Money and your thoughts and beliefs about money are…

Money and your thoughts and beliefs about money are one of the most important and also most dangerous arenas to enter into. You can spend more money than you have and cause you and your family to live in poverty. You can spend less money than you have and deprive yourself of opportunities in life. Money, as in all the other tough arenas, requires a balance. Before you have that balance you have to recognize that money is important and that money has the fickle ability to come and go at different times in your life and different amounts that at times can be frustrating. You should always try to balance the money that you have in a way that will allow you to stretch that money for as long a period of time as reasonable based on the needs and wants that you have. When I was in my '30s, I encountered some significant business problems as a result of a downturn in the economy. I was on the verge of bankruptcy. I was unable to pay a $500 pledge to a tzdaka. It was an extremely devastating and humiliating and humbling experience. That experience caused me to avoid spending money on almost anything for a very long period of time, because I was afraid that this would happen again. However it also was the most valuable lesson I ever learned in the context of money. And that was the value of money, and the value of saving or compounding. When you get married, marrying someone like you in spending habits can be a good or a bad thing and if you were to marry someone who is opposite of you when it comes to money can be a good or bad thing. But it is definitely something that should be discussed. Money is something that is necessary. It does not grow on trees. It does not come automatically from your parents. It does not come automatically from your in-laws. And when it does come, it should be recognized as a valuable gift and should be appreciated as a valuable gift. You may or may not know how hard your in-laws or your parents had to work for that money. You may or may not know what sacrifices they are making or have made to give you the money. they could have used that money to buy themselves something nice. They have chosen to take that money and give it to you for a reason. Figure out that reason and appreciate the heck out of it. Do not be entitled. There are multiple calculations on how to determine value and how to spend and save money some of which I'll do later. Money should be viewed not in the context of money in and of itself but in the context of what can money bring you. This bringing to you should be defined in terms of satisfaction and fulfillment either on an emotional level, and intellectual level, or a physical level. There is nothing wrong with buying a nice car or a nice diamond ring but recognize that you can get to inexpensive cars for the price of one expensive car. Are you getting the value of that one expensive car in fulfillment and pleasure?

— from Family & Parenting (Family/Parenting) · GB writing

In the book

Make family nonnegotiable — and when friction comes, be the first to say I was wrong, and choose empathy over blame. Teach the hard, practical lessons too — that money is a gift to be appreciated and never taken for granted, neither hoarded in fear nor spent into ruin. Commit. If there is one attribute a flourishing family needs above all, it is commitment — saying yes to your people and then doing everything it takes to live by it. — Family & Parenting (Family/Parenting)

I won't pretend that wasn't a real and good motive. But money itself is only ever a tool, and a fickle one; balance it, stretch it, and measure it not by the number but by the satisfaction and fulfillment it can actually bring you. Don't be entitled about it. — Leadership & Business (Leadership/Business)

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