🧭 Step 3aa: Are You Making It?

📊 Course Overview: Step 3aa — Are You Making It?

A Core Wealth Reality Check within Life’s Wealth Quest

🎯 Purpose of This Course

“Are You Making It?” is the critical checkpoint in your wealth-building journey. Before you can scale, invest, or dream bigger, you must face a single, powerful truth: Are you actually moving forward or slowly falling behind?

This step provides a clear, structured method to measure whether your income truly supports your lifestyle, savings, and future wealth goals. It replaces vague feelings with hard numbers and builds a practical action plan to turn survival into momentum.

🧭 What You’ll Learn

How to calculate your true wealth margin — the difference between what you make and what you actually spend.
How to identify whether you’re sinking, surviving, building, or thriving.
How to calculate your Survival Number, Lifestyle Number, and Freedom Number.
How to use multiple bank accounts to track progress automatically.
How to spot early warning signs of financial trouble.
How to avoid lifestyle inflation and keep your wealth gap wide.
How to create a 90-day turnaround plan if your numbers aren’t where they need to be.

🏦 Core Topics Covered

Understanding your real cost of living
Income vs. expense gap analysis
Wealth margin and freedom number calculation
Sinking / surviving / thriving framework
Lifestyle inflation traps
Multiple bank account structure for visibility
Emergency and investment margin planning
Strategic levers to widen the gap
Scenario planning and long-term protection

📈 Course Format

Length: 11,000+ words of structured, step-by-step self-study material
Sections: 30 detailed lessons with strategies, formulas, and real-world case studies
Learning Tools: Reflection questions, exercises, and actionable margin-building plans

🚀 Who This Course Is For

Individuals who feel like they’re “getting by” but aren’t sure how well.
People who want clarity on their income vs. lifestyle reality.
Entrepreneurs or families wanting to widen their wealth margin.
Anyone aiming to shift from survival to building and thriving.

🪜 What Makes It Different

This course is not just about budgeting.
It’s about:

Facing the truth behind your current position.
Measuring your wealth margin with precision.
Designing a plan that actually moves you forward.
Empowering you with clarity—no fluff, no guessing.

🏁 Expected Outcomes

By the end of this course, you will:

Know exactly whether you’re making it financially.
Have your true numbers documented: survival, lifestyle, and freedom.
Understand where your leaks are and how to fix them.
Build your first or expanded wealth margin.
Have a 90-day action plan for financial progress.

✨ “You can’t build wealth in the dark. Clarity is power.”

📘 Introduction: Facing the Financial Reality

Many people think they’re “doing fine” financially—until life proves otherwise.
“Are you making it?” isn’t just a casual question; it’s a wealth checkpoint.

Most individuals operate on assumptions rather than facts. They know their paycheck amount but not their real cost of living, their net financial direction, or whether their effort is actually moving them toward freedom.

This step is designed to:

Pull back the curtain on your current financial position.
Measure whether your income truly covers your lifestyle and wealth goals.
Identify whether you’re building, barely surviving, or quietly sinking.
Create a truth-based plan to move forward strategically.

“Numbers tell you the truth. Whether you like that truth or not is up to you.”

🧠 Section 1: What “Making It” Really Means

“Making it” doesn’t mean having a job.
It doesn’t mean paying bills.
And it definitely doesn’t mean keeping your head barely above water.

True “making it” means:

Your income is consistently higher than your lifestyle expenses.
You are saving and investing intentionally.
You’re not just surviving the month—you’re moving toward financial independence.
Unexpected expenses don’t destroy your plan.
Your time, energy, and money are building something bigger.

There are three categories people fall into:

🛟 Sinking: Expenses > Income (or no margin).
⚖️ Surviving: Income ≈ Expenses (no real progress).
🚀 Thriving: Income > Expenses (money flows into wealth creation).

Before you can fix or scale anything, you need to know which one is you—today.

💰 Section 2: Measuring the Income vs. Lifestyle Gap

The foundation of this step is a single question:

Income − Lifestyle Expenses = Wealth Margin

This wealth margin determines whether:

You are falling behind,
Standing still, or
Accelerating toward freedom.

🧮 Step 1: Calculate True Monthly Net Income

Include:

Job income
Business/side hustle income
Passive income (investments, rent, royalties)
Regular bonuses or tips

Subtract taxes and deductions to find your net usable income.

