Think of all the things that you spend your money on – objects and experiences. Do you ever stop to consider if it is worth it? Sometimes it is and sometimes it’s not.

If you are not limited by money, you will be limited by the time you have available. Unlike money, time is finite. We cannot get around to everything we would like to pursue. With time being a limiting factor life comes down to making choices.

There is an interplay between two important resources: money and time. You sacrifice your time and attention to earn money. Money serves as a proxy for your most precious resource: time. Your time, through labour, was exchanged for income. When you spend your money on things it represents your time and effort that was required to earn that income.

All the things that you have, used to be money and that money used to be time. You are paying with your time when you spend money. How valuable is your time, your life energy, relative to what you are spending it on?

Time is the currency of life.

Every item purchased represents our expended time, transformed into a tangible form of value. This mindset makes a transaction more than just a monetary decision, it becomes deeply personal.

Memories created through experiences appreciate in value over time. Things that you buy typically decreases in value over time. A new car for example is an aesthetically beautiful object that continuously decreases in value. How important is a particular spend to you? How much of your time do you need to exchange to fund this purchase?

Each purchase should reflect your priorities, preferences and aspirations, as it represents an allocation of your finite resource – time. Wealth is not only measured in terms of material possessions but is also expressed in moments and memories – time well spent.

When we part with our money for goods or services, we are essentially trading our time and effort.

Understanding the true price of the purchase or spend will help us to do so mindfully.

 

The above article was written and adapted by Marius Kilian.