Hello friends,
Everyone has money problems. We spend too much, spend too little, don't earn enough, or spend too much of our lives chasing it.
It's all made up.
The piece of paper with the number on it, the numbers on a screen that people spend their lives chasing, it's all made up.
But once you understand that it's not real, every decision becomes clearer.
All money is, is stored value.
It's someone saying, "You gave me something I find valuable, so here's paper you can use to buy something you find valuable".
The reason you should earn as much money as you can is not just so you can buy nice stuff, but because it's a representation of how much value you're creating.
And yes, there are many other forms of value, money is just the easiest way to transfer it. (It's hard to buy a car with steak)
How much is it worth?
Money is not inherently valuable. It's only as valuable as what it gets you, whether that's a comfortable home, a product or service that improves your life, land, or most importantly, food.
Most people stop at the price tag when they're judging the value of something.
But price is arbitrary. The value of something is solely dependent on what you value it against.
The questions you need to ask are, what is this worth to me, and what do I have to give up for it?
For example, everyone and their mum believes a house is a good investment because the housing market always goes up. After all, a house is worth more in £ now than it was 40 years ago.
But when you value it against an asset like gold (which is what the value of money used to be tied to), that paints a different picture.
A house is worth less in gold now than it was a hundred years ago.
Has the value of a house actually increased? Or has our currency just devalued significantly?
How to spend money:
To use money effectively, you need to be able to value things accurately.
Spending money is simply converting one form of value into another.
You might spend £200 a week on healthy food because you value keeping your family out of hosptal over the cash.
I spent at least £20K over the two years that I lived in my van - fuel, insurance, repairs, all that. So did I save money compared to renting a place and buying a car? Probably not. But the experiences I got out of it and the lifestyle I was able to have was far more valuable than the money I spent.
I'm not saying you should always spend money on the present moment. You save money because the value of the freedom and options you will have in the future is worth more than anything you can spend it on now.
But once you start thinking about things in terms of true value rather than just cash price, every decision becomes clear.
"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."
Warren Buffet
Until next time,
Rob
Wild Minds Community
PS.
One of the most valuable things you can buy is your freedom. That comes from having access to land that you can live off. So if you want to meet like-minded people, build community and gain access to land, then join 2100+ members in Wild Minds Network
