Microstory 333: Ability to Save Money

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Freedom from Debt

Once you’ve gotten yourself out of debt, and the numbers on that spreadsheet turn from red to black, obviously the next step is increasing those numbers even more. You’re going to want to move as far away from zero as you can. Everybody loves money, and life is a constant fight to get as much as possible to spend on grand things. There’s nothing wrong with that, and I’m not saying you should never buy anything, but be careful. Along with money comes the risk of losing it. So many people end up back in the red because they have no problem with having more money than they know what to do with. They can be quite creative when it comes to spending, and only later realize they should have gone without some of those purchases. There is another side to this, so I don’t want you to think that I’m just getting onto people who spend too much. It’s also possible to gather so much money that you’re paranoid about it, and you end up hardly spending anything. This is harmful to the economy, and hurts us all. But that’s a story for another day...literally. Now I can’t personally tell you how to save money. I don’t know how to invest, or what kind of accounts to set up, or really even how interest works. The only advice I can give you is to either figure that out for yourself, or have enough money to pay someone else to do it for you. That second one, as long as you can trust the person you hire, will keep your money safe, and you’ll also be contributing to their money, which supports the economy. But again, I’m getting ahead of myself. The takeaway from all this is to be frugal and wise. Just because you have enough money for a giant mansion, doesn’t mean you should live in one. There’s a difference between money you have, and money you can afford to spend.

Economic Participation