How do you 'view' money?

I would say that money is freedom for its owner. Freedom is really just about your ability to choose, and money really opens up a lot of opportunities for you to pick from. Without money, I wouldn't be able to (as they say) vote with my dollars. I can't pick one product over another due to its quality, so that's one freedom I've lost. Having money, I think, also lessens stress, to an extent. (This spills over to the issue of security) Instead of worrying over monetary debts, you can instead spend your time caring about your interests. They say that money doesn't buy happiness, but lack of money sure does leave you with unhappiness. It's hard to actually be merry when there's a pile of debt in your face. Those two points sum it up for me.

Money is def. security, freedom, & power... power to control your finances & destiny.

Money?! Money, as a fact ... an exchange tool! Today the ATM cards are taking place to get the money for exchange and will become slowly exchange tool! We know the check system in banking too and bank is part of our financial exchange place to deal with money in major ways! Coins were there for exchange, before that exchange was done with the material: I need grain and so I give seasonal fruits for an exchange! When past become present, the exchange symbols are changed gradually. Then uniformity was agreeable considering the coins! Later the concept of currency note was applied with authentic state/ nation power symbol regarding exchange value! Since childhood money comes to me as a thing which one can use to get some thing needed: food, grain, books, pen-pencils, milk and so on... Gradually scenario changed when I entered in age group of college students. I learned the term Money Matters! But interpreted by my own way grasping money as an earning matter: I have learned to consider that money should be earned if any one wants to use it! It is little funny to say that mostly the concept of investment and saving and all other things I was not much aware and did not want to get through because of my money-concept! What was my money-concept? It is simple: earn and use. I never went for anything more… Even in my debt time I got help and then I paid back by doing hard work. But after becoming 45 years; I grasped one thing that, well, earn and use is okay. But if earned money not used completely, I mean what ever salary comes, you can use but if you used only 82% of your salary then? Then I agreed with my wife that 18% surplus should be kept safely to use it when needed. And so the basic change did not occurred in my money-concept! I have faced money crisis a lot though my earning was not bad! And the time came when I learned the difference between poverty, richness and abundance: I was victimized by cheating done with my lost ATM card and I felt that I am responsible for this happening. I lost some thing from within which was connected directly with abundance within. So I have faced crisis and learned the meaning of poverty in a sense of lacking as well as paying a big bulk! There were moments when the help reached suddenly at a point when I have had no source to cope with the situation! But all such was teaching me to cultivate again the abundance within! Mostly learning comes through hard times if you keep yourself open: Such time has shown me that hard work done by a laborer is not just getting money for the hard work but the laborer is achieving the bread for family, its meaning is survival!. When sincerity provided with high monitory gain, it is not money but the goodness is filled with prosperity! These types of example taught me that beneath the rigid term of money there is an inner stream of Almighty’s touch of consciousness, which explores the spiritual substance of the thing! I remember one sentence said by the Mother of Shri Aurobindo Ashram, as I would like to put it here like this: “Today the money power is with evil, but we have to get it back by victory, to serve the God!” This sentence has given me the real sense of abundance and I attached that with my money concept. So how I view money is here: Yes, money as a fact, an exchange tool; But, money as a truth, an abundance tool!

hi Raia. I agree with you that when we would like to live in harmony, all areas of our life should be balanced. Money for me means neccesity. We need them to live, it is something everyone must have. They can give security. Freedom, maybe, but I think I have freedom, although I don't have much money. I would like to have some savings because I can need them in the future to save my own health and life, and also helth and life of my relatives. It is my main goal which motivates me to save and invest money. Money also give us comfortable life. Money don't represent power for me, but having a positive power and beeing strong-minded can lead to wealth. I don't care much about status and prestige, so when I think about money they don't represent status and prestige. When it comes to control mechanism, I don't think about it when I try to think what money mean for me. So money for me represent mainly security, and they are necessity. I am not a material girl. Have a nice day, jazgottt.

