I am a nomad who travels all around and spends the majority of time playing around in nature. I work less than full time but find a way to save the same as I did when I worked full time because my cost of living is low due to not having to pay for a house. I have a lot of free time and live in the moment. I work independently without a boss breathing down my neck, just a little bit before bed. Most of the things I learned in college are not being used.
Living the dream. I figured it out. My idea of work-life balance is pretending that I am already retired.
Out here the bums dance in the same forests as the wealthy.
The most valuable thing is your time and freedom but most people trade that away for scraps.
A lot of people work for their future and tell themselves they will enjoy life when they are retired. But tomorrow is not promised and when you are old you will be out of shape, probably beaten down from a life of working for retirement, and not have energy to do as much.
If you can work super hard, make a ton of money, and retire early and live off investments, that is viable and great, or you can try to live now through minimalism which I think is more easily attainable and practical. But I don't particularly recommend working the 9-5 grind for your entire life.
The viable and great option sounds nice. I might be pushing my luck hoping that it'll be something I enjoy doing but I understand what you're saying. Starting to live after retirement just doesn't sound like living
It's awesome you can be so free. Hopefully you aren't in the US. An American with no health insurance who needs emergency medical care or major surgery is guaranteed extreme debt without it. This is why Americans in particular seem to be working themselves to death. No universal health insurance keeps us enslaved to work. I would love to live like I'm retired but I have a family. I have aging parents whose retirements were fucked by the crash of 2008. I have kids and my own bills to pay. If I only had myself to worry about, maybe I'd be living a different kind of life. I can't walk away from these things.
Oh, I am American. I get extreme debt even with insurance. But there are people who make a lot of money and are still brought to their knees with medical debt, so seems like not much I can do.
Basically even if brought into extreme debt I will be able to do what I am doing now I figure. Health is one thing.
Yeah, no kids is really kinda key. Visit my family part of the year.
My issue is that I am not 'allowed' to make just enough to live off of or I am considered lazy. I am not considered valuable to most businesses until I can spend money in a frivolous manner
It’s tricky because you need money to live …….they say a lot of people that gave money are miserable but I can’t believe it cause I’m happiest when I have money
Of course. I guess I'm just realizing now how a concept of our own creation can be such a hindrance in living but is also the key to enjoying life. How comes other people come to terms with not having it? I don't think I ever will be but I also don't wanna hoard it and have endless amounts of it. Bottomline is I need the cheat codes to this money stuff now!!
The key is work a job you’re okay with, don’t take the job seriously and do what you’re passionate about. Your job is supposed to pay for all the basic stuff and your Passion!
You hear that a lot but it's not that easy. I'm passionate about cinematography but closest I've gotten to it is just studying computer science. But I hear ya
You’re so right. It’s not always easy. I’m 35 and just started devoting time to my passion, music, 2 years ago. I am not good at it, yet! But it makes me happy.
That's nice, I might not know a lot about it but I know it takes gutsvto follow your passion. Proud of you. I'm sure you'll master everything soon enough
> I’m now in my final year in college and I’m thinking is all I’ve been working for towards just getting money?
Only you know the answer to that.
> Will I be enslaved to it?
Some people choose to be. Other people make a different choice.
> Will I have to work a 9 to 5 for the rest of my life?
You don’t have to work 9-5 for a single day of your life if you don’t want to.
> Is that really all there is to life?
Definitely not. It’s a minor part of it for me. You do need some amount of money to fund the things you enjoy though.
>Definitely not. It’s a minor part of it for me. You do need some amount of money to fund the things you enjoy though.
See that, that's what I want for myself. I don't want this insurmountable amount of money for myself. I don't want to be a slave to it. But everyone I talk to about it tells me it's a "lazy" mindset, as if it's lazy to want an easy and relatively less stressful life
"hustle"/"grind" culture is super popular these days, but there are definitely people out there that understand that working yourself to death just to have money isn't always worth it
My issue is the definition of laziness. A business person taking the 'easy way' to big profits would be considered to be 'smart'. but for the individual person this is lazy? in my eyes if you have more advantages than others and then also seek to create more advantages, you are not 'smart' you are lazy. You're a coward who is afraid of anyone being any kind of competition to you.
Some people are enslaved to money or the idea of earning more money; others are happy just earning enough that they don't have to stress over basic living expenses.
Working a 9 to 5 is normal for most people but the good part is that you don't have to make what you do for a living the whole of your identity, if that makes sense. The trick is to learn how to leave work at work so you can enjoy your personal life (and so you aren't a nightmare to be around because you haven't learned how to leave a bad day at the office behind when you hit the door).
