Blog Archive

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

It's not always about money


If there’s one thing that usually gets neglected when it comes to talking about personal finance, it’s this: it’s not always about the money.

Not surprisingly, people make a lot of decisions that relate to money based on how much things cost, how much they could potentially make, or both. So of course those things get talked about a lot.

But after a certain point (the point where you’re not stressed out about where you’ll be living next month and whether or not you’ll have food to eat on a regular basis) money doesn’t have to take priority.

Other priorities

Sure, you may want to earn lots of money and minimize your expenses, but you can have other priorities too. And the option that leaves you with the most money out of two choices may or may not be the one that’s right for you.

There’s nothing wrong with deciding that you’re going to take a less stressful job even though you won’t make as much, as long as you’re willing to do what it takes to live within your new lower means. And there’s nothing wrong with deciding to keep some of your money in a plain-old savings account even though you could probably make more by investing it. Or in paying more for something you really love even though you could get a “better” version for less. Or in any number of things that may not be the optimum thing to do financially, IF those other things are your real priorities.

Money is a tool

Money is a tool that’s there to serve you, not the other way around. Use it wisely to get what’s most important to you, not just to end up with as much as you can of it.

Keep your real objectives in mind, and make smart decisions with your money based on how it will help you achieve those. Remember why you use money.

No comments:

Post a Comment