“He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.” – Benjamin Franklin
I’ve never been one to employ large sweeping generalities. I try to recognize that everyone lives unique lives with unique backgrounds focused on unique passions. We are different in our nationality, our heritage, our gender, our family status, our religion, our culture, and our worldview. But I am becoming increasingly convinced there is one characteristic that unites each of us:
We don’t need more money.
I admit that some have stumbled upon this blog post today who do need money for legitimate survival. But it is probably not you. After all, you clearly have access to the Internet… which doesn’t guarantee you have everything you need for survival, but it sure increases the probability. Add to that the reality that 6 billion people live on less than $13,000/year and Daniel Suelo has survived the past 12 years with no money at all and I’d say chances are pretty good your basic needs are already taken care of.
We don’t really need more money.
But most of us still want it. We’d like more cash in our pocket. We want a bigger paycheck each week. We want a larger balance in our checking account, savings account, or retirement account. And many of us have tied our happiness to this pursuit of money.
Even though our basic needs have been met, our desire for money persists. Far too often, this desire begins to take root as a need inside of us. Before we know it, we forget that we were talking about a want and begin confusing it with a need. But what we need and what we want are rarely the same.
We don’t really need more money. Instead…
- We need to show more spending restraint.
- We need to discover gratitude and contentment.
- We need to practice generosity.
- We need to stop comparing our lives to others.
- We need to change our view of money.
- We need to realize our lives are far more valuable than the amount of money we possess.
Kathleen @ Frugal Portland says
I love the Franklin quote, it’s one I hadn’t seen before. Money fits into Maslow’s hierarchy so well, that of course, we can’t be happy when our basic needs are met. We just end up striving for more.
Chirstina says
…if left unchecked, yes. But what if we replaced the striving for money/stuff with striving to have more enriching experiences with friends, family or alone? As humans, we’ll always be striving for something, that’s what makes life worth living and exciting. But we need to be careful of what it is we’re actually striving for. :)
Don says
In my situation, more money is good thing, to get debt paid off as quickly as possible so I can not have to worry about money. So I guess, in my case, you will “eventually” be right.
Rob Morgan says
Many years ago I was complaining about my low salary. A friend said, “Maybe instead of wishing for more money you should find a way to live within your means.” It was good advice. As someone else said, “If your OUTgo exceeds your INcome, your UPkeep will be your DOWNfall.” Forty years later I am still growing in gratitude, contentment, and generosity.
AlexM says
I read an article/post by a professional frugality blogger who said that friends are too expensive — that we waste money by buying gifts for them, trying to keep up, etc. It’s something I disagree with. One thing that having a responsible financial life is about for me, is being able to be generous with my friends. I have actually started to spend more for birthdays, etc. But I don’t give physical gifts. I just gave a girl friend restaurant gift certificates because she moved into a new house that needs a lot of fixing and they have no kitchen and money is tight. We are generous in making meals for friends, or brining wine to their home when we are invited.
For me, part of earning a nice income is not being afraid to let some of it go for good causes (like charities, which you mention), but to use it to live an enriched and generous life with those we care about. Maybe I am in the minority of people who blog about financial restraing/responsibility, but I strive to make good money for the work I do and hope that it in turn helps me become more generous — not miserly. Charity is all well and good, but spreading the enjoyment of life is something that is important for me too. The trick, IMO, is to find a way to be generous without making the recipient feel they need to reciprocate.
Betsy says
My dream is to have a blessing of a good income so that I can bless others..simple and blessed for others.
carole-ann says
I really needed this today!! Thank you! The more we focus on “lack” the more lack we will attract. I try to focus on abundance and blessings and I always receive more when I do
Betsy says
Yes !! Having a mindset of poverty and creates an impoversished soul..which manifests itself into poor quality of life
Gene says
Bravo, Josh… This is among the most meaningful and valuable posts on any blog in 2012. As Mother Teresa said, “Whoever is dependent on his or her money or worries about it, is truly a poor person.” I pray it is read widely and taken seriously.
Betsy says
Love that quote thanks needed it today!
Betsy says
I can’t help but think of having a plan with money. This would mean weekly, monthly, goals, the future.