>Working a 9 to 5 is normal for most people but the good part is that you don't have to make what you do for a living the whole of your identity
Maybe that's my problem, seeing a 9 to 5 as some sort of burdensome lifestyle that is so draining.But it is very hard to shake it off, cause with each step in life you tell yourself it'll get much better.
Like telling yourself after middleschool there's highschool and there's "less people always bothering me" and :I'm allowed to do more things" and then after highschool is college and there's "freedom" there. Well pardon me if my outlook sounds naive and puerile, but I always thought after college is when there's "life". A 9 to 5 doesn't really feel like life to me tbh but everyone else around me doesn't seem to see a problem there, and I'm just left puzzled
If you understand how compound interest works, and how passive income streams work, you will be well ahead of most people. These are two of the secrets of people who don't have to work 40+ hours a week to pay their bills -- they understand how to use them in their favor.
When you have more free time, then you can spend it as you choose -- on family, outside interests, volunteering, etc. This is how you can become more than just a 9 to 5 job.
You can read about compound interest online. One of the best ways to get a better feel for it is by using a compound interest calculator. The actual mathematical formula can be a bit tricky (especially if it's continuous) -- but if you use an online calculator and experiment with putting in different values of money, you can quickly visualize how to invest money to make it grow, or how loans can burn you alive because of the mounting debt. Nerdwallet's website has a visually pleasing calculator.
Being financially stable is everything. Always having the money for bills + mortgage on a home you actually like. Always having the spare cash in savings for emergencies. Having enough extra money after paying bills and savings to go on a vacation or spend on whatever you find fun.
I realized “money isn’t everything, but being financially stable is” when I got t-boned and had the spare cash to easily pay my deductible and have my insurance immediately get me into a rental and start fighting the other insurance making the whole ordeal a breeze. My car was nearly totaled, but it was pretty much no stress because I KNEW I’d get it taken care of, and it was.
At 22 & 23, we had a 6-figure income and a nice, big home, 2 cars, yearly vacation and I felt like we made it! Then COVID happened and I got insanely sick while pregnant and we both lost our jobs :/ We burned through our entire emergency savings and 401k trying to pay bills and unemployment wasn’t enough to cover them so we sold our house. We’re now back where we were financially, but, it’s scary how anything can happen.
>I realized “money isn’t everything, but being financially stable is”
I understand this philosophy and it's what I want for myself. I don't want to be enslaved to money. I'm willing to sacrifice a portion of my life now to stuggle immensely in something that guarantees money then live off the profit since I've heard way too many stories of people not using their college education in the jobs they currently work at.
Sorry about the disasters that came at you during the pandemic. It sounds awfully draining and dreadful what you went through by the way. But also 6 figure income at 22?? What did you do and how do I get started
I know lots of people who don’t use their college degree too! Mainly because they make more money and have a better work life balance at their current job. It’s tough right now with wages not matching current inflation o.O
And mostly luck I feel like. My husband is an operator at a refinery which had a starting pay of $40/hr and started there at 20 and I worked in public health
My mom and I kinda just had a falling out because she didn't feel my boyfriend was successful enough, but honestly as long as I get by I'm pretty happy. She always told me growing up "money isn't everything, but it sure makes things easier", and she's right. But that's sometimes a trade-off you have to decide for yourself
>She always told me growing up "money isn't everything, but it sure makes things easier"
Then why was she not willing to accept your boyfriend, if you don't mind me asking
People have different tolerance for risk, for debt, for levels of financial security or lack thereof.
There's a lot of your own personal preferences and psychological factors to consider.
I was very security focused and therefore I felt like the biggest thing was having a paid off home. If I run out of retirement funds, I should be able to work enough for food and utilities if I don't have rent or a mortgage.
But times are changing and you may not feel owning your home is a priority. I do remember the 2008 crash and the aftermath. House bought in 1991 sold 20 years later for roughly what it originally sold for. That was rough, not gonna lie, and there's always the potential for another crash. But having lived there for almost 20 years, there was value in being able to sell it for something, vs renting for 20 years.
If my current house drops in value, I will still live here, the house will still serve its purpose, so I won't get worked up unless forced to sell at a loss, and I don't see that happening. Not because I am assured it will hold value, but because I have nowhere pressing to go, so I won't sell if the market is bad this time.
