Your Money or Your Life

Categories : Finance Self-Help

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🎯 The Book in 3 Sentences

Calculate how much money you have made in your life until now.
Find what is the actual wage of your job.
Track your expenses from now on and put them in categories.
Find in which categories you feel fulfillment and satisfaction or not.
Create a plot of income and expenses and put it in common view.
Minimize spending, maximize income, and invest.

“More is better” turns out to be a formula for dissatisfaction.

Money is something you trade your life energy with.

We live our routine lives and work to live unhappily.
Part of the secret to life comes from identifying for yourself that point of maximum fulfillment.
The author proposes an exercise:
- A. Find out how much money you have earned in your lifetime.
- B. Create a balance sheet of your assets and liabilities. What do you have to show for the money you’ve earned?
What does “enough” mean to you?
What do you have (in storage or closets) that you’d be better off without? Why do you keep it?

More is like a mirage. We can never reach it because it isn’t real.
Financial Independence has nothing to do with the rich. It is the experience of having enough—and then some.
Establish (accurately and honestly) how much money you are trading your life energy for, and discover your real hourly wage.
Learn about your money behavior by keeping track of every cent that comes into and goes out of your life.

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Establish spending categories that reflect the uniqueness of your life.
Let’s say you pay $1,500 a month for the privilege of living in your house or apartment. Applying the awareness that your real hourly wage is $10, divide that $1,500 by $10. Here’s the reality: It costs you 150 hours a month to put this particular roof over your head.

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For each spending subcategory in your Monthly Tabulation, ask:
- “Did I receive fulfillment, satisfaction, and value in proportion to life energy spent?” Mark your answer with a + (or an up arrow), a – (or a down arrow), or a 0.
- “Is this expenditure of life energy in alignment with my values and life purpose?” Mark your answer with a + (or an up arrow), a – (or a down arrow), or a 0.
- “How might this expenditure change if I didn’t have to work for money?” Mark your answer with a + (or an up arrow), a – (or a down arrow), or a 0, and write the estimated change on the Monthly Tabulation.
Review and make a list of all categories with the – symbol (or down arrow).

Make and keep up-to-date a chart of your total monthly income and your total monthly expenses.
Look at it often.

Lower your total monthly expenses by valuing your life energy and increasing your consciousness in spending. Learn to choose the quality of life over the standard of living.
1. Don’t go shopping.
2. Live within your means.
3. Take care of what you have.
4. Wear it out.
5. Do it yourself.
6. Anticipate your needs.
7. Research value, quality, durability, multiple use, and price.
8. Buy it for less.
9. Meet your needs differently.

Increase your income by valuing the life energy you invest in your job, exchanging it for the highest pay consistent with your health and integrity.

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Become knowledgeable and sophisticated about long-term income-producing investments and manage your finances for a consistent income sufficient for your needs over the long term.