Your Money or Your Life

I have tried to read this book several times in the past, but it never really interested me.  Then, I got the book on audio from the local library, and it really hits home. 

Your Money or Your Life screams contentment and having “enough.”  It talks about “Working for a Dying,” which is what I feel like I do every day.  I absolutely love this audio book, and look forward to getting it again in a few months to drive home the principals.

The part of this book that I am on right now is about how much you are REALLY making in your profession.  I calculated how much I am making in my career, and it is nearly half of what my pay stub shows that I make.  For instance, my pay stub shows I make $19/hour.  When you take into account the cost of travel, the fact that I work an hour away from home, my lunch break, taxes, etc., I’m really only making $10.25/hour.  When I go out for lunch every Wednesday with a coworker, I am trading 1 hour of my “life energy” for that meal.

Todd and I really want to go on a cruise December 2011.  I figured that with the cruise and airline ticket alone, it would cost me 80+ hours of my “life energy” to take this trip.  That does not include any additional expenses we may incur, and that is just for ME.

Todd makes just a wee bit less than I do – so it will be about 100 hours of his “life energy” to pay for the trip.

When you put things into perspective like this, it really makes you think about what is worthwhile for you and what is not.

I strongly suggest this book / audio book (only 2 CD’s).