performance (and expensive) German car.  

Stop trying to impress others.  

Spend your money to better yourself.  Invest for your future.  Buy fulfilling experiences.  Spend your money to free up time to spend with family and friends.  

 

Summer school

Classes will resume in a few weeks on Tuesday, August 10.  We will pick up where we left off.  

Except for French.  In French, we are starting over.  

During the month of August, we will meet on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings.  

After Labor Day (Monday, September 6) classes will meet every weekday morning, Monday through Friday.  

Here is what I will be teaching:

Latin 3: Third Year Latin by Robert Henle  • 6:30-6:55 am CST

We have six chapters left in this book.  We will resume in chapter 16.  Skip this class if you can.  Instead, read Lingua Latina by Hans Ørberg.  But, if you have to read the Henle book, I will do my best to help.  

Spanish • 7:00-7:25 am CST  

We stopped at the end of Chapter 17 of the book All Spanish Method by Guillermo Aviles. In August, we will pick it back up in chapter 18.  I am still learning Spanish.  So, I am “teaching” this class.  Really, I am learning in front of my students.   If you want to learn from someone fluent, I recommend my friend David Durham.  His site is here: https://daviddurham.org/language.

French • 7:30-7:55 am CST  

Last year, I took students through the first 20 chapters, or so of Le Francais par la Methode Nature.  This August, we will start the book again.  What I said about Spanish also applies here.  I am still learning French.  So, I am “teaching” this class.  Really, I am learning in front of my students.   If you want to learn from someone fluent, I recommend my friend David Durham.  His site is here: https://daviddurham.org/language.

Latin 2: Lingua Latina, Exercitia Latina  • 8:00-8:25 am CST  

We stopped at the end of Chapter 19.  In August, we will pick it back up in chapter 20.

 


What do I recommend?

“To learn Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, Italian, or German, which books do I order?”  This is the most common question I receive.  

To find my answers, just go to my site, www.dwanethomas.com.  

Find the resources tab, and find the language you are looking for in the dropdown menu.  

For example, if you are looking for the books I recommend for learning Latin, click on the Latin tab: https://dwanethomas.com/resources-latin/

Same for Greek.  Same for Spanish.  And, so on.  

Down at the bottom, below languages, you will see three more tabs, Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise.  

These are the three categories I have used for years to organize my goals.  They are based on Benjamin Franklin’s maxim: “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”

In these tabs, I include books and links that help me achieve these goals.  You may find them useful as well.

I’ll make it easy for you.  Here they all are:


And now… the same thing I say every week.

Subscribers sometimes use my weekly emails as reminders to unsubscribe from my site.

Just keep in mind… I offer something no one else in academia (as far as I know) offers.  Stick with me for 3 uninterrupted years and you will have a lifetime subscription.

I now know this is a dumb business decision on my part, but I have heard from many of you that it is a huge help, so, for now, the offer stands.

Of course, if you are just starting out in Latin, you may be happier with Visual Latin.

Visual Latin is a full-blown Latin course.  It is rigorous, just not as rigorous as the classes on my site.  The classes on my site are more “next level” classes, really.

By the way, if you are into etymology (the history of words), and if you would like to see me make a fool of myself, you might enjoy Word Up.

Five years ago, or so, we launched this series just to see if it would work.  It did.  And, after years of listening to many of you beg for more, I finally gave in and agreed to make a fool of myself once again.  So now, Volumes 2 and 3 of Word Up are available.

And… if you aren’t a member of my site and would like to join, click here: https://dwanethomas.com/join/.

I hope you had a very happy Saturday!
Dwane

P.S.
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