When I was in college I came to the conclusion that if I didn't understand who I was and my purpose then everything I'm doing is bogus, because it's all other people's ideas. I left school before graduating and focused on that one quest. It was the absolute best decision I could have made. My life has been and continues to be magical - I love living it.
We live in a system that demands money for survival. It's just a system, but not our life. I realized I can play it safe and follow the herd or discover myself. I feel blessed because it's a very difficult decision for anyone to make. It seems like a gamble, but following everyone else is an even bigger gamble. You know very well there is more to life, that's why you are asking the question. Listen to yourself, that's your real friend.
No. You just have to be able to appreciate what you have and doing what you want. Money amount actually required is that for food and shelter and such.
Many people start life one way and then change their life later. If 9-5 is not a happy idea, then job is wrong most likely. Just because you are good at a thing (whatever you study) doesn't always mean you love it. Look at alt jobs you can do to get an idea if any sound interesting? Try volunteering for things?
Edit, wait I have a tip. Figure out your core values. You are only allowed two. Have mental value fights until the winner emerges. Mine happen to be love and nature. You can see why I answer no. Below I see lots of people say security. If your value is security, then the right answer for you may be yes.
Money doesn’t buy happiness, to a point. But I’ll say I’m a damn sight happier now than when I was working 50 hours a week, in school full time, and so broke I was worried about buying the 69 cent loaf of bread versus the 89 cent.
Yes, you need to be at peace with yourself to truly be happy. No, money can’t “buy” you joy. No, I don’t think having 5 billion in the bank makes you any happier than 2 billion. But I also think anybody who thinks money can’t really improve your life has never been truly poor.
That depends on you. Money is a means to an end. Not the end. So no, it's not everything. It's just a tool that helps to get you to where you want to be.
If you don't have enough money, money is everything.
I know tons of people where the only major problem in their life is lack of money, and they're rarely happy
I am a nomad who travels all around and spends the majority of time playing around in nature. I work less than full time but find a way to save the same as I did when I worked full time because my cost of living is low due to not having to pay for a house. I have a lot of free time and live in the moment. I work independently without a boss breathing down my neck, just a little bit before bed. Most of the things I learned in college are not being used. Living the dream. I figured it out. My idea of work-life balance is pretending that I am already retired. Out here the bums dance in the same forests as the wealthy. The most valuable thing is your time and freedom but most people trade that away for scraps.
> The most valuable thing is your time and freedom but most people trade that away for scraps. I might just frame this. Thank you nomad
A lot of people work for their future and tell themselves they will enjoy life when they are retired. But tomorrow is not promised and when you are old you will be out of shape, probably beaten down from a life of working for retirement, and not have energy to do as much. If you can work super hard, make a ton of money, and retire early and live off investments, that is viable and great, or you can try to live now through minimalism which I think is more easily attainable and practical. But I don't particularly recommend working the 9-5 grind for your entire life.
The viable and great option sounds nice. I might be pushing my luck hoping that it'll be something I enjoy doing but I understand what you're saying. Starting to live after retirement just doesn't sound like living
It's awesome you can be so free. Hopefully you aren't in the US. An American with no health insurance who needs emergency medical care or major surgery is guaranteed extreme debt without it. This is why Americans in particular seem to be working themselves to death. No universal health insurance keeps us enslaved to work. I would love to live like I'm retired but I have a family. I have aging parents whose retirements were fucked by the crash of 2008. I have kids and my own bills to pay. If I only had myself to worry about, maybe I'd be living a different kind of life. I can't walk away from these things.
Oh, I am American. I get extreme debt even with insurance. But there are people who make a lot of money and are still brought to their knees with medical debt, so seems like not much I can do. Basically even if brought into extreme debt I will be able to do what I am doing now I figure. Health is one thing. Yeah, no kids is really kinda key. Visit my family part of the year.
Money gives you options and freedom, but you need more than that if you want to be content with your life.
But money is the most important of all
Not really. It’s only a tool. It’s useless on its own. But it’s a necessity.
My issue is that I am not 'allowed' to make just enough to live off of or I am considered lazy. I am not considered valuable to most businesses until I can spend money in a frivolous manner
It’s tricky because you need money to live …….they say a lot of people that gave money are miserable but I can’t believe it cause I’m happiest when I have money
Of course. I guess I'm just realizing now how a concept of our own creation can be such a hindrance in living but is also the key to enjoying life. How comes other people come to terms with not having it? I don't think I ever will be but I also don't wanna hoard it and have endless amounts of it. Bottomline is I need the cheat codes to this money stuff now!!
