I have often thought about time and it’s material form, money. I hate working for money at a job that keeps me from the things I want to persue. I illegally taught kindergarten for my last job so they paid me in cash. Everything month I would get a large stack of NTD bills in a red envelope, holding all that cash made me swagger like a drug dealer.
What did I hold in my hand? The possibilities were only limited by the amount and responsibility of paying rent and utilities on time. One day I held the larges stack of bills from the largest payday I ever had. I kind of made my dizzy. What did I hold in my hand? A voice in my head told me. You are holding your time. The old saying goes: Time is money. This is true. I was holding a fat stack of time evaluated at 14$ an hour.
This is when I decided to become frugal. Getting paid for a job is getting time back. Some of it is lost to responsibility but the majority of it is yours again, a new lease of time. That is why you should choose your purchases wisely.
Time is the most valuable thing in the world for a selfish individual because it is the one thing that we cannot get back. Sure things break and people die, but that is out of your control. Time is something you have control over. You can control how you spend your time and how you spend your money.
Question and evaluate who you are and what you stand for. This is no easy task. For some people the answers are given to them and they have no say in the matter, the examples of this are drastically different. Due to privilege and my fortunate upbringing I was permitted to seek.
I looked inward. I asked questions to myself. I spent time to separate myself from all the noise and clamor. What did I want? How do I get it? What is really worth the time or and the risk of loosing it?
I looked outward. To my parents, what was I like as a child? They answered. I evaluated. To my friends, what do you think of me? Some answers deep and more answers surface. The assembly of perspectives gave more light into who I really am.
Once you get to a modicum of understanding you must begin to spend your time and it’s material form. If you know who you are and what you stand for you will never waste either. But you will be in a constant battle on shifting ground, for you are at the mercy of you mind and it’s force of will. Some days you will eat an entire carton of strawberry ice cream or watch an entire season of breaking bad, other days you will eat a head of purple cabbage and read a fucking book. I think the secret is balance. To know that you will do both. This knowledge will give you comfort. Problems arise when you spend too much time or money on one side of what you know you want and who you know you are.