Spending Money With Purpose

Did you wake up and go to work today?  If so, you gave up doing other things between 9-5 in hopes to collect a paycheck so that you can provide good things for your family.  That’s what opportunity costs are all about – giving up something in return for something else that we find valuable.

Your wages are an exchange for the time and energy you committed to your job.  Put simply, you were paid money for a portion of your life. And yes, we’ll probably end up doing this for thirty or forty years.

But have you ever really considered what each dollar of your paycheck represents?  It represents the hours of your life that you sacrificed.

Now here’s the challenge: Spend every dollar knowing that it represents a small portion of your life.

Putting Things Into Perspective

If you earn $40,000 a year, your daily income for 8 hours of work is about $150 (pre-tax).  Before you commit to spending any of those dollars, ask yourself “Is this purchase worth the 8 hours of my life I gave up?”  You see, you’ve exchanged 8 hours of your life for that $150 and when you swipe that card or sign the check, you really are spending your life.

I’m all for purchasing things that bring joy to your life.  You’ve earned the money; you should spend it as you choose.  My only proposal today is that you remember what it took to earn it and that you ask yourself “Is this what I want to exchange my time (life) for?”

Spend with purpose.