What you pay attention to expands. It's simple to see in everyday life. If you focus on how bad your neighbors are, you start thinking you have horrible neighbors. If you focus on how good they are, you think you have wonderful neighbors. My next-door neighbor and I talk about this frequentily as we walk the neighborhood to atone for having butter on our baked potatoes the night before. We've both always had great neighbors. The common factor is us - how we look at people, how we treat people, and how they, in kind, are gracious back to us.

The same is true in all of life. Look at money, for example. When you pay attention to money, as we hope you are doing, it grows. (If yours isn't, could it be you're paying attention to what you lack instead of what you have? The principle works, either way.) Like a blind person developing a keener sense of hearing, the thing you were once blind to - your money and its value - takes on new vibrations. You start "hearing" value, whereas perhaps you once saw only the advertising promises. You begin to see past the glitz and the glam and the dog-and-pony show and look for what this thing you're considering purchasing will actually do for you.

When I bought my first really good bicycle, a Fuji 12-speed back when I was in college and could use it to commute the mile or so to classes, home, work, home, and so on, I started out with a $10 used bike. I tested myself to see how diligent I would be in commuting by bicycle. When I'd proven my point, I spent what amounted to about a week's earnings on that super fast, super sleek transportation. It was worth it for close to 20 years.

This brings me to a recent comment received on a blog from a few months back. And Yes! I love to read your comments, so keep them coming! Saltzzz wrote:

"If you buy a program for $3500, you still get a $100 program", not correct. So if I buy a gym membership for $500, and pay an extra $500 for a personal trainer, am I going to get the same results without the personal trainer? No. Not to mention there are MANY different types of personal trainers out there. Which leads me to believe quality DOES matter.

Saltzzz, I agree with you, quality does matter. Here's the question, Is quality always reflected in the price of an item? Sometimes it is, for sure. Sometimes the store-brand canned fruits and vegetables have more "gristle" in them than the name brands do. Sometimes they're just as good or even identical. Sometimes, generic is just less expensive, and sometimes it's actually cheaper. Generic medications are allowed to vary by 20% in their medicinal components. If that works for you, great. But if you aren't getting the benefit you're paying for, you may need to upgrade.

How about computer books? Would you rather read Microsoft Office's six-volume set, which used to come free with the software, or pay $12 for a couple of laminated "cheat sheets" that show you all of the basic commands? Which is greater value? In this case, in my opinion, spending more is a better value. But look at the number of pages. Over a thousand versus eight. You're obviously getting less with the quick reference guides. Or are you?

When it comes to saving on your mortgage interest, do you need a more complex system or a simpler system? Do you need a more expensive interest-reduction system or a simpler mortgage payoff system? The argument here is not that one works and that the other doesn't. The discussion is whether a $100 product ($97, to be exact) can reveal the principles of early mortgage payoff, so you can own your home years sooner and pocket or invest the difference, or whether you need a much more expensive system (more than 35 times as costly) in order to get the information that will help you own your home in one-third the time?

Saltzzz goes on to say most people who use the $3500 money merge account don't complain. I would like to add the very same thing can be said of those who use Let your Mortgage Make You Rich! It could be said the people who spent less are $3400 happier. Plus they feel really smart (and they are) for comparison shopping and finding something  they believe works just as well for a small fraction of the price.