I see money as a necessity and no more. I don't want to spend money on useless things I don't need. I want enough money to satisfy my basic needs plus a little extra to enable me to enjoy visiting new places and to learn more. I would rather buy books than luxury items. Life is always a challege and I welcome difficulties and obstacles which make me change direction and find new ways of getting through. I want to live within my means and not to have debts, but when debt is unavoidable I will do my best to pay it back and get out of debt. Personally I see no advantage in having huge amounts of money and I can never understand why people who have made a lot of money spend so much of their time trying to make more. To me time has greater value than money.

money is freedom power, etc. It's earning money that makes me keep living :)

All of the above. You about covered it. I can hear you now, that too easy of an answer, hehe. I have different views on money. Sometimes its represents security, sometimes its a neccessary evil. Its something we need, its also something that can cause problems and get us in trouble. The lack of it sucks!!. See I thought about it and added a few things. It boils down to, I wish I had some of it.

Cant put it as good as you but money to me and what I get Ijust pay bills with and buy some extra things I need once in awhile . TO me mioney is money if I could get by with out it would be nice but alas ya have to have some to live. and if I have some extra thru the week like a $20 I might just go play and relax and get away from the house awhile. sound goood to you does to me lol hugs

Money -what does this mean to me? For the first twenty two years of my life I did not know what it was to have a budget, to live within means, to be forced to cut costs mmmmhm! Nothing of the sort--Just say ‘Students are being taken on an excursion’ and my father would take his purse and give what was needed.’ I like this new sari’ and father would buy three saris. My mother was a very careful person and had instilled her sense of being guarded in expenditure. Mother would hesitate and since was always closer to my mother I would hesitate. Father would say there was no need for all this hesitation. This was how life treated me till I got married. After marriage I entered a dream world and a world of my own where I used to find delight in the simplest of things, did not bother about what my husband earned or saved .My basic needs of food and shelter were met by husband and the only weakness for new saris was catered for by parents. I would not ask anything of anyone and if I had some pocket money in hand [given by father or husband] I would look at something and desire to buy it. Otherwise I would not. My second desire for books was also taken care of. Now what more did I need / Nothing. Then came the period --father was suddenly taken ill. Husband left his job and ventured on his own. But, with job, with regular income, with irregular extraordinary income there would be no changes in life style-this is how my husband expected me to conduct myself and I believed in the happiness Of family -so there was no friction whatsoever. But, inflation and desire to be productive made me motivated to be productive, earn some pocket money--Now, what did this money mean to me/ It meant an accomplishment, a satisfaction that I was able to get some small pocket money reserved for vanities or giving gifts to my heart’s content without having to ask anyone [very strong ego of mine that makes me hate to ask husband or anyone for anything till date]. Since I was always contented and have seen money flow in plenty in father’s house I did not have the heart to charge market rates for my tuition classes even after I had established myself. It was a small town and many people belonged to the middle class category. So I never increased my tuition fee significantly ever since I started my class till the day I closed shop. One mother remarked that I deserved to increase my fee but I wanted good will more than money and I had a huge number of satisfied customers. I did not give free services , I did charge but parents happily gave me what I had charged , I got an unending flow of repeat customers and this memory would sustain me for the rest of my life. I have always lived within means, had limited desires within means and still have considerable savings [my father gave me a capital which we have diligently worked upon to let grow] Money means an opportunity to be productive and I would love to be productive. If I am able to get money for my work I am very happy. I would hate to lose a good client; this speaks poorly of my capacity. I would hate to lose money in the stock market because I have a duty to myself and my intelligence given by God; but I would not crib about loss of profits or heave long sighs for possessions that can be procured by money I would not give free services because those are never valued. I would not like to be underpaid or exploited because it means I am a fool. But if the job is something I love [I write for associated content without bothering that the money is not significant] I would do it. Money is security. Money is a symbol of my achievement; but money is not the be all and end all of life. Oh Raia, have I gone into my story telling as usual?--I never cease to grab an opportunity to give you my stories!

Nice thought provoking discussion as usual my friend. Money in the literal sense has no real meaning to me. To me it don't really signify much, just how well someone is able to invest it and save it. A person could have all the money in the world and I would still view them as an ordinary person. I have never understood why humanity has allowed money to hold so much power over them, though I do understand in this day and age we do need it to get by in life, it doesn't necessarily mean the more we have, the happier we will be. All one really has to do to see what I mean is, take a long look at an actor, actress, self made millionaires, and others that have come into a large amount of money, they may look happy on the outside, but due to the lifestyle they have to maintain to keep their desired amount of dollars rolling in, most of it takes a toll of them and are inadvertently miserable, just so they can have that momentary feeling of happiness. If that makes any sense. Though there are times I get stressed over some money related issues, I don't let money hold much over me, just trying to provide the best I can for my family.