Having a plan puts things in prospective.
If we continue to think money will create happiness for us, we will be chasing our tails. Everything you spoke about is so true. Money can become a source of misery for many. Giving, sharing, caring, having a spirit of gratitude, etc. provides far more riches than the what the bank says is in our accounts.
Greg Whitaker says
Money = food. Food = survival. No food = death. Not enough money means possible death. How many of us are aware of this untruth? When consciously unaware of this we erroneously think we fear countless other things.
A previous comment on your blog: “Some of us access the internet on the library or at work, internet this days does not equal well off.” If employed, we’re well off. If we’ve got internet, there’s nothing we don’t have access to. If literate, let’s count our blessings. I still sometimes think I need more money, even @ $75k/year gross. I’m not complaining about what I do have, and I still need to change my view of money.
It all boils down to not knowing who we are. We constantly look outside ourselves for an identity. That includes food and money. When we come to know (not believe) that who we really are can never be diminished and never dies, we can begin to experience the liberation that comes from that knowing. Forgetting who we are is the issue. Amnesia, not lack of money, is the real issue.
Fabulous article Joshua Becker!
Carla says
Wanting to earn more to afford fresh produce is not wrong or a problem of identity, it is providing a better life for those that depend on you.
” When we come to know (not believe) that who we really are can never be diminished and never dies, we can begin to experience the liberation that comes from that knowing. Forgetting who we are is the issue. Amnesia, not lack of money, is the real issue.
”
See we do die, really we do. Even the memory of us will die, and that is just a memory forged by the perception of other people, even that is not really You.
And you know how we can die faster, if we only eat crap because that is all you can afford.
carla says
Some of us access the internet on the library or at work, internet this days does not equal well off.
If you compare with people in sub-Saharan Africa that live on dust, yeah we don’t need more money. But if you want to give your kids fresh food instead of hotdogs and crisps than you need more money. Context and geography matter, sweeping generalizations and a few people that make it “without money” not so much.
Hanno says
In my experience, healthy food is not more expensive. Quite the contrary, it’s often much cheaper to buy vegetables and create your own low-calorie, low-salt, high-nutrition, lots-of-vegetable food.
What it needs is mostly more time, not more money.
Megyn @MinimalistMommi says
Carla,
I can completely understand where your concern is coming from. I have totally felt where you are, having to care for the health and welfare of children on a meager income. However, Joshua did mention that not all are in a place where money is truly a non-issue. Also, I want to provide some insight that it can all come down to perspective shifting and shifting priorities. We are a family of 4 (2 adults & 2 little ones) living on $34k/year gross income. We constantly feel the strain trying to keep a decent roof over our heads and feed our boys healthy foods. However, in reality, it’s much easier than we tell ourselves it is. We are able to purchase organic foods almost always. We own our house. And even find a way to save a little each month. Granted, our boys are on state health insurance and utilize WIC (where we don’t even use 1/2 of the checks), but we really are better off than we often imagine we are. And I think that’s the point Joshua is trying to make. Yes, things can be rough financially, but in reality we are the ones who make it harder than it needs to be.
Nadia says
Megyn @MinimalistMommi
I couldn’t agree with you more. When my parents first moved to the states when I was 2…we were a family of 5 in a TINY old apartment, my mom made everything from scratch and we always had healthy nutritious food (I never had McDonald’s until I was 16) and we had no income (mom stayed with us at home, dad went to school…lived on a tiny saving). My mom fed all of us 5 on <50$ per week, and taught us creativity an art for several years using boxes of scraps and random scrap supplies she bought for $5. My point is- I totally get still feeling I have not enough money…but alot of the time we do have enough, but we believe we don't and thus act as we don't…
johnny c says
“We need to show more spending restraint.” Point taken. Until I read that, my plan was to immediately head to Amazon and buy the new book.
joshua becker says
Glad I could help. :)
My Life says
I have to ask why did you write a book in the first place? If it was to inform and share information with others, then why are you charging money for it? Also, since you just stopped a reader of your blog from buying your book, why not send him your book for free? Writing an informative book and then charging money for it (since you can’t get it for free at the library) puts you in the same pool as a capitalist pig, which is a total contrast to what you pontificate here. After all, I am certain you have enough money for your own life. Why are you asking for more?
