I’m blown away when a person is able to spend more than $20k a year on living expenses. But then I realize that they have little appreciation of the value of money [relative to what the money is spent on]. It’s treated like water and it slips through their fingers. Turn on a pressurized faucet and it just comes out without any consideration as to where it comes from as long as the utility bill is paid. Though clean water is a finite resource limited by irreplaceable aquifers or the energy needed to drive purification system, it is spent like there is no tomorrow. Why we use potable water to flush toilets and keep desert golf courses green!

It’s the same thing with money, I think. People go to work the same way they pay their utility bills. It’s just unimaginable not to do so. But when they do it, they can simply slide the card in a slot and money comes out the wall. And this money is wasted in the same way we waste water. Sure some people try to limit their water use by turning off the faucet while brushing their teeth or by getting low flow heads. This is similar to saving a little bit of money here and there. Yet few people go as far as to believe that it is possible save enough to turn off the job just like it is impossible to live on 1-2 gallons of water instead of the standard 60-100 gallons per person per day. Well, it is.

Originally posted 2008-04-07 07:17:36.