The Secret to Being Smart With Your Money

The real secret to being smart with your money is simple. All you have to do to properly handle your finances is remember what exactly your finances are.

Money.

That's it.

Not happiness, not contentment, not power, not a problem solver, not what you are missing in life.

Money can't even buy you love. Ask Paul.

We people, for some reason, get this idea of what money means to us. What stuff means to us.

We seem to think that if we just get a little more, we'll have enough, and then we'll be ok. When one of history's richest men, John Rockefeller, was asked the question "how much is enough?", he replied, "Just a little bit more."

No matter how hard we work to save, how much we don't spend, it all means nothing if we lose sight of what money really is.

I recently met a friend here who's story made me realize how guilty I am of this money hunt. He goes to school full time, and works 2 part time jobs so he can pay $600 a month for his family's house, which he no longer even lives in. He told me they don't ask him to, and when I asked him about it, he replied with "its really not so much if I can help."

I'm sure he had no idea what he had just done to me.

Even at my age, I find myself already planning my next move, and how I'm going to advance myself and get more of that elusive cash.

Unfortunately, it seems like the more money you get, the more money gets you.

We spend all this time, sacrificing our lives on the altar of wealth, chasing after the nightmare that disguises itself as a dream.

All for paper. What a trade.

What we have to realize is that money should be our servant, not the other way around.

I'm not saying that you should throw caution to the wind and stop worrying about your finances, your loans, your bills. Nor should you quit always looking for the best value available.

You should, however, make sure that money has its place. If you find money is a constant source of stress and is degrading the quality of your life, relax. It will be ok.

You've only got one life to live, and there's no reason to ruin it about something that won't mean anything when it's all over.

One thing I've learned from working with some local homeless individuals is their total ability to be happy with what they have. These people don't have much, but you would be hard-pressed to find more smiles in one place.

So keep being smart with your money. Enjoy it, and don't, as your mother always told you, spend it all in one place.

But whatever you do, don't forget.

It's just money.

This article made the list in the most recent Festival of Frugality at Student Scrooge.