Evaluate your spending by calculating how many hours of labour (life energy) will need to be spent for each purchase. I can assure you that the value of money will become more real if you ask yourself the following questions:
- · Did I receive fulfilment, satisfaction, and value (from this purchase) in proportion to life energy spent?
- · Is the expenditure of life energy on this purchase in alignment with my values and stated life purpose?
Two hundred dollars has an abstract quality. It becomes more real when comparing various purchases that can be made for that amount. It becomes most real when put in terms of the eight or sixteen hours of labour needed to earn the money to buy this new item you want.
Whenever you want to make a purchase, try to compare the cost of the item to the hours of time needed to earn the money to pay for it and decided if the purchase is worth it. This excise will teach you, your spouse and kids the value of money.
Money is a stranger without a destination, it comes and goes. Money is hard to find or get but it is easily spent. Always evaluate your spending by comparing your purchase to the value that you hope to get from it.
Teach your kids the value of money by explaining how many hours of work you have to put in before you can afford to buy a toy, game or a phone for them.
There are people earning $10 per hour and $375 per week and my 11-year-old son is asking me to buy him a new phone in September that will cost over $600. This is why I gave my son our lawnmower and sent him around our street to mow lawns. He managed to make a total of $30 after 5 hours and he soon returned home exhausted. I then asked him how many more hours of work he would need to save up for his new iPhone. After barely two minutes of consideration, my son decided that he wouldn’t need the new iPhone after all. He thought about how much time and labour it took just to earn $30 and how much more time it would take him to earn the $600 he needed to afford the phone. This is why my dear son decided to reward himself with a $10 burger from A&W instead; keeping his remaining $20 as a souvenir in his wallet. I don’t know how long the $20 will last, but I’m sure that he won’t quickly forget his lawn mowing experience.
The long and short of the story is that you should STOP and THINK before you SPEND! Evaluate your spending habit.
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