This may be a simple question, but do you know what money is and what it does? You may say to yourself, “it is a currency and a means for us to pay for goods and services”. In the grand scheme of things, you are correct. However, have you ever thought of money at the fundamental level? Basically, money is: pieces of copper, silver, a blend of cotton and linen, or digits on a screen compiled from ones and zeros. That’s it. We only put a value on the currency because we as a society have agreed on a certain denomination and what each denomination can afford us. It does not take a rocket scientist to see that we are able to buy more with a $100 bill than with say a $20 bill. 

From the beginning of time, the human race always traded one thing for another. Be it gold coins for a cow, or a sheep for a piece of land. No matter what the item was, we were trading one thing for another. Fast forward to the present and it’s the same thing. When we buy a good, we transfer the ownership of said good in exchange for dollar bills and coins. If you subscribe to a service, you are trading the money for the ability to gain access to said service. And as you have noticed, the cost of one thing is not necessarily equivalent to the next. Maybe more time and effort went into building item #1 as opposed to item #2. Maybe the raw materials that were procured to produce item #1 cost less than item #2. It may even be that you are buying a quality item that was hand-made as opposed to being mass produced through an assembly line in a warehouse. The company may even consider what they want the product to say about their reputation; Are they selling their product at a competitive price? Are they selling it at a higher price because they value quality and luxury above affordability? All of those things will certainly be a factor in the pricing. That is how companies come to the final price. They run a Cost-Benefit Analysis whilst considering market conditions to land on the final price.

The other thing to consider is the marketing aspect when it comes to money. Think about this for a moment: you are in the market to buy an item. The item is currently being sold at two different stores. One store prices it at $99.99. Across the street, the same item is sold at an even $100. If you had the choice, where would you go to buy said item? You would more often than not go to the store that sells the item at $99.99, as opposed to the latter. As a result, if you chose to pay $99.99, then the marketing team has done their job. The extra penny is pretty negligible. When the sales tax kicks in, you will still be paying over $100 anyway. It is all a matter of perception. At one price point, it cost you $$, and $$$ at another. The biggest thing that we as consumers consider is – value per dollar. We do not have a problem paying extra if we know that we are receiving a quality product in return that will last a while. For example, that’s why we buy high-end $1,000 smartphones as opposed to their more affordable counterparts. Or if you are fortunate to purchase one, that is why we gravitate towards a Lamborghini or a Rolls Royce as opposed to your basic Toyota. We are human and we like to buy nice things. 

Depending on what kind of lifestyle you live now or what lifestyle you want to live in the future, the world revolves around money. And I know that most people will tell you that money is the root of all evil. You should not think that way. It all depends on whose hands it falls into. If we had two people: one a philanthropist and the other a villain, we would clearly be able to discern between good and evil. You see, money is not bad. After all, it’s worthless unless someone puts the money to use. When people tell you that money is the root of all evil, they are under the impression that it is corrupt and has been used for selfish gain, one way or another. Due to this, we have become desensitized and rarely ever see money being put to good use. If a news article came out with a positive outlook and the headline read, “Millions donated to aid local animal shelter” or if the headline read, “Anonymous wealthy donor built living complex to house homeless during the cold winter months”, everyone would swarm to the news story for a few days and then forget about it. But if an article was published with the headline, “Millionaire retracts on promise to help rebuild the local community”, the news story will be circulating for a week or two, there would be protests, and people rallying with pitchforks. 

So next time you think about money, do not think about money with a negative connotation in mind. There are so many things that money can be used for to destroy your life, but on the opposite side, money has the ability to be your sidekick and allow you to achieve things in life that at one point or another were just mere ideas on paper. No matter if that means taking that dream vacation you’ve been planning, you finally have enough to retire, or get yourself out of a financial jam by just paying for whatever obstacle stopped you from moving forward with your life. There are so many wonderful things that you could do with your life. If money has the power to help you with that, then you should not view money as evil. It is far better to focus on what you want in life and have money be your tool to do great things and achieve your goals and desires instead of solely thinking about money. If you only think about money, you will not get very far. It is what you do with the money that counts. So if you have a positive outlook on money and have the willingness and power to control it, you will never be disappointed that your life is being dictated by money ever again. You will always be in control.