Mar

13

Money Zen

March 13, 2008 |

I have friends who tell me that they do not want to be like me. They do not want to worry about money or find a better job. Yet, they complaint that they do not have enough money and that they dislike their jobs but still have to do them to earn their living.

I advice these non financial interested friends:

Pay all your debts, cut down your spending to a minimum, a really bare minimum, no iPods, no eating out, no fancy cars, no extreme vacations. Then, you can have a job doing exactly what you like, for the number of hours you want.

Now, some people will say that such a severe advice is not life.  Then I ask them:  If you suffer so much at work, then it is not life either.

If you spend your time doing exactly what you want, without regards to the money earned, then every extra dollar you earn beyond the basic sustenance amount will be seen as luxury, and that will be the dollar used to buy the iPods, eating out, the fancy car, and the extreme vacation.  It may or may not grant too much luxury.  It may or may not grant the luxury you where used to, or the luxury your friends have.  But it will be luxury that does not ties you 40 hours a week, plus about 10 more of commute, plus about 20 more of “decompression time” just to afford them.

Society pushes us to do it all in reverse: peer pressure makes us buy all of the expensive stuff, get ourselves into debt, and then try to crawl out of it with a job that we may or may not like, but it has to be the one that pays the most we can get: for our debt requires it.

When I decided to go independent this is exactly what I had to do.  Reduce my debt to just a minimal mortgage and a small, simple car (loan).  No credit cards, no debt.  No eating out, no fancy luxuries.  I started all over again.  Trying to accumulate enough money to last several years even if I do not sign up a new contract with a client.

Now, some people will say that such a severe advice is not life.  Then I ask them:  If you suffer so much at work, then it is not life either.

I am not the only one with thoughts like these.  Others advocate, choose or desire the simpler life, like Financial Zen.


Comments

3 Comments so far

  1. Zen on March 13, 2008 2:30 pm

    It’s a goal to make enough money to do what you want, and maintain an enjoyable life at the same time. The problem seems to most often be that they want a glamorous, rock star life but not have to work for it - or feel that they’re worth more then they earn without working like they deserve it. A conundrum!

  2.   Money Zen — IRA 401k on March 14, 2008 1:00 am

    [...] admin wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptI have friends who tell me that they do not want to be like me. They do not want to worry about money or find a better job. Yet, they complaint that they do not have enough money and that they dislike their jobs but still have to do … [...]

  3. Money on The Finance World For News and Information Around The World On Finance » Blog Archive » Money Zen on April 3, 2008 10:59 am

    [...] Money Zen They do not want to worry about money or find a better job. Yet, they complaint that they do not have enough money and that they dislike their jobs but still have to do them to earn their […] [...]

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