Money is simply energy. It is what lifted man out of the jungle (as in the case of the scavenger, Daniel Suelo) and made the human race more civilized. Money is not a problem, per se. If people want more of it and work for it, let them have it. That’s what I say. If you want true freedom from the love of money, then you must be able to let people live as they themselves see fit. We should respect the wealthy as much as we respect the poor. Only then are we truly free from the lust of money. IMHO.
Right now, the whole entire universe is showing ‘spending restraint’ due to a global collapsed economy. How’s that been working out for everybody? Is the world a happier place? Or have you noticed more rioting in the streets, from the lack of money?
Personally, I think you should send johnny C a free copy of your book and if you really practice what you preach, everyone who visits this blog should get a free copy also. Just make it available as a free download for all of us who blantantly access the internet because we are all rich fat cats, eh?
Ashley says
@ My Life,
Josh actually never said that money was bad. And he certainly didn’t say that people shouldn’t make money or be wealthy, or that people who do are “capitalist pigs.” All he said was that most of the people accessing this blog, himself included, don’t need more money, but want more money, and that we should learn to differentiate our wants from our needs. By understanding the difference, we won’t “tie our happiness to this pursuit of money” if/when it’s not a need.
It’s easy to read something into a post that isn’t really there. I’ve certainly done this before, and it’s definitely not something I’d look down on anyone else for doing. There’s just no need to imply that someone (in this case, Josh) is hypocritical for making money when he’s made it clear that it’s not money that’s the issue, but basing our happiness on it.
Brooke says
@My Life
If you’re going to name call and bash people, why don’t you do it somewhere else. You shouldn’t come onto someone else’s blog and start bashing.
Don’t you realize that Joshua needs to provide for his family? He wrote a book, that takes time away from his family, that is his precious time…. as well as his source of income. He doesn’t have to give it away unless he wants to. It’s a choice we all can make and where he and his family choose to give to/away, is HIS choice.
Also, I don’t know what part of the country you live in and where you see “rioting in the streets” but where I see that there are plenty of people still buying buying buying. So Joshua is right when he says “we don’t need more money.”
@Joshua – I appreciate your thoughts and your blog b/c it’s really helped me grow within the area of minimalizing. I st I would hope people, including My Life would read your blog and be encouraged by your passion and your awareness you bring.
joshua becker says
Thanks for the comment @My Life. It gives me opportunity to explain a bit more than I may have in the article. Just to be clear, I am not against labor. And I am not against being compensated for your labor.
What I was hoping to accomplish in this piece is to free up many of us who get caught in the trap of thinking that we “need” more money to improve our lives or experience greater happiness. What we think we need is not always accurate of what we actually need.
My Life says
I believe then it’s called ‘living within ones means’. Has nothing to do with or without making money at all. You also, Joshua, were very degrading to people who are just using the internet. As if implying people who do use it are rich or something.
I think only religious pastors should pontificate. Money makes the world go round and should be respected, which it is NOT here. You seem to admonish those who have money and perhaps you do not even realize that you do.
@Brooke, if a person wants to have a blog, have a comments section and sell a product at the same time, he or she should welcome all viewers regardless of what they have to say or write. Why such fear?
To anyone who thinks they don’t need money, they will be in for a rude surprise. It’s the level of money one needs. Respect the wealthy as you should respect the poor.
PS: I won’t come back here anymore, so any more discussion is moot. I’m deleting this blog from my roll and the person who recommended this site to me will get a nice email from me. Apparently this site is listed in a book. Thankfully it’s an eBook, online and thanks to the internet, can be erased.
Ellen says
Actually in my city you can pay $1 and request the library purchase a book. Often they will do it without even charging the $1.
I also have friends who freely share books. One buys one book and another a different and we swap them around. This keeps a roof over the authors’ heads and keeps us from all owning all the books.
Your cerebral financial thought for the day.
Kara Laws says
Josh,
Because writing a book COST money. The book isn’t about how to screw yourself over by doing everything for free.