how to make program begin using start button

My game loads and begins by keeping a count of money earned which is $1 per sec. My question is How do I use a start button to make the game wait until it is pressed to begin counting money. I tried When start is pressed system every sec add 1 to money but that just makes it so start has to be pressed to earn anything. I'm sure it's so simple to figure out but i found no help on forums or tutorials

Make a global variable , name it start or whatever you choose

when start button pressed set start variable to 1

then if start variable = 1 system every sec add 1 to money..............I think you get the idea

thanks. I was making it harder than it actually was and knew it