Falling Off the Time Money Continuum

Money is time. Time is money. Phrases oft said in the financial independence community and in my opinion(as of late) pure horse pucky. We have somehow mangled the idea that we trade these two commodities indiscriminately. Yet, I think this dichotomy is not only too simple, but also harmful to our ultimate goals of both happiness as well as financial freedom. The answer, of course, is simple. We need to learn how to distance ourselves from the time money continuum.

We need to let go, we need to fall off.

Definitions

Time marches on. Always. You can’t trade it for anything. You can’t produce it nor consume it. It exists on a plain outside of our manipulation. Our only decisions, in relation to this plucky phenomenon, is how we choose to entertain ourselves while it passes.

How will you entertain yourself?

Money is a measure of value. It is an abstraction which allows goods and services to be exchanged among individuals. Since time is neither a good nor a service, it cannot be bought or exchanged with money. Never.

There is no such thing as the time money continuum. They are neither related nor continuous.

Work and Employment

Money and work, however, are related. We often trade work for money. This is accomplished in several different ways. We can provide a good or service to someone else and get paid in exchange (W2 income/employment). We can provide a good or service to ourselves instead of paying someone else (Frugality/DIY/Work). Lastly, we can decide that we can live well without the need of certain good and services (minimalism).

In none of these instances does the time money continuum hold up. Time marches on no matter how we entertain ourselves.

How Do You Spend Your Time?

Certainly, a misuse of the word spend. The better question*, how do you entertain yourself as time passes? T*his is especially important in light of the fact that some type of work must be accomplished to buy necessary goods and services.

The answer is easy for me. I choose to spend at least some of my time being a doctor. Unlike many, I don’t find employment a dirty word nor feel retiring early is my ultimate goal. The why is relatively straightforward.

I find it more entertaining to be a doctor, side hustle, or manage real estate than mowing the lawn. More enjoyable than doing the laundry or going to the grocery store.

So I pay someone else to do these things.

This is not trading money for time. I am trading activity for activity.

I find the idea of a no spend month or not eating out insufferable.

Eating out is one of the major ways I entertain myself. Why would I stop doing it?

Final Thoughts

I think it is time we learned how to fall off the time money continuum. There is nothing innately right with frugality and nothing innately wrong with working. Work, in all its forms. is just a way to produce money. Money is necessary to purchase good and services.

Whether practicing medicine or mowing the lawn, work is being done.

I prefer to entertain myself (spend my time so to speak) by doing jobs I enjoy that have a large return on investment. Being a doctor accomplishes this in spades.

I eschew work that is bothersome, tiresome, and produces little return on investment (like doing the laundry).

I don’t know about you, but I would call that frugality in almost every sense of the word.