On Money · 4 min read
Money Buys Time, Not Things
Once you can pay rent, the value of a dollar changes.
Younger, I thought money was for things. A better phone. A nicer jacket. A trip that would look right in photographs. When I got the things, they did what things do, which is become the background of the next want.
Then a friend, older and quieter, said something that reoriented me: past a certain point, money is not for buying things. It is for buying time. Time to think before you answer. Time to leave the job that is eating you. Time to take the call from your father without checking the clock.
Save not to be rich. Save to be free. A small buffer, honestly maintained, will change more about your life than any purchase you can imagine.
Written slowly. Read as slowly as you like.