For me money is just a way and parameter....nothing more than that....it is of the same importance of the car,bike,phone...we use these things for our convenience but we can still survive without these....nothing more than. that....

I never really thought to much about it. It comes and goes... It doesn't do anyone any good to stress about it or lack of it I should say. I just grab a shovel and start digging. Life is way too short. I have always gotten by and always will. It's all about working hard and I have to say life would be really boring without hard work. So even if I'm broke, I'm deliriously happy in more important ways!! It's wonderful to see you back my dear! Mylot just isn't the same without you!

To me money isn't everything. It just helps.

for me, it simply adds to my pocket money! i am a student with no steady earnings, so i use my head to make money whereever i can

Hello Perspectives I never had any respect for money. Unlike a lot of people... I don't derive any joy or happiness from knowing that I have money in my bank account. I only enjoy money while spending it on the things I want. For me... money is a commodity. Easy come... easy go. It is easy to make and a lot easier to spend. But the reason I might feel that way is because I only buy small things. The idea of buying a house or even a brand new car is too mind boggling for me. I cannot face the idea of having to go out there to try to earn that much money. Mind you... I could have had a great house all paid for today with the money I did spend on rent over the years. Perhaps it was not very smart... but that's how I am. I could not face the perspective of losing my freedom by being tied up to a mortgage for 20 years. I need to know that I am free to move anywhere I like whenever I feel like it. And I still feel like that today. I know that if I don't like it here next week... I can move anywhere I like.

Money is what you use to get the things you need, the things you wantneed, and the things you want. It is also security, the means to survive without depending on someone else, but it should never be your god. It is a tool that we need to survive in this world. You can never have too much or too little. Money is not the root of all evil, but the love of money is. You can be just as happy with it as without, but I prefer to have it.

Dear friend, I view money as a mode for transaction for better living and materialist enjoyment. More than money I view love and valued relationships. Money I may consider as an extra essence for those love and relationships and moreover for enjoyment and living too one needs money. I do also hope that money cannot buy could buy materialistic things and moreover a true love and relationships money do has constraints.

Hi Raia, It is strange that I was just thinking that it had been a while since I'd seen you here, when I came upon this discussion. I'm one of these people who has read a lot about how to attract money etc but putting things into practice has always been difficult for me. As I'm now retired with just the OAS and CPP benefits, it is not easy to think of money in terms of abundance LOL. Getting to your discussion, the only things that money has ever represented for me is security and freedom. I've never had any great desire for power or prestige or the like. Sorry if I sound a little depressed today. Blessings.

The subject reminds me of that question "Which came first the chicken or the egg?" And, well, I have answered that question to my satisfaction. The egg came first. If you read the autobiography of any person who accumulated great wealth in their lifetime, from a starting place of great poverty, you will find that every single one of them believed they could do it or have it. Not one of them, in any of the books I have read, ever said "I never believed for a minute that I could achieve great wealth - it came as a total shock to me!" I have proven to myself over the last few years that everything in my life matches a belief I hold or have held. And additionally, on close inspection, I have found that the thought came first. Every time. No exceptions. My current beliefs about money are very conflicted and even thinking about the subject can trigger all sorts of negative emotion for me. Therefore I have decided to ignore the subject for the time being. Meanwhile I am practicing changing my beliefs in areas that are not so important and highly charged, in order to build up some confidence in my ability to do it. Actually, I expect that before long I will have released so much resistance and changed my beliefs in so many other areas that I won't even need to address the 'money issue' at all because it will have resolved itself!

Money is certainly something that we all need to have.But the problem is that we have become so money hungry,and the lengths that some will go to to acheive the hunger for money is pure ruthlessness.Yes I need money,but I am living on a budget,there is no room for extravagance.Money cannot bring you happiness,to a certain amount it protects you from the worry of being poor,but often the times when you have focussed on coping with financial problems have at least given you a focus in life.everyones perceptions of being poor differ,and the rich can claim they are poor if their cash flow dries up a little,then you have the ones at the other end who are indeed very poor,and can relate to having nothing whatsoever in their pockets.Life is an experience,and the experience is what we choose to make it,if we make the very best of what we have ,then we mat in some way acheive inner peace,if we are constantly striving for bigger and better then we may never be satisfied.