There are many people who enjoy being slaves to money. But some of them who want to stop being slave by money. Some of them who want to be rich are being a slave to money for a better life. Each has their own motivation. The top wants to get rich while the bottom wants to be rich (or even richer).
What is Money Slave?
The term “money slave” is an internet meme that refers to people who are addicted to earning money or money itself. The term is used both as a derogatory and as a self-identification. People who are labeled as money slaves often work very hard and do not enjoy what they do. They also believe they are treated worse than others.
The money slave may be financially dependent on the dominant person either part time or full time. Money slaves have many different motivations to enter the money slave lifestyle. Some do it to pay off their debt, others to help pay for college.
3 Signs that you may be a Slave to Money
Keep Up the Joneses
Imagine that when you get your first job and make about $3000 a month. You spent most of it and you work extremely hard for it. When you get a promotion, you increase your expenses repeatedly and it will never end. You never find there is enough for you to make enough to survive. That’s what we usually see as a money slave.
Greedy
Humans never have enough money. We always want to have more than we have now. In the current system, we tend to want more money as we can. From generation to generation, we always think that “the more money we have, more powerful we will “. This raises a generation of people that aim to have more accumulated money. We can’t get enough of what we never really want. We would rather choose to be slaves to money to buy more of what we want and work even harder and harder.
Under Debts
Bob Marley says that. “Money is numbers and numbers never end. If it takes money to be happy, your search for happiness will never end.”
Many of us are in debt when we finish university. But when we started working, we took more debt repeatedly. For buying a new car, new house or to live a better life.
We never ask what our end goal is. Is having more money our end goal? Or having a good lifestyle, able to spend time with a loved one and living a good life without worrying much about the money, is the end goal?
2 Ways to Avoid Become a Slave to Money
In fact, many of us don’t have to become a slave to money, but we choose to do it. We have the capability of being the master of money, but we don’t choose to become the master. Instead, we use the money to buy things we may not need and consistently strive for more money. It became an endless loop.
There are 2 simple ways that you can avoid becoming a slave to money.
Pay Yourself First
When you receive your paycheck, always pay yourself first. For example, paying off debt, creating an emergency fund, buying insurance, and putting money into a retirement account. The most important thing is to pay off the mandatory expenses.
Then, you will have the rest of the money to buy things you want. Many of us swipe our credit card for entertainment expenses without control. At the end of the month, we left without money for the mandatory expenses.
Use Money To Solve Problems
Never buy things you don’t need or things you don’t want to impress people. It will end up creating a lot of problems. Always use the money to solve problems, you will no longer become a slave.
A lot of the time, we can spend the money to solve the problem we are facing. But many of the time, we always use money to create new problems. When you use the money to solve problems, you will soon to be the master of money.
Money is a tool that if you use properly, you will make something amazing. If you use it badly, it will mess you up. Don’t slave for money, but slave money for you.
Summary
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean that we don’t need money to survive. However, being a slave to money or the need for money is not the same. We know we can’t live without money and we need money to survive, to buy food, pay rent and bills.
But we always use the money to create lots of problems that put ourselves in the endless loop. Indeed, there is no wrong with pursuing more money for a bigger house or a better lifestyle. It’s always a choice. You can choose to have more money and work for it even harder or choose to have less money but not to slave to the money. It all depends your preference.
This article is for informational purposes only, it should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Before making any major financial decisions, please consult a financial professional.