How Much Money is Enough?
A philosophical idea I’ve been mulling on for a long (ever since I was a kid is this): How much money is enough?
First of all, let us think about this literally.
Money is trust. Money is faith.
For example, if I have an American dollar, I am saying that I trust the US Government to ascribe ‘value’ to it.
And also it is to have faith in the dollar. To have faith that the US Government will not suddenly burn all the money.
Similarly— this concept of ‘credit’ is very strange. A credit card or taking out a loan, or borrowing money is once again — trust that you will pay back the company.
II. What do we need money for?
So I know for myself, I need money for the following:
This is what my Stoic buddies have taught me.
These three things are what we need to not die.
Of course, these are just basic animal needs. But for me, this is what I spiritually need:
I need to have the ability to create art.
To me, I see freedom as freedom over time, freedom over my energy, and freedom what to do and what not t do.
I see love as sharing my heart with my fellow human beings— either with my family, friends, or strangers or people in my local community (or online).
Above all, I feel the purpose of staying alive as a human is to have the opportunity to create art. To me, making art is the purpose of being alive. Because art (photos, poems, theater, movies, film, blog posts, books, articles, etc) empower our fellow human beings. And it gives us a chance for self-expression. And I think it is a human need to feel the need to express our souls with others.
III. We need enough money to not die
So given my theory above— I just need enough money to pay the rent, to feed myself, and for coffee and water. Wifi is essentially ‘free’ because I do most of my work at the coffee shop.
In order to not freeze to death, I already have clothes to keep me warm. I literally wear the same all-black outfit everyday (black shoes, black socks, black boxers, black pants, black undershirt, black dress shirt). Of course I switch the socks, boxers, and shirts everyday. But — for me, I see clothing as armor from the elements, rather than fashion. And all my clothes are bought at UNIQLO — so I spend very little money on clothes.
IV. I don’t like having a car
In terms of transportation, I actually prefer not owning a car. If I ever need to go on a road trip, I usually rent a car for a few days.
I prefer not owning a car because it is stressful. I have to maintain it. Cars break. I waste time taking my car in to get the oil changed. I waste time washing my car. I waste time contemplating what new car I want to ‘upgrade.’ I waste time trying to mod my car.
Also, I love UBER/LYFT. I can take naps while I get transported (thank you to the drivers). I would still prefer to take ride-sharing instead of owning my own self-driving TESLA, because I like to talk to the drivers. I often surprise UBER drivers by sitting in the front seat with them, and asking them about their life story, their dreams, etc. I feel a part of being ‘happier’ as a human is to have more social contact — so having the chance to make small-talk (and sometimes deep philosophical talks) with UBER drivers are awesome. Also I like the idea that I am giving money to UBER drivers— rather than not contributing to the economy.
Also I have realized— it is actually cooler not to own a car. I like the scene in FIGHT CLUB when Edward Norton asks Brad Pitt, ‘Where is your car?’ And Brad Pitt says, ‘I don’t own a car.’ Pretty badass.
And if I were to own a car, it would probably be a blacked-out Lamborghini. Either Lambo or no car (Nassim Taleb’s ‘BARBELL’ strategy).
V. I prefer renting over owning a home
In terms of living, I actually prefer to rent instead of own a house. Because I can pour coffee grounds down the sink, and not stress out. It ain’t my problem.
I can accidentally put holes in the walls or spill coffee on the white walls, and not worry too much.
I don’t need to stress about maintenance. If shit breaks, the owner will have to take care of it.
I also have more freedom. I can choose when to leave, and am not locked into a 30-year mortgage.
Who knows, Cindy and I might buy a house one day, but for my life now — I prefer living mobile, with no strings to hold me down.
VI. I like small apartments
Also while living here in Hanoi (2017) we live in a small studio apartment. I love the small size. I wake up, walk two steps to the right to take a shower, and walk another 5 steps to make a coffee, and then two steps to the left to my laptop to do work. I would hate living in a mansion in Beverly Hills, walking 10 minutes from the upstairs bedroom, to downstairs just to have a coffee.
I will not live forever. Nor do I want to live forever. So the ultimate resource I have in life is time.
Living in an apartment where I don’t waste as much time (wasting time by moving around) is preferable.
I also am lazy. I prefer convenience. So I don’t like the inconvenience of having to go upstairs and downstairs, or fixing shit when it breaks.
