Perhaps you’ve heard the saying “You can always make more money”, or the one that goes something like “They’re always printing more”. Perhaps you’ve bought into the guru’s advice that if you work extra hard, and save every penny, you can make way more money than you’ve ever dreamed of. If so, there’s a small problem.
Money is a finite resource.
Just like oil, coal, water and a bunch of other natural resources that we recycle and reuse regularly to conserve, money must be conserved. Because, just like those natural resources, it has a finite limit. And, until you start treating it that way, it will always have the best of you.
I think the key is in the conservation of money. Yes, we need money to pay our bills, buy supplies that we need, and even to splurge once in a while. But, we have to learn to conserve what we have. Just like a natural resource, we have to learn to use our monetary resources wisely, and in a way that will not deplete the reserves that we have. Because, at the end of the day, if we deplete our reserves, there might not be any more money to earn.
Many of us take for granted that there will be enough clean water to drink for many lifetimes. But, if we don’t learn to conserve our water, and keep it clean by using it wisely, there might be a day, in our lifetimes, where there are severe water shortages. In some parts of the world, that already happens. If we aren’t careful with our usage of money, we might find ourselves in a situation where more money cannot be earned. We might lose our jobs, have a health emergency, or just outspend our income, and our ability to earn more money will be outstripped.
My point is that if we continually treat money as an infinite resource that we can always earn more of, we aren’t being careful stewards of that resource. Yes, you should try and earn more, but you also should stay vigilant in how you’re spending your money so that your lifestyle doesn’t expand to meet that new earning capability.
How do you treat your money? As an infinite or finite resource?
Shane Ede is a business teacher and personal finance blogger. He holds dual Bachelors degrees in education and computer sciences, as well as a Masters Degree in educational technology. Shane is passionate about personal finance, literacy and helping others master their money. When he isn’t enjoying live music, Shane likes spending time with family, barbeque and meteorology.
I treat money as an asset to invest and grow. As a teacher, I understand how finite money is. This is one of the reasons I work so hard to grow this limited resource.
There might be an infinite supply of money but my supply of it is definitely finite and I treat it as such.
Yes, we should treat money as if we aren’t always going to have a steady income. We should save it up in the good years so when the bad years come, we’ll have emergency funds to rely upon.
Thanks for the great reminder!
I think of money as security and freedom. I suppose that’s why I’m so attentive to conserving it.
Money is finite resource as a whole. But as an individual there is no limitation on earning money. I would not think it as finite resource rather, would try to accumulate as much as from the infinite pool.
The federal reserve doesn’t believe in money as a finite resource. They have been printing it like mad since 2008. Money might technically be finite, but there are infinite ways to make money in this world.