What Does Money Mean To You?

What Does Money mean To You?

Hello, and welcome to Making Finance Work.

Please excuse the obvious, but the chances are you are looking to make more money than you currently earn. You are looking to supplement, enhance, and multiply your current earnings beyond your wildest dreams aren’t you? Do you want all the trappings that wealth affords?
Yeah, me too. I want a big house, nice car, a couple of holiday homes and a yacht and an ice cream factory and an indoor arena. Ooh and a university faculty named after me.


We have already looked at budgeting to some extent and I know it may sound like a cop-out but if you have budgeted properly, you may have already, effectively earned yourself a little pay rise. But that isn’t good enough is it? Human nature dictates that we constantly want more and more.


Some of us see this as an inherent flaw that we carry around with us; it is often translated as greed. At Making Finance Work, we beg to differ. Our definition of greed is the relentless pursuit of one thing to the detriment of another, who is to say that you are not yearning for money to finance a major philanthropic venture, to pay for medical care, or to give your children the best start in life?


What are your reasons for wanting money?


If you think that copious amounts of money will change your life, you are probably right. If you think it will make it any better or any worse, you are probably wrong. Money just buys “things”. Yes, it lubricates the wheels of your life, but it certainly isn’t your engine. If there is an inherent flaw within, it will not be fixed by money, perhaps only amplified.
Money will not be your guardian angel; it is merely something you can exchange for something else, and perhaps propel you where you want to be. You may or might not like the scenery when you get there.


Neither will money discriminate. There is absolutely no reason as to why you should not or will not receive money. Money has no conscience, or awareness, a certain twenty pound note or dollar bill can one day be used to pay a seedy gambler a certain debt in Reno and find its way paying for a light bulb in a retirement home the next.


Regardless of what you think about money – stop it now. It doesn’t mean a thing, because all it is is a thing. Don’t be emotionally attached to it, give it too much respect or pine for it. Don’t use money as a bandage for a broken soul that thinks money will bring instant gratification to your life. It is you that has created the world around you; the money has only financed certain transactions. People will not love you any more or any less according to what is in your wallet or purse. If you take nothing else from Making Finance Work, please take this message and understanding that money is a thing, it is not a whole new you.


Making Finance Work, will in spite of this, help you to achieve your financial goals and get you where you want to be. I for example, know and understand that a million in the bank will not delay my departure in the world inevitably, and that an absolute mindless addiction to “getting rich” has the potential to destroy relationships and make my general quality of life dull and boring. Equally, I know that having money will help me pay for the essentials and in this capitalist world help me visit places and afford experiences with my friends and family, and I have to work hard for that.


This may sound a bit contradictory, like I have picked and chosen elements of money making that I feel comfortable with, and you know what? I have. I simply live to the principal of making money, sharing that information, but not allowing it to take over my life. I try to be a good person, help people and have places I want to be and things I want to do. But I enjoy it and you must do so to. I don’t let it take over my life, and I certainly know that money is just a thing. This perspective works for me, and hopefully it will work for you too.

So, in summary:

Money isn’t the root of all evil, it is just a thing.


Money does not know who owns it, nor does it care.


Don’t try to justify your reasons too much for your wants and needs. The pursuit of money is your business, but the relentless pursuit at all costs can harm you and others.


Don’t feel guilty for wanting money. Not everyone will agree with the reasons of why you want it, but that makes for a rich difference of opinion, which is what life is all about.


Speak soon
Oliver Jones
Making Finance Work