How Having Less Money Can Be A Good Thing

Advisor January 8, 2018

Zhao Bianxiang, head of the respiratory medicine team at the Yuci District People’s Hospital in China collapsed in front of patients while doing her rounds. She was later announced dead despite the team’s effort to keep her alive for 20 long hours. One of the factors that they are looking is that Zhao has been overworking herself. She was doing an 18-hour shift without taking a break!

Zhao collapsed in the middle of doing her rounds

As humans, we tend to think that having a lot of money is the key to happiness. No matter how many times the rich people tell us that money is not the happiness we thought it will be, we just don’t simply buy it. That is why we slave ourselves to work so we can have more digits on the check we are going to take home. We tend to sacrifice everything, health, quality time with family, and a good rest just so we can work and earn more.

What if there are ways to have a work-life balance and still be financially able? Here are some ways that will consider the workaholics that paychecks cannot guarantee us a wealthy life.

Assess the true needs

People usually get the wants and the needs altered. We give ourselves reasons and justifications just to buy that new pair of shoes. We tap ourselves in the back after getting that $4 cup of coffee, saying that we need it to survive the day. But take out all those noise and desires, and we can get a clearer picture of what we truly need. We work more hours because we want to buy more things, putting what “living” truly means at stake.

Start by shopping only once every season, reuse clothes, brew coffee at home, cook instead of ordering food, and we’ll realize that we all have food, shelter, and clothes without breaking our backs.

Exercise somewhere else

Some parks install exercise equipment to promote a budget-friendly wellness

Gym memberships are truly a weight on our monthly bills, especially when we seldom go there. Cut the cord with the gym equipment and start exercising elsewhere. The park is a good place to jog, that is already cardio. Lift groceries, and we have weights training. YouTube Yoga tutorials and it’s just like the $10 per session. There are a lot of ways to exercise so get creative and stop paying for a gym card.

Love and money is not the same thing

Countless of times, we have seen memes and jokes online that being in a relationship can make anyone go broke. But does it really though? We know some people who would go spend extra hours at work just because valentines, anniversaries, and birthdays of their loved ones are just around the corner. There is nothing wrong with giving our significant others gifts, but we have to remember that love is not about how expensive that gift is. Love is love, with or without expensive gifts, it should continue to bloom.

Stop equating

Friend A earns $2,500 a month and owns an iPhone X. Friend B earns $2,505 a month and still owns iPhone 6 she bought two years ago. Does that make friend B poorer than Friend A? This is a scenario that we all experience at a certain point in our life. We tend to compare ourselves to what others have and make it as a reference point of where we are. We tend to conform to what the whole world owns, but we find ourselves having no saving in the process. Being free from all the pressures surrounding us is very liberating.

Know what matters most

Spending quality time with family is found to be more fulfilling than taking home a huge paycheck

There is a saying: “The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.” Make some reflection on what matters most in life. Is it the money saved up in our bank accounts or the memories we created with our loved ones? If it’s the latter, then stop spending so much time at work and start spending it with friends and family. There is so much the world can offer with just the right amount of money. In the end, we will not be remembered for the money we made, but by the impact that we have left.