DISCLAIMER: I am not a financial advisor and this should not be taken to be financial advice. You should consult a financial professional for advice. I am a financial amateur. These are my thoughts and opinions on money that I have recorded here for my children, with the hope that my thoughts might help them. They are responsible for the results of the advice they choose to follow. Always worth keeping in mind: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Your mileage may vary. The map is not the territory. Keep your eyes open. Smell it before you take a bite.
To my children:
When you need money, money is great. But if you’re ever fortunate enough to not need money, then realize that you don’t need money. Stop clipping coupons and buy the brand of ice cream that you really want, because you can afford it. I have seen people who are financially independent and some of them act like they are not. They still use coupons. They still shop around. They still cut napkins in half. Why spend time and mental energy shopping around or saving money if you don’t need to?
Spend your time making money until you reach the point where you can spend your money to save you time.
When you have enough money, it might be worth it to pay someone to clean your house, take care of your garden, or wash your car.
You can start this approach even before you are financially independent. For example, let’s say you and your spouse’s jobs pay you each $30 an hour and you have a kid and daycare costs $15 an hour. One of you could stay at home to save that $15 an hour that you’re paying to your daycare provider but financially that doesn’t make sense because you could go to work and make $30 an hour, which would cover the $15 an hour cost of daycare, and earn you an extra $15 an hour.
If you had a job where you could pick up more hours on the weekend, then it makes sense to work one more hour and have someone else pull the weeds in your garden instead of you spending an hour of time to pull the weeds.
Bottom Line: Spend your time making money until you reach the point where you can spend your money to save you time. Spend money on things that save you time when your time can produce more money than the time-saving thing costs.