Most of us dont have a healthy relationship with money.
In reality, money is just a tool.
Realizing this changed my habits in some interesting ways.
Its easy to say money is just a tool when you have a lot of it, though.
Its impossible to see money as a tool because money is an enemy.
Money is not the enemy or the goal, though.
Its just a thing you use on your priorities.
Sometimes your priority is just keeping your head above water and paying rent.
You depend on money in this case, but its still a tool.
It chips away at fear and makes room for you to shift into the drivers seat.
Even if the process is gradual, that shift is what changes your situation.
Here are some examples of how that works.
You dont bother budgeting your spending because looking at your bank account gives you anxiety.
You chalk it all up to being impossible.
We no longer need to think in terms of good and bad, positive or negative.
Were focused on the outcome of our actions.
It starts with a meaningful goal.
Money itself is not the goal.
You have to know how youplanto use that money.
Is it to feed your family?
Pay down debt, or outstanding medical bills?
You Get Over the Guilt of Spending
We all know that it oftenpays to splurge on quality.
High income households also bought more rolls on average compared to low income households.
Overall, low income households paid about 6% extra per sheet.
To be fair, when youre living hand to mouth, you cant always afford to buy quality.
For a long time, I had a problem with this.
Ive always been afraid of spending money because Im afraid of not having it.
Again,Richards says it really well:
Tools are meant to be used.
Theyre not meant to sit on a shelf and collect dust.
It circulates from us to other people then back to us again.
Even when we save money, were simply storing it for use later.
When we use money today, were not spending it or blowing it.
Were using the best tool available to get the job done…
I realized I had a bad habit of idealizing money, which made me feel guilty for spending it.
Sometimes buying quality isjust an efficient way of using that tool.
This practical awareness makes it a lot easier to resist.
When money is the goal, its natural to think in these terms.
I could save moreandearn more to facilitate my goals.
I could also pinpoint when saving more and earning more became counterproductive.
Sometimes, these methods actually hurt rather than helped my goals.
For example,some money saving habitswere a complete waste of my time.
My goal was to have more free time to work on my own projects, so this became counterproductive.
Sometimes Id take on work I didnt enjoy just for the extra cash.
That was counterproductive, too, because I had less time to spend on my projects.
Its about learning how tousemoney in the best way possible to live the life you want.
Of course, think of money as a tool is a lot easier said than done.
Even now, after being fully inspired by Richards post, I struggle not to idealize money.
A few things have helped keep my brain in check, though.
Aside from your needs, thats going to be the best way to use your income.
This meansprioritizing the things you love.
For example, Ilikegoing out to eat, but Ilovevisiting my family back home.
When you define these priorities, its a lot easier to use the tool efficiently.
Any goals just seem insurmountable compared to the income you have to use toward those goals.
It helps to focus on small steps and tiny actions.
Breaking up yourgoals into smaller milestonescan make them a little less overwhelming.
When youre focused on action, youre more likely totakeaction and feel in control.
It makes it a lot easier to see money as a practical tool rather than some scary milestone.
For most of us, money is symbolic of something much larger than it actually is.
It reminds us that we dont have enough.
It reminds of the things we cant afford to do.
At its core, though, money really is just a tool.
It can be a powerful one, especially when you dont have enough of it.
Illustration by Sam Woolley.
