The Difference Between Saving Money And Needing To Save Money
“I work at the airport, so I get free standby flights.” He told me in that perfect-yet-slightly-accented English spoken by nearly every German traveler.
Dragging his bag to the door, he didn’t know he’d be back in Nairobi every day for the following 3 days, waiting for a standby flight to open up. Finally, his girlfriend got a flight to Dar es Salaam but she was stuck overnight with no hotel. It took about 1 week for both of them to get back to Germany.
Lost time. Stress. Vexation. Vacation?
This is life when you need to save money…
What’s the difference between ‘needing to save money’ and ‘saving money’?
Needing To Save Money – When you are spending too much money and need to scrape money off the cost of what you consume. (Like Mr. German who needed to save money on the flight home)
Saving Money – When you are generating too much income and you can save (usually invest) money without feeling pressure or changing your lifestyle.
When you need to save money, you are usually out of control, behind in some way, and possibly even in debt. You’ve made decisions that you can’t pay for and now you are scrambling. In doing so, you’ll find that your life, plans and time often get thrown out of whack for little reasons like “No more standby” or ‘Flat tire’ or ‘Unexpected overcharge’.
When you’re saving money, you are usually in control, ahead of the game, and able to put money into investments that pay you. Your past decisions are paying off and give you ever-increasing control over your life, plans and time.
Control: Do You Have It?
I hate when I am thrown out of control because I tried to be smart and cheap, because I thought I was smart and I needed to be cheap.
In my experience, (as a 24-year-old) control is the first reason to save money and build wealth. You can also use money to buy fancy things, or be lazy all day, but these are much less important. Here’s my truth:
Two Important Truths
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I Like Cheap Things: I ate boiled potatoes for breakfast today. I like drinking instant coffee. I often ask myself “Am I really enjoying these boiled potatoes?” and perhaps surprisingly, the answer is usually “Yes!”
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I Like Working: I like running these e-commerce shops, constantly learning and trying new strategies at 2AM. I like what I do to make money, and I work a lot.
So long as I have control of my life, my plans, and my time, I don’t really care what I eat or how much I work. Control is most important, and a part of that is being able to save money without needing to save money.
While Mr. German was lugging his bags back and forth to and from the airport, I was eating cheap food and working all day on my computer.
One of us was saving money while the other needed to save money.
One of us was in control while the other had lost control.
Do you understand the difference?