Our money is only as valuable as what we choose to spend it on.
This has been a life-changing realization in my life. It has changed how I see money and how I spend it.
If we choose to buy a big screen television, our money was worth a big screen television. We get to have it in our living room and watch basketball games or play video games on it, but our money will never be worth more than the electronic hanging on our wall.
Similarly, we could use our money to buy a new pair of shoes or wardrobe or a closet organizing system. In that case, our money was worth the fashion we purchased with it… or the designer storage compartments we installed to better store our stuff.
But our money can never be spent on anything else. Once it is spent, it is spent.
Now, let’s say we decide not to buy the large screen television, but take our kids on a weekend vacation instead. It seems to me, in this scenario, we begin to increase the value of our money. We create memories around a shared experience. Or we learn something about a new place or culture or try a new food. We bond as a family and share an experience we will talk about for the rest of our lives.
There is a reason experiential purchases tend to provide more enduring happiness than material purchases. This trip may likely prove to be more valuable to us than an unneeded larger-screen television.
But there’s more. What happens when we begin to use our money to help people or solve problems we see in the world?
How valuable does our money become when we use it to help send a child to school in a developing country or deliver clean water to a village in Africa? What if we helped provide a family for an orphaned child or helped a refugee family get settled in a new country? What if we helped provide job training in our local community or chose to help out the financially struggling young mother in our community?
Our money could be used to help solve an injustice we see in the world—whether it would be an injustice against another person, a group of people, the environment, animals, or any cause we are personally passionate about.
When we begin to use our money in this way, its potential and value begins to increase even more!
What about the child you helped send to school? Who knows what cycle of poverty you may have broken in his/her life and who knows what potential exists there? Who knows what might become of the child you helped place in a family—whether through community orphan care, foster care, or adoption? What might become of the young mother and child you helped put on solid footing, or the man who was trained in a new job skill?
Who knows what life your financial resources were able to change or how the world may turn out differently because of your investment.
Our money can never be worth more than what we choose to spend it on. And there are some things we can buy with it that are more valuable than others.
Once we see that, spending dollars on a bigger-screen television or chasing ever-changing fashion starts to look like a pretty poor investment.
paul says
you are a wise person
Gail says
Amen
Mrs. Deepa Weerasuriya says
Thanks a lot Joshua. You have helped the society immensely by educating them on minimalism. I am from Srilanka and I have noticed that people from lot of countries including me are learning from you and app you very much. Keep it up. All the best. Thank you very much for your good service.
Eric Owens says
It’s really interesting to see how subjective value is from reading these comments. The sense I get from the article is that it’s concluding that money is more valuable when spent on experiences and causes as opposed to trendy consumer products. I see some suggest in the comments that money spent on a consumer product that brings a family together makes the money spent just as valuable, but I guess the question is does it bring just as much lasting joy filled with memories to look back on.
I’d say both can perhaps accomplish that lasting joy in their own ways. Maybe I’d lean towards the experiences bringing more of that lasting joy, because when I think back to my fond memories, I think I dwell more on the things that I did with people, more than the things that I watched with people. But everyone has a different set of memories that they dwell on, and hopefully all our memories we’re making in whatever way we make them are bringing us lasting joy.
Jenny says
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Malathi Karpur says
I am Malathi from India and I love reading your posts. I have always been a “hoarder” and my younger son keeps asking me to get rid of 80% of things ( mostly books, magazines, journals and newspaper cuttings ) which I have been collecting and storing for the last 40 years! . A couple of years ago I parted with my “Readers Digest collection” and my ” National Geographic Magazines ” by giving it away to a library. I still have a lot to give away and I hope to de-clutter (by giving away most of my things) by end of this year, Wish me luck.
Terri says
I appreciate this perspective on spending. I would like to add that the value of a purchase can extend beyond the cost of the item purchased. So, if a family invests in a big-screen TV, & that TV allows them to have awesome weekly movie nights, saving theater tkt & concessions expenses throughout the year, that could be a good investment for that family. I think the real trap is believing we always need to upgrade and chasing experiences that don’t satisfy.
Rhonda says
The Minimalists just put out a podcast episode addressing the “upgrading justification”. Check it out. Listen to what they say about companies who purposely slow down their older tech to push sales.
Lisa says
Wow!! I’ve read many of your articles and this one has really changed my view. I try to ascribe to being a minimalist, but somehow things keep showing up in my house. I love being able to share with others and this is a great reminder of how paying it forward can do things we never can even fathom with God’s power. Might be one of my favorite articles from you. Thanks, Joshua, for doing this work! (Your blog is the only one I subscribe to.)
Matt says
I loved this article, as I usually love all of your articles. I truly believe that our time and resources should go towards benefitting and assisting others in need.
My scripture reading for the day I read this article was out of Romans 12 TPT. Verse 17 read,” Never hold a grudge or try to get even, but plan your life around the noblest way to benefit others”.
I’m not opposed to a nice TV, I have one, but “stuff” is no longer my pursuit. My faith leads me to first of all pursue Him and then secondly pursue the noblest ways to help others with the resources I have. This mindset has given my life a greater depth of meaning, it isn’t a new concept, but I could fully pursue it because I ceased pursuing “stuff” and minimized life’s distractions.
Again, great article!
Michele says
This article really resonated with me.
I have read with interest the comments too.
My interpretation of the tv purchase is not that the tv itself is a poor choice, but that a new, bigger and better tv when you already have a big, fully functioning tv may be a poor choice. Equally regarding new clothes.
It has made me realise that I don’t need to get the newest iPhone if my current phone has all the functionality I need.
Thanks Joshua Becker for keeping it real.
Karen Trefzger says
Michele, that’s absolutely what I was thinking too! Joshua isn’t condemning people’s purchases of TVs. He’s talking about upgrading simply because you’ve been sold on the idea and you can afford it, not because you have no TV or clothing. No one is saying that it’s wrong to purchase a TV if it will facilitate fun family evenings. But you don’t need a huge TV to do that. You don’t need a fancy closet system or designer clothes to be attractively dressed. Spending your money instead on family trips or (even better) on helping others who don’t EVER need a TV (they need water, or food, or safety, or an education instead) is the most valuable use of your limited resources. The returns on investment are the highest. This article makes a great point.