When it comes to money advice, I take a lot of pieces from a lot of different people.

With Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman, there are pieces of valid advice.  I generally don’t like their investment advice.  They are usually anti-gold.  They do not have a good understanding of the fiat monetary system that we deal with in today’s world.

I agree with Ramsey and Orman on buying term life insurance, as opposed to whole life insurance.  I tend to agree with them on issues of debt, particularly credit card debt.  So while I don’t agree with some of their investment advice, I still find you can learn something from listening to them, as long as you know what not to learn also.

I believe people should attempt to live below their means.  This means spending less than they make.  There are exceptions to this rule.  I have less sympathy for someone earning a high income.  Someone who is single and on their own making $40,000 per year or less is probably struggling quite a bit to get by.  I can understand that it is hard to live below their means, even though some people are able to do it.

There are families making $200,000 per year that spend almost everything they make.  This is a big mistake.  Unless they are living in a really high cost of living area such as New York City, there is no reason they can not cut back comfortably.  They are probably wasting money at this level.  I know taxes will take up a big chunk, but there is no reason a family in this situation can’t start saving at least $10,000 per year while still living quite comfortably.  It should really be more at this level.

Sometimes people just simply need to make more money though.  Someone earning $40,000 per year is just never going to get rich, barring some stroke of luck with a very low probability.  Most people aren’t going to win the lottery no matter how much they dream about it.

Even at $80,000 per year, you are probably never going to be rich.  If you are frugal and make good decisions, you will live comfortably.  You may even get to retire one day in some comfort.

Still, I think a lot of people just simply need to make more money.  This means adding value to other people’s lives.  People like Suze Orman and Dave Ramsey are good on the spending side of things.  If you want to get extreme, you can look at Mr. Money Mustache or the Penny Hoarder.

But you can’t neglect making more money.  Sometimes this just means investing more time in yourself, even if you don’t initially see a monetary payoff.

I look for inspiration from different people such as James Altucher, Robert Kiyosaki, Peter Voogd, Tim Ferriss, T. Harv Eker, and various other people.  I don’t need to agree with someone on everything to get inspiration from them.

Sometimes you need to explore other options on making money.  This may mean a side business or a different career.

It doesn’t mean you take out a loan and start a business.  It means you explore your options.  You invest minimal money.  Instead, you invest your time.  You can always invest in yourself by learning more.  You can always learn new marketing skills, computer skills, or people skills.

So while spending less than you earn is important, it is even more important to increase the amount you earn.  If you make a lot of money, it is easy to spend less than you earn if you have any decent amount of discipline.

While U.S. government regulations are in some ways more burdensome now than ever before, there are also more ways to make money now than ever before.  Don’t ignore the opportunities that are out there.  Even in a bad economy, there are people out there with money to spend.  You just have to figure out what they want.