👉 Example:

Job: $4,500
Side hustle: $800
Taxes & deductions: $1,200
Net monthly income: $4,100

🧾 Step 2: Add Up Total Lifestyle Costs

Include:

Rent or mortgage
Transportation
Utilities
Groceries & personal expenses
Subscriptions, insurance, medical
Debt payments
Travel, entertainment, giving

👉 Example:

Total monthly expenses: $3,850

💡 Step 3: Find Your Wealth Margin

$4,100−$3,850=$250

$0–$250 margin = surviving or barely surviving.
Negative margin = sinking.
$500+ margin = thriving and building.

👉 Your wealth margin reveals your true position, not your paycheck size.

🧭 Section 3: The 4 Financial States People Live In

1. 🚨 Sinking

You spend more than you make.

Relying on credit cards or debt
Constant stress or avoidance
No savings, no investment, no cushion

Reality: You can’t build wealth in this state. First step is to stop the leak.

2. ⚖️ Surviving

You break even.

Paycheck-to-paycheck living
Maybe saving a little, but no real momentum
Easily thrown off by emergencies

Reality: A single bad month can undo years of effort.

3. 🚀 Building

You have a solid margin.

Income is higher than lifestyle costs
Savings & investing are consistent
Debt is shrinking or gone
Life has breathing room

Reality: This is where wealth acceleration begins.

4. 🏔️ Thriving

Your investments or businesses generate enough income to cover most or all lifestyle expenses.

Work is optional or flexible
Time is leveraged
Your numbers compound without constant labor

Reality: You are approaching or have reached financial freedom.

🧮 Section 4: Quick Self-Assessment Test

Answer honestly. Assign a ✔️ for Yes or ❌ for No.

Question ✔️/❌

Do you consistently have leftover money after bills?
Do you have 3+ months of emergency savings?
Are you contributing monthly to savings or investments?
Can you pay all bills without using credit?
If you lost your job/business for 3 months, would you be okay?
Is your lifestyle sustainable at your current income?
Do you know your exact wealth margin?

0–3 checks → 🚨 Sinking or Surviving
4–6 checks → 🚀 Building
7 checks → 🏔️ Thriving

This simple test gives an unfiltered view of your current financial fitness.

📊 Section 5: Case Study — Sinking but Not Seeing It

👤 Case: Alex

Job income: $4,200/month
Lifestyle cost: $4,500/month
Credit card use: $300–$600/month to “make up the difference.”

The Illusion:
Alex believes he’s “doing fine” because the bills are paid. But he’s sinking by $300/month in hidden debt accumulation.

The Turning Point:
Alex calculated his real wealth margin for the first time. Negative $300 shocked him. He immediately:

Canceled unused subscriptions ($120/month)
Negotiated car insurance ($50/month saved)
Started bringing lunch instead of daily eating out ($180/month saved)

In 60 days, Alex flipped from negative to +$150 margin. It wasn’t glamorous—but it was real progress.

👉 Lesson: You can’t fix what you won’t face.

🏦 Section 6: The True Cost of “Making It”

Many people don’t realize how much it actually costs to live their lifestyle.

Category Real Cost (Example)

Housing $1,400

Utilities & internet $250

Transportation $500

Groceries & dining $600

Insurance & medical $350

Debt $400

Misc. & entertainment $350

Savings & wealth $200

Total $4,050

If your income is $4,000 and your lifestyle costs $4,050—you’re not making it.

Even small mismatches over time lead to big problems:

$100/month shortfall = $1,200/year in debt.
$500/month shortfall = $6,000/year + interest.

👉 If your income doesn’t exceed your lifestyle cost, you’re standing on a financial fault line.

🧭 Section 7: Financial Anchors vs. Financial Sails

Anchors are the habits, costs, and obligations that weigh you down.
Sails are the systems, margins, and income streams that push you forward.

Anchors Sails

Overspending Budgeting clarity

Debt Margin & investments

Lifestyle creep Multiple income streams

No emergency fund Automated savings

Emotional spending Value-based spending

👉 Identify your anchors. Strengthen your sails.

💡 Section 8: Lifestyle Inflation — The Hidden Killer

When income rises, most people unconsciously increase spending. This is called lifestyle inflation.

Example:

Old income: $4,000 → Expenses: $3,500 → Margin: $500
New income: $5,000 → Expenses: $4,900 → Margin: $100

👉 Higher income ≠ wealth.

Only a bigger margin creates wealth.

Strategies to Avoid Lifestyle Inflation:

Lock in savings/investing as income grows.
Automate transfers to wealth accounts.
Delay lifestyle upgrades 90 days after raises.
Maintain values-based spending.

