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by rthrth45y 624 days ago
How have these things tangibly changed your life and behavior? Do you have things you could share as an example? I never know what that looks like. Everything I want to do in life to enjoy it requires money I do not have.
2 comments

Try things that don’t require (a lot of) money. Stuff like expensive travel to far away places is overrated in my opinion. Take walks in the local parks, volunteer locally or join local clubs. You may find something you never thought about that you like doing and that costs very little.

Acquiring expensive stuff is almost never deeply rewarding. There are exceptions of course such as good tools you might need for a hobby you enjoy but used tools are often a bargain or there are makerspaces or community workshops you might explore.

There are two significant changes I've noticed in myself:

* I mostly stopped caring what others think about me.

Outside of a small handful of family and friends, peoples' opinions sincerely do not matter. I am wasting my already finite time thinking about them. That means I've stopped caring as much about looking good, speaking and acting cleanly, and so on in public. Did I disturb someone's peace of mind? Did I make someone happy? Sorry/you're welcome but I don't and can't care; I don't even know who they are and I have things to do.

Essentially, "gaze upon my field of damns and notice that it is barren".

* I am much more likely to purchase premium services and products now.

My time is finite, I do not wish to spend it on things I don't care about any more than I have to. This means I purchase a Windows license or a Macbook rather than deal with Linux config files; I hire a gardener every now and then to tend to my lawn; I take my car to the dealer/mechanic rather than fixing it myself; and so on.

I am saving my own time by spending my money, time I can then spend on things I truly care about.

This is all predicated on the fact that money is a resource that everyone has access to, which is not the case. Unfortunately, the rest of us have to work and do things ourselves because we cannot afford to outsource those things. The cost of doing so is literally out of reach. This entire thread is steeped heavily in privilege. I wish, and a huge number of people like me also wish, that we even had the option to trade money for time or the option to just decide work is stressful and we would rather reclaim our time with our family. Instead it's missing your grandparents birthdays and eventually their funerals because work won't let you go and you can't afford rent next month.