VII. I like small cameras
Funny thing — I always dreamed of owning a big camera, to be more ‘pro’ and to make ‘better’ photos.
After shooting for about 10 years, I have discovered, I genuinely prefer small and compact cameras (that fit in my front pocket).
I am in a strange position — I finally have enough money where I can literally buy any digital camera on the market. I can drop $10,000 on a digital Leica if I wanted. But I choose not to. Why not? Not because I don’t want to look like a rich asshole. Rather, I genuinely prefer smaller cameras.
For example if I had a choice to own only one camera for the rest of my life, and if my Ricoh GR II costs $10,000 and the digital Leica cost $5,000 — I might actually spend $10,000 on the digital Ricoh.
I prefer a small camera that fits in my front pocket. I also know in terms of physics, I prefer lighter cameras. A lighter camera means I can walk longer with less fatigue. And I personally tested a Leica M10 and a 0.95 Noctilux 50mm lens, and it literally gave me back pain. Fuck that.
And I really do believe the holy grail of photography is the iPhone. That is all you need.
VIII. I like cooking at home
Another thing— I prefer to cook at home instead of going to stuffy $$$ Yelp restaurants. I genuinely appreciate going to the grocery store, buying meat, chatting with our local butcher in Berkeley, and cooking at home, and inviting a few friends over.
To me, I love to cook because it is active. I also feel ‘ZEN’ when I am chopping the vegetables. I often get a lot of creative ideas when I am cooking meat too. And I feel more proud of the food— because I made it myself.
And having dinner at home is more cozy, and personal. I love it.
IX. I do like having an expensive laptop
I had an experiment — I don’t use my smartphone anymore. I’ve done that for the last week or two (just keeping it off), and my life goes on. Not only that, but I am more productive— I no longer waste time looking in the App Store for stupid games or whatever. I finally feel like I have regained my creativity — because when I am taking a shit, I actually have the time to think, rather than look at my phone and stimulate myself with flashing lights and text.
I think it is actually good to own a very expensive laptop (or the most powerful laptop you can afford). For me, I do 99% of my work on my laptop, so spending $2200 on my MacBook Pro was worth it. If you are a creative, I genuinely feel MacOS is superior than PC and Linux. So either get a used MacBook Air, or just buy the most expensive MacBook computer you can afford.
X. I don’t need to travel to do creative work
I don’t need to travel to be happy. This is my #1 epiphany while traveling.
When you travel enough, you find out that the world is much more similar than dissimilar (in a good way).
For example, all human beings like to sing, laugh, dance, enjoy nice meals together, drink coffee, and drink alcohol. And no matter where you are in the world, you can be happy. People complain and blame the city in which they live in— but true happiness (human creativity and flourishing) comes from the mind. So I can live in the boring-ass suburbs of Garden Grove, Orange County, California and still live a meaningful life. You don’t need to live in NYC to be happy. As long as you have 1 good coffee shop, and 1 good restaurant in town, you can live a happy life. This was best demonstrated the 1-2 years that I lived in East Lansing, Michigan with Cindy. The place was really boring— but I had my favorite coffee shop (the BROAD ART MUSUEM ON MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS, absolutely beautiful). We had 1-3 restaurants that were good in town, and we just cycled. We lived a simple and humble life, only spending $500 a month in rent. Life in Michigan was good.
Also another epiphany from traveling— it is much better to live close to family and friends, than to live abroad. Because your life is short and limited. Wouldn’t you rather spend that time with your loved ones (who will die) rather than hanging out with pretentious folks in some big metro city?
I used to be a ‘foodie’ looking for the next new bite. But I realized:
No matter how expensive the food you eat, or how delicious it is — you will just shit it out.
I also realized I genuinely prefer the taste of more ‘simple’ foods.
For example, a hamburger tastes literally better than a filet-mignon steak because the hamburger has a higher fat content. And I don’t need to spend $30 on a burger.
80% of my diet is currently eggs. No joke. I no longer eat breakfast or lunch. I wake up, drink coffee, and at noon I have another coffee or two, and I have a nice relaxed dinner with Cindy at around 5-6pm. Then I might have another ‘egg snack’ at home at around 9-10pm by cooking 6-8 eggs (yes with the yolk). Then I go to sleep, and repeat the cycle. And I believe this works— because I got really cut.
So if I don’t need to go to stupid and stuffy and pretentious restaurants, how much money do I really need?