🧠 Section 9: The Income Ceiling Trap

Many people believe:

“Once I make more money, I’ll finally get ahead.”

But if spending scales equally with income, the ceiling just moves higher—never away.

Wealth is created by:

Widening the gap between income and expenses.
Investing the difference.
Letting time and compounding do the heavy lifting.

“Wealth isn’t about how much you make. It’s about how much you keep and multiply.”

🧮 Section 10: Margin Targets Based on Wealth Goals

Different financial goals require different wealth margins.

Goal Suggested Margin

Just surviving $0–$200

Emergency fund growth $200–$500

Wealth building $500–$2,000+

Accelerated FI $2,000+

📈 Section 11: Case Study — The Surviving Couple

👥 Case: Mark & Jasmine

Combined income: $6,000/month
Lifestyle cost: $5,950/month
Savings: $50/month

They felt stable but:

One car repair wiped out their “savings.”
They constantly delayed investing.
Stress was rising.

Turning Point:
They created a budget aligned with their real numbers. By trimming $400 from dining out, unused subscriptions, and switching to a cheaper phone plan, they created a $450 margin.

Within 6 months:

Emergency fund: $2,700
Debt: $1,200 paid down
First investment account opened

👉 Lesson: Surviving can look “normal,” but thriving requires intentional margins.

💸 Section 12: Tracking Cash Flow Trends Over Time

Looking at one month of numbers can be misleading.
The real truth is in the trend line.

Steps:

Track income & expenses for 3–6 months.
Average out your true lifestyle cost.
Identify consistent leaks or seasonal spikes.
Project future cash flow realistically.

👉 Trends show whether you’re quietly improving, flat-lining, or declining.

🧠 Section 13: Knowing Your Survival Number

Your Survival Number is the minimum monthly amount needed to keep your life functioning without luxury.

This includes:

Housing, utilities
Food, transportation
Insurance, debt minimums
Non-negotiables only

👉 Example:
$3,200 survival number vs. $4,800 actual lifestyle.
This gap is where flexibility and strategy live.

Knowing this number:

Reduces panic in income drops
Helps plan early FI stages
Creates confidence in your financial floor

🏡 Section 14: Knowing Your Lifestyle Number

Your Lifestyle Number includes your:

Survival expenses

Fun, travel, personal upgrades
Giving or hobbies

This is your real cost of living today.

Many people don’t know their lifestyle number—they only guess.
You can’t build freedom without precision.

This give you permission to spend without guilt.

👉 Write down your exact monthly lifestyle number.

💼 Section 15: Knowing Your Freedom Number

Your Freedom Number is:

Freedom Number=Lifestyle Number + Buffer + Inflation + Wealth Goals

Example:

Lifestyle number: $4,800
Buffer & inflation: $1,200
Freedom Number: $6,000/month

👉 If your income or investments can reliably cover this number, you’ve made it.

📊 Section 16: Using Multiple Bank Accounts to Track “Making It”

To clearly know whether you’re making it:

Income Hub Account
Bills Account
Personal Spending Account
Wealth/Investment Account
Emergency Fund Account
Optional: Travel/Fun or Business Account

👉 This structure makes the margin visible instead of hidden.

No more mental math.
No more “I think I’m okay.”
You’ll see it.

💡 Section 17: Early Warning Signs You’re Not Making It

Credit card balance rising slowly each month
Living off tax refunds or bonuses
“Just getting by” language
No cash buffer after bills
Fear of checking accounts
Emergencies = panic

👉 These are signals to act now, not shame.

Clarity today prevents crisis tomorrow.

🧭 Section 18: Turning Awareness Into a Plan

Awareness without action is just worry.

Action Plan Framework:

Identify your current financial state.
Write down survival, lifestyle, and freedom numbers.
Audit expenses for hidden leaks.
Create or widen your wealth margin.
Allocate surplus to emergency fund and investments.
Reassess monthly to measure progress.

🧮 Section 19: Case Study — Turning the Corner

👤 Case: Dana

Income: $5,000/month
Lifestyle cost: $5,400
Result: $400 negative margin

Action Steps:

Reduced personal spending by $250
Took one extra client (freelance) worth $300
Automated $100 into savings

Result in 90 days:

+$150 monthly margin
$300 emergency fund started
Credit card balance shrinking

👉 “Making it” didn’t require perfection—just clear numbers and consistent steps.

