"Mom! Cereal again for dinner?"

"You 're telling me to wear the clothes I wore yesterday and that they're not THAT dirty."

"My teacher said that macaroni and cheese is NOT one of the four food groups like you said!"

Feel free to complete this list on your own, Moms. It is called keeping ourselves sane in a chaotic "gotta do everything" world. Take heart, though, that we are trying to accomplish the impossible and we're doing the best we can.

These are shortcuts that help us get through one more day as a parent. They're lifesavers and I use them often without any form of that "Mother's guilt" that often accompanies these decisions.

Shortcuts in our investment strategies are ill advised though. Mr. Charles Carlson, in his book Eight $teps to $even Figure$, also warns us against this alluring shortcut to wealth. He calls it the "get-rich-quick" mentality. He further indicates, "Most millionaire investors get rich slowly. Indeed, the millionaires we surveyed have been investing on average for three decades."

Unfortunately for most of us here in the Unites States, we have been prompted to believe in the exact opposite. Most of us were raised with the, "I want it…and I want it now!" type of thinking. We have effectively learned that there is no difference between "want" and "need."

We would do well to change this type of thinking in ourselves, as well as in our children.

There is a huge difference between these two words. We often mistake a "want" for a "need" in our daily lives. We confuse the words especially, when we look at our purchases.

"I want a new microwave". Let's consider asking ourselves, "Do I really need a new microwave? There is really nothing wrong with the one I have."

"I want a new car, like the guy just bought down the street". Ask yourself, "Do I really need a new car and what's wrong with the one I have?"

These types of questions force us to distinguish between "want" and "need" which might also benefit our decisions as regards our investing strategies.

So should we say:

"I want to make money now and I'm going to look for a "get-rich-quick" scheme to help me do that!"

Or should we focus more on the following:

"I need to understand that investing for my future involves time and patience. I can happily look forward to a time, in 30 years, where I have a comfortable future monetarily. I don't want the risk involved with those "get-rich-quick" schemes."

And as a single parent who quit her job to follow a dream I can tell you how quickly I learned this important lesson. The word "want" is not even a part of my vocabulary right now! It has been replaced with the word "need", as in, "I need to take care of myself for my future. I'm not going to win the lottery and my knight in shining armor isn't going to help me secure my future financial status. I need to consistently put funds into my investment portfolio for the long-term."

Let's heed the advice of well-seasoned veterans and protect ourselves from the allure of instantaneous wealth. Mr. Carlson warns us, "The fact is ANYONE can get sucked in by get-rich-quick schemes. Have you ever played the lottery?"

Next time we'll look at two more of Mr. Carlson's red flags to keep us safe: "Paralysis from analysis" and the "grass is greener mentality."

Thank you for joining me. Now, I "want" a chocolate candy bar but…do I really "need" it? Naw. See, it really is that simple.

Joyce