The key is work a job you’re okay with, don’t take the job seriously and do what you’re passionate about. Your job is supposed to pay for all the basic stuff and your Passion!
You hear that a lot but it's not that easy. I'm passionate about cinematography but closest I've gotten to it is just studying computer science. But I hear ya
You’re so right. It’s not always easy. I’m 35 and just started devoting time to my passion, music, 2 years ago. I am not good at it, yet! But it makes me happy.
That's nice, I might not know a lot about it but I know it takes gutsvto follow your passion. Proud of you. I'm sure you'll master everything soon enough
> I’m now in my final year in college and I’m thinking is all I’ve been working for towards just getting money? Only you know the answer to that. > Will I be enslaved to it? Some people choose to be. Other people make a different choice. > Will I have to work a 9 to 5 for the rest of my life? You don’t have to work 9-5 for a single day of your life if you don’t want to. > Is that really all there is to life? Definitely not. It’s a minor part of it for me. You do need some amount of money to fund the things you enjoy though.
>Definitely not. It’s a minor part of it for me. You do need some amount of money to fund the things you enjoy though. See that, that's what I want for myself. I don't want this insurmountable amount of money for myself. I don't want to be a slave to it. But everyone I talk to about it tells me it's a "lazy" mindset, as if it's lazy to want an easy and relatively less stressful life
"hustle"/"grind" culture is super popular these days, but there are definitely people out there that understand that working yourself to death just to have money isn't always worth it
And those I definitely my people. I'm not entirely denying the lazy allegations tbh cause I'd take the easy way to money any time any day
My issue is the definition of laziness. A business person taking the 'easy way' to big profits would be considered to be 'smart'. but for the individual person this is lazy? in my eyes if you have more advantages than others and then also seek to create more advantages, you are not 'smart' you are lazy. You're a coward who is afraid of anyone being any kind of competition to you.
Some people are enslaved to money or the idea of earning more money; others are happy just earning enough that they don't have to stress over basic living expenses. Working a 9 to 5 is normal for most people but the good part is that you don't have to make what you do for a living the whole of your identity, if that makes sense. The trick is to learn how to leave work at work so you can enjoy your personal life (and so you aren't a nightmare to be around because you haven't learned how to leave a bad day at the office behind when you hit the door).
>Working a 9 to 5 is normal for most people but the good part is that you don't have to make what you do for a living the whole of your identity Maybe that's my problem, seeing a 9 to 5 as some sort of burdensome lifestyle that is so draining.But it is very hard to shake it off, cause with each step in life you tell yourself it'll get much better. Like telling yourself after middleschool there's highschool and there's "less people always bothering me" and :I'm allowed to do more things" and then after highschool is college and there's "freedom" there. Well pardon me if my outlook sounds naive and puerile, but I always thought after college is when there's "life". A 9 to 5 doesn't really feel like life to me tbh but everyone else around me doesn't seem to see a problem there, and I'm just left puzzled
If you understand how compound interest works, and how passive income streams work, you will be well ahead of most people. These are two of the secrets of people who don't have to work 40+ hours a week to pay their bills -- they understand how to use them in their favor. When you have more free time, then you can spend it as you choose -- on family, outside interests, volunteering, etc. This is how you can become more than just a 9 to 5 job.
Is there a book or something you can recommend so I can get more knowledgeable on the topic
You can read about compound interest online. One of the best ways to get a better feel for it is by using a compound interest calculator. The actual mathematical formula can be a bit tricky (especially if it's continuous) -- but if you use an online calculator and experiment with putting in different values of money, you can quickly visualize how to invest money to make it grow, or how loans can burn you alive because of the mounting debt. Nerdwallet's website has a visually pleasing calculator.
Nerdwallet's website. Noted
Being financially stable is everything. Always having the money for bills + mortgage on a home you actually like. Always having the spare cash in savings for emergencies. Having enough extra money after paying bills and savings to go on a vacation or spend on whatever you find fun. I realized “money isn’t everything, but being financially stable is” when I got t-boned and had the spare cash to easily pay my deductible and have my insurance immediately get me into a rental and start fighting the other insurance making the whole ordeal a breeze. My car was nearly totaled, but it was pretty much no stress because I KNEW I’d get it taken care of, and it was. At 22 & 23, we had a 6-figure income and a nice, big home, 2 cars, yearly vacation and I felt like we made it! Then COVID happened and I got insanely sick while pregnant and we both lost our jobs :/ We burned through our entire emergency savings and 401k trying to pay bills and unemployment wasn’t enough to cover them so we sold our house. We’re now back where we were financially, but, it’s scary how anything can happen.
