What if Money didn't matter

Interesting question to ask oneself!

I stepped away from that world a couple years ago. Money, status, and the desire to collect material things aren't part of my life.

How do you live without money, Rion?

The question in the video wasn't, "what if you were broke ?". It's asking how you would truly like to spend your time and suggesting that you may find an economic niche related to your desires.

I suppose, If I had unlimited time to burn, I would spend it developing newer and better ways to build with natural materials. That and travelling the world --- while hunting down my enemies with a sling blade !

I like asking myself this question when I get bogged down in the routine and overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work there is to get done. When I go back to this basic question, and know what the answer is, it helps to keep going.

I thought it was cool that there was a video about this

Exactly, Dale. It is a life choice. I have enough to get by and that is all I need. The largest amounts of money I spent this year went towards my hobbies which center on the outdoors and music. I'm currently pursuing a career path that is enjoyment and hobbie based rather than the typical up the corporate ladder job. It is all how you look at the big picture.

Ok, thanks for explaining. When you said money isn't part of your life I got the impression you were somehow living without it.

Rion Mather wrote:Exactly, Dale. It is a life choice. I have enough to get by and that is all I need.

Rion's choice couldn't be further from mine in some ways but in other ways it is very similar. I don't want to get by. I want to get richer and richer and ... But, I've chosen to do it on my terms, getting paid for what I like. Luckily for my wallet, I like work where I'm in charge of everything. Given a choice between lounging on a beach or doing an interesting demolition or building job, I prefer the work. Some work is drudgery, which I hate to do by myself. But if I have several helpers and am making great progress, I don't mind spending all day knee deep in the muck.

In a perfect world, I'd be earning $500 an hour and could afford to have a dozen people working on my behalf 365 days a year.

In this less than perfect world, I still get to do things that I want but I don't have dozens of serfs.

A realistic goal for me at this point is to have two people working on my property full time within the next five years. At a certain point, things become self perpetuating. So, I guess the long term goal is to become a minor, benevolent dictator. Rich enough to be lord of the manor but not big enough to warrant being shot at.

(Homer Simpson type dream sequence) Ahhh. The pitter patter of little feet, stomping straw clay, building forest trails, bringing demolition containers full of wood waste for monstrous hugelkultur beds, cleaning up after a big event. I stop timber framing every hour or so to inspect progress and bark instructions to the minions. The sign on the gate says "Dalemania" which is a place, not a psychological condition All of this paid for by rents, camping fees and produce. (End dream sequence)

All of this requires quite a bit more work. The goal keeps me motivated.

What the video doesn't explain is that becoming an expert in something that you love, expert enough that people will pay you for your expertise, takes time. A lot of people don't have the luxury to invest the time (and money) it takes to become what they want, especially as you get older and take on more responsibility. If someone is determined and can be patient, then that's another story. This logic works for a large majority of people in western countries, fewer in the global south.

I more or less quit my "day job" 2 years ago when the financial crisis cut the main contract of my employer and my main source of income. I do much of the same thing now and work roughly the same number of hours, but I don't work through an intermediary, which means I collect more per hour. This has allowed me to diversify what I do and what I can get paid for. I don't make long trips into the city as much, and I'm extremely conservative with doing hours in the city (right now I go 1 day and another afternoon). Working closer to home for more money means less expenses and more money in your pocket. Duh.

I say "no" more often when people ask me to work. This frees me up to make better choices for how/when/where I work. It's a drag to always say no, or say "maybe" then "no", but it's my life, not theirs.

That being said, I'm still not quite where I want to be, because I'm still doing the thing I don't want to do, which is teaching english.
I'm projecting that I could be relatively job-free within a couple years. I imagine I could do a few lessons here and there, but nothing like I was doing before. A few things have to be built-up before that happens, but I'm working on those.

Building "social capital" helps. It's extremely hard to do things alone.
The fact that my wife finally started making a little more money helps. In the past I was making the large majority of our income so that she could develop her business.
My wife, 2 of my in-laws and 4 of our friends have been extremely involved in helping us all move toward something better, and that is starting to bear fruit. We meet once every two weeks to brainstorm new ideas and to organize all the projects we have going.

best,
William

William James wrote:What the video doesn't explain is that becoming an expert in something that you love, expert enough that people will pay you for your expertise, takes time.

Okay, I have to agree that it is not that simple, but not impossible. It is much easier if what you want to do (e.g. Permaculture) can earn you the Big bucks! One can always go the way of Jacob Lund Fisker and retire early through massive savings.

OH WOW!
if money did not matter and I could do what ever I wanted and be just fine doing it?
I would raise goats I think well actually I would raise more than just goats because that would be silly to only do one thing.
but it would be a farm life of years ago.

IF? Money doesn't matter, no "if" about it.

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? Matthew 16:26

Money is a funny thing. It has no real value because one cannot eat it, drink it or clothe oneself adequately with it. It cannot provide shelter or grow food. It only has value if a person says it does and can convince another foolish person that it indeed has some value...but the reality is still that money, in and of itself, has no real value. Even gold and silver are just pretty metals that can make pretty things but are less valuable than other metals for practical usage in providing important things for a body and its sustenance.

