How much money do you really need?
Our relationship with money can be a very tricky one. Influenced by many different experiences both good and bad.
Maybe you grew up with very little money and often went without things that many people now would take for granted.
I wrote this post after spending 16 months without a full time job or income and had spent all my savings so lets just say I had an acute experience of the the importance of money.
We can fall into two extremes when managing our money. You can end up either worship it like a “god” or shunning it like the “devil”.
One’s life should not be measured in the abundance or lack of material possessions so we need to beware of:
- Greed – wanting more and more but somehow never being satisfied.
- Materialism – focusing only on the physical and material things around us.
- Consumerism – the culture that we live in has been hijacked by the mentality that we exist to consume.
We need to rediscover the “soul” of money and redefine our understanding of what it means to be “rich” or “poor”.
I found this TED talk by Lynne Twist on the, “Freedom from the money culture” very insightful.
“Money is like water. It can be a conduit for commitment, a currency of love.”
Lynne Twist
She has some great advice on how to develop a healthy relationship with money. I would also add the following:
- Take responsibility for managing your money (it’s never too early or late to start)
- Make it a habit to save even if it is a few dollars a day
- Learn to live on less (you’ll be surprised how much you can live on and save)
- Invest in your future through learning and education (besides buying new stuff that you don’t need)
- Share what you have with others
- Give away your possessions so they don’t possess you
“We need to learn to love people and use things. Not love things and use people.”
John Powell, SJ
Exodus 