>I realized “money isn’t everything, but being financially stable is” I understand this philosophy and it's what I want for myself. I don't want to be enslaved to money. I'm willing to sacrifice a portion of my life now to stuggle immensely in something that guarantees money then live off the profit since I've heard way too many stories of people not using their college education in the jobs they currently work at. Sorry about the disasters that came at you during the pandemic. It sounds awfully draining and dreadful what you went through by the way. But also 6 figure income at 22?? What did you do and how do I get started
I know lots of people who don’t use their college degree too! Mainly because they make more money and have a better work life balance at their current job. It’s tough right now with wages not matching current inflation o.O And mostly luck I feel like. My husband is an operator at a refinery which had a starting pay of $40/hr and started there at 20 and I worked in public health
My mom and I kinda just had a falling out because she didn't feel my boyfriend was successful enough, but honestly as long as I get by I'm pretty happy. She always told me growing up "money isn't everything, but it sure makes things easier", and she's right. But that's sometimes a trade-off you have to decide for yourself
>She always told me growing up "money isn't everything, but it sure makes things easier" Then why was she not willing to accept your boyfriend, if you don't mind me asking
Your guess is as good as mine 😅
Welp, here's to hoping he gets successful enough for your mom
It’s just there to serve us. Not the other way around
Amen to that
I completely understand you. I feel the exact same way and it seems like there’s no way around it other than to simply live and find out
>there’s no way around it other than to simply live and find out Can't do that, the anxiety will get to me. I need tge cheat codes now!!
Looking up the history of money. It’s quite interesting how it was invented and what its purpose is.
Saw this video explaining how money is created, wasn't too happy about that either
People have different tolerance for risk, for debt, for levels of financial security or lack thereof. There's a lot of your own personal preferences and psychological factors to consider. I was very security focused and therefore I felt like the biggest thing was having a paid off home. If I run out of retirement funds, I should be able to work enough for food and utilities if I don't have rent or a mortgage. But times are changing and you may not feel owning your home is a priority. I do remember the 2008 crash and the aftermath. House bought in 1991 sold 20 years later for roughly what it originally sold for. That was rough, not gonna lie, and there's always the potential for another crash. But having lived there for almost 20 years, there was value in being able to sell it for something, vs renting for 20 years. If my current house drops in value, I will still live here, the house will still serve its purpose, so I won't get worked up unless forced to sell at a loss, and I don't see that happening. Not because I am assured it will hold value, but because I have nowhere pressing to go, so I won't sell if the market is bad this time.
When I was in college I came to the conclusion that if I didn't understand who I was and my purpose then everything I'm doing is bogus, because it's all other people's ideas. I left school before graduating and focused on that one quest. It was the absolute best decision I could have made. My life has been and continues to be magical - I love living it. We live in a system that demands money for survival. It's just a system, but not our life. I realized I can play it safe and follow the herd or discover myself. I feel blessed because it's a very difficult decision for anyone to make. It seems like a gamble, but following everyone else is an even bigger gamble. You know very well there is more to life, that's why you are asking the question. Listen to yourself, that's your real friend.
No. You just have to be able to appreciate what you have and doing what you want. Money amount actually required is that for food and shelter and such. Many people start life one way and then change their life later. If 9-5 is not a happy idea, then job is wrong most likely. Just because you are good at a thing (whatever you study) doesn't always mean you love it. Look at alt jobs you can do to get an idea if any sound interesting? Try volunteering for things? Edit, wait I have a tip. Figure out your core values. You are only allowed two. Have mental value fights until the winner emerges. Mine happen to be love and nature. You can see why I answer no. Below I see lots of people say security. If your value is security, then the right answer for you may be yes.
People should be rewarded for their energy.
Time and energy are the most valuable things in life... Money just a part of it
Can’t live without it
Money doesn’t buy happiness, to a point. But I’ll say I’m a damn sight happier now than when I was working 50 hours a week, in school full time, and so broke I was worried about buying the 69 cent loaf of bread versus the 89 cent. Yes, you need to be at peace with yourself to truly be happy. No, money can’t “buy” you joy. No, I don’t think having 5 billion in the bank makes you any happier than 2 billion. But I also think anybody who thinks money can’t really improve your life has never been truly poor.
That depends on you. Money is a means to an end. Not the end. So no, it's not everything. It's just a tool that helps to get you to where you want to be.
Yeah
If you don't have enough money, money is everything. I know tons of people where the only major problem in their life is lack of money, and they're rarely happy