Only a fool places any value on money and the world has historically been overrun with this type of fool and still is to this day.

Jay Green wrote:IF? Money doesn't matter, no "if" about it.

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? Matthew 16:26

Only a fool places any value on money and the world has historically been overrun with this type of fool and still is to this day.

Everybody who bought their land with money, raise your hand.

On the soul thing, I'll sell mine for $1000. Send it over. It's OK, mine is self replicating, so I'll have a new one tomorrow. I'll sweeten the deal. Take all of my karma, my che and both chakras with the deal. Same price.

The truth is that everyone needs money. What some of us don't have is the drive to obtain money. To those of us, we believe there are more important things in life.

The love of money is a case of mistaken identity. People mistake money for what it can buy. Or in some cases, what it can't buy.

Evelyn

My Father-in Law has preached the same after a very successful career in radio . He was raised by parents in the music business . They all did well . His words of wisdom " You gotta do what you love , Kid ! " Money is still an object , you need the passion to get really good at something , that needs to come first.

I have a different spin perhaps on the money thing. We have a lot of assets, and I guess I am the overlord that Dale is talking about. Anytime you hear me say I am going to do something, feel free to ask if it is really going to be me... : After all, many of my neighbors want the work, and I prefer to play with computers than dig a ditch, for example. I have a worker who shows up twice a week to do all my permaculture chores, aside from milking the goats, which is another worker.

Given the society I live in, money buys assets and assets are valuable, unless someone is going to say land doesn't matter.

What I learned to do over the years is love whatever I am doing. I have been everything from doing lawn care at 12 to running a reforestation / lumber / furniture company at 53. I have enjoyed all of it, even being a short order cook. What I love is learning, so I could never find a job I would love forever, even owning our company. What I love is doing something new and creation, no matter what it is I am creating. I don't have the ability to create with paint or even wood, but I do have the ability to create with new ideas, so that is what I do.

And the money does matter, it is a sign that I did it well. I might play an instrument, but if no one likes it enough to pay for it, I can entertain myself, but money is used as a simple method of exchange. It is best thought of having transient value, not permanent. It can devalue, it can inflate day by day, but for a snap shot of time, it allows me to purchase something from you, when I don't have anything you want. After all, I might want to buy some veggies from you, but you don't need wood... as an example.

Things I don't do for gain are called hobbies, though my family teases me that even my hobbies are profitable... I have seen many a person reduced to flipping pancakes because they forgot that to receive things of value from others, you must produce things that they value, and are willing to pay for, in whatever medium you choose.

So pick something you can learn to love to do that is valuable to others if you need to increase your asset base. (asset = things that generate income, like a goat, for example, doesn't have to be money) When you have enough assets that they are now taking care of you, you can then do whatever you wish to do, in other words, your hobby. Sometimes you are fortunate that people still want you to do your hobby, like myself. I love programming, always have. It was a hobby before it was a job, and now it is a hobby again, and since I really don't care what I program, I let people give me things for doing it.

I think a serious mistake people make is trying to follow their hobby before they have built up their asset base. I think perhaps it is best thought of that pursuit of money isn't the point, but to be self-sufficient (not in that you produce 100% of your food, clothing, etc but that you have enough to take care of yourself) and how you get there may include bartering your skills for assets, and money is a tool to be used. But those who merely chase after money are really chasing paper, which isn't terribly smart.

just my dos colones, which is worth about 1/5 as much as 2 cents. lol

I recently became aware of some health issues. When this sort of thing happens to a person, it changes your perspective on life.

I think the most profound part is "how would you like to spend your time." It is the inverse of "time is money". When we are born, each person is assigned a random amount. If you make it to the old raisin's home, what will your story be?

I remember hearing something when I was 18 that I shared with friends and they thought it was stupid: When you thoroughly live your life, you don't have one career, you have several.

Changes things, doesn't it? I've worked hospice for the last several years and not one person I've taken care of got to change anything by the use of money. They all died in a very similar manner, both rich and poor.

Dale Hodgins wrote:~~~ --- while hunting down my enemies with a sling blade !

DALE! we are good right?

I mean we are not enemies right!

I do not know what a SLING BLADE IS! but it sounds like something bad!

If we are enemies how about hunting me down with home made apple butter with some home made bread??


what is a sling blade anyway?

The only way to minimize how much money matters is to use it less for your ongoing expenses.
Housing,
Water
Heating
Electric
Transportation
Food
Entertainment/Hobby
Medicine


Food by going to a homeless shelter, trash can, grow my own, steal, use money to buy food or fertilizer. etc

This thread caught my eye, so i felt compelled to respond.
Money has always been a necessary evil shall we say. As well as a way of consolidating the things we need. For instance you wouldn't take a trip across country hauling 200 gallons of gas, whereas money for gas is a way of consolidating your load to travel across country to allow for your trip to be enjoyable without being a burden. While on the other hand money isn't always needed to obtain things you may need or want, when you consider that most things can be obtained without money by bartering. I have found that I can barter for most items thereby eliminating the need for money to obtain what I need or want as well as helping out the other person to obtain their needs. Which frees me to have a more enjoyable lifestyle at the same time.