📈 Section 20: Strategic Levers to Improve Your Margin

Increase Income:

Side hustles
Freelancing or overtime
Selling unused assets
Upskilling for promotions

Decrease Expenses:

Simplify lifestyle
Eliminate waste
Refinance or renegotiate bills
Focus on values-based spending

🧠 Section 21: Why Most People Never Check If They’re Making It

Fear of facing uncomfortable truths
Shame around debt or “not doing enough”
Confusion or overwhelm with numbers
Belief that “making more will fix everything”

👉 This is why this step exists—to normalize clarity and empower action.

🪜 Section 22: The 3 Stages of Making It

Stage 1: Stabilization
- Create your first positive margin.
- Build emergency fund.
- Control lifestyle cost.
Stage 2: Acceleration
- Increase margin through income growth.
- Eliminate debt.
- Begin wealth-building investments.
Stage 3: Expansion
- Build multiple income streams.
- Cover lifestyle with passive income.
- Scale investments and future-proof wealth.

🧮 Section 23: The Real Math of Wealth Margins

Wealth Growth= Margin × Time × Return

If you create:

$1,000/month margin
Invest it at 10 % average return
For 15 years

$1,000×12×15=$180,000 contributions

Future Value≈$414,000+

👉 Small margin. Big impact over time.

🏦 Section 24: Protecting Your Margin

Automate transfers to savings/investments on payday.
Avoid letting lifestyle creep eat your gains.
Regularly review expenses.
Keep emergency funds separate.
Treat your margin like a non-negotiable bill.

🧭 Section 25: Tracking Progress Monthly

Monthly Check-In Template:

Income total
Expenses total
Margin amount
Emergency fund balance
Investments added
Debt reduced
Lifestyle number trend

👉 Progress isn’t about perfection.
It’s about moving forward with clarity.

📊 Section 26: Case Study — Thriving on Purpose

👤 Case: Priya

Income: $7,500/month
Lifestyle cost: $4,000
Margin: $3,500/month

Priya intentionally kept her lifestyle lean even as income grew. Over 3 years:

$126,000 saved and invested
First rental property purchased
Freedom timeline shortened by 7 years

👉 Thriving is a choice, not an accident.

🧠 Section 27: Making It Is More Than Money

True “making it” includes:

Emotional peace around money
Confidence in future stability
Flexibility in life decisions
The ability to give and enjoy freely

Money is the vehicle, not the destination.

🏁 Section 28: 90-Day “Making It” Challenge

Calculate your survival, lifestyle, and freedom numbers.
Track income and expenses for 30 days.
Identify at least one anchor to remove and one sail to strengthen.
Create or increase your wealth margin.
Automate savings or investments.
Reassess and adjust each month.

👉 You’ll know exactly where you stand—and how fast you can move forward.

📝 Section 29: Reflection Questions

What’s your current wealth margin?
Are you sinking, surviving, building, or thriving?
What are your survival, lifestyle, and freedom numbers?
Where are your financial leaks?
What income or expense shifts can widen your margin?
What emotional patterns affect your money decisions?
What would “making it” look like in 12 months?

📊 Section 30: The Wealth Gap Formula

If you take away just one lesson from this course, let it be this:
You can’t build wealth by guessing. You build it by knowing.

Most people feel like they’re “doing fine.” They earn a paycheck, pay their bills, and assume the future will somehow work itself out. But real financial power doesn’t live in feelings — it lives in facts.

“Making it” is not about appearances, status, or how busy you are.
It’s about:

Having a clear wealth margin between income and expenses,
Using that margin to build assets, and
Owning your financial direction — not just reacting to it.

🌱 The Power of Facing Reality

When you face your numbers honestly — whether they’re encouraging or uncomfortable — you take your first step toward true freedom. Ignoring reality doesn’t make it better. Owning it gives you control.

It’s not about blame. It’s about power.

If you’re sinking, you now have the tools to stop the leak.
If you’re surviving, you know how to widen the gap.
If you’re building, you can speed up the climb.
If you’re thriving, you can protect and multiply your gains.

💪 Control Beats Hope

Hope without strategy keeps people stuck for decades. But clarity and consistent action — even small steps — can transform your entire financial future.
You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be intentional.

🧭 A New Default

Starting today, your default is no longer:

“I think I’m okay.”
“I’ll figure it out later.”
“I hope it works out.”

Your new default is:

“I know where I stand.”
“I track my numbers.”
“I build my wealth on purpose.”

✨ Wealth doesn’t happen by accident — it’s built by people who face their numbers and own their future.

This isn’t the end of your journey.
It’s the moment you stop floating in financial uncertainty and start steering the ship.

Your numbers are not your enemy.
They’re your map to financial independence.