I still like going to restaurants with friends, but Cindy and I generally go to restaurants, we only order 1 appetizer and 1 entree, and share the food. And we don’t drink alcohol at restaurants anymore. We had a nice French dinner last night, and it only cost $15 USD between the both of us for a lovely Marseille-style Cous-cous salad, a medium-rare steak, and pate.
XII. I prefer living simply
The irony is that now I’m rich — I choose to live simply, or what my buddy Seneca called ‘voluntary poverty.’
If you think about it, the real ‘poor’ people are people who want or lust for more.
For example, you can be worth $1 billion dollars. But if you desire $10 billion dollars, you are poor. Why? Because you don’t have enough.
You can be rich and earn only $40,000 a year. Why? Because that is ENOUGH money for you.
So I am rich, because I no longer need any more money. But the irony is that the fewer fucks I give about what others think about me, the more I hustle, and the more art I create and share — the money has just been flowing to Cindy and I.
Therefore the secret to becoming rich is simple:
Spend less money than you earn.
And to live BELOW your means.
If you earn $1,000,000 USD a year, but you spend $1,000,001 a year in expenses — you are technically ‘poorer’ than someone earning $40,000 a year and who spends only $20,000 a year.
That is how Cindy and I have been able to save up more than $150,000 USD in our savings — we just don’t spend much money.
XIII. The answer: $40,000-$50,000 USD a year is ‘enough’
So how much money is enough?
Honestly if you live in a big American city (let’s say Los Angeles), I don’t think you ‘need’ more than $40,000 USD a year. If you live in San Francisco, you might ‘need’ at least $50-60,000 a year.
But for most of the rest of America (outside of metro cities), you probably don’t ‘need’ more than $30,000 a year.
Of course, I don’t have kids yet, so you need to adjust your budget for that.
But then again — even if you have kids, how much money do you really need? If I send my kids to public school (free), and don’t put them in ballerina or piano lessons, and don’t buy them an iPad or superfluous toys, and I get second-hand baby clothes from Cindy’s family (or at the local Goodwill) — what is really expensive about having a kid? Maybe diapers. But hopefully we can train our kid to be potty-trained as quick as Vietnamese kids (in Vietnam) — at around age 1.
I grew up in poverty, and we had no money. Yet I turned out fine. The same with Cindy.
XIV. This won’t apply to you
Of course this is all auto-biographical. It is mostly a letter to myself. But I hope I gave you some good ideas.
Essentially, I grew up poor, and now I am rich — but I have found that these material possessions are just silly.
Instead of buying a Lamborghini— easier to just play a video game.
Instead of buying designer clothes, better to become the badass ‘man in black’ and just wearing all-black UNIQLO/generic/non-branded clothes.
Instead of going to fancy restaurants, better to cook simple meals at home.
Instead of traveling to foreign and exotic places, better to stay close to family.
Instead of consuming pointless entertainment, better to create art (by making photos, writing blog posts, recording videos for YouTube).
Better than having a drunken orgy with 10 people or with a prostitute, better to just watch porn and masturbate (a lot safer too — no risk of STDs or terminal AIDS). Oh yeah and a lot cheaper.
Honestly, I don’t even need to buy books anymore. I get all my ebooks on my laptop for free (as text documents) on Project Gutenberg, or Archive.org. Or I learn via Wikipedia, and learn important inspiration from Wikiquote.org (for people I admire).
I like watching movies on Netflix (Black mirror is a favorite) with Cindy, or just watching ‘WISECRACK’ YouTube videos on philosophy.
Damn, I have it pretty good.
XV. Discovering wisdom and sharing it with others is the goal
I think if I want to be remembered for anything, it will be philosopher. Not in a pretentious way; but a philosopher as someone who loves wisdom.
I am searching for wisdom, and I strive to become morally-perfect in my own eyes. I also feel my purpose in life is to share these nuggets of wisdom (I learn from others) with you.
So friend, if you want to conquer your need for bullshit and money and status markers, read these Stoicism articles.
And know the end of life isn’t to have more money, but to have more time and freedom to make more art (everything you create that is creative, whether writing, photos, or dance, theater, etc is art).
Never measure success by social media numbers, or the zeros and commas in your bank account. Only whether you are living a life true to yourself. And whether you can look at yourself in the mirror every night and think to yourself:
If I died tonight, would I have any regrets?
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