Money, so they say is the root of all evil today.

Bang, bang, let me hear you say hey-ooooh. So, what's up? I want to tell you about money. What it really is and how to use it.

You know that saying in the title, that money is the root of all evil? It's not true. That's just an oversimplification of an entirely complex dynamic between money, people, and stuff. But to understand how money is not the root of all evil you have to understand how money works.

All right, money is a way to buy things. But why? Why can you give paper and digital information to some one in exchange for something of value? Because everyone agrees to do it. You can learn all that crap in a micro-economics class, learn about barter and limited-resources and how money is just a way of rationing the resources out to those who posess enough money to purchase the stuff they want.

But, what exactly is money? It is a token, much like a game token at Chuck'E'Cheeses. It's an arbitrary token that represents two things; time and talent. That's it. If you have ever worked a job for a wage then it will be easier for you to understand the concept. For example, if you work for $10 an hour then a $10 bill represents one hour of your time and the actual labor/skills/talents you put into the job for which you received pay.

Some people get all hot and bothered and claim they are more valuable than whatever wage they are payed for their job. The truth of the matter is that you are not "worth" more than you are paid unless you are sold on the black market. It is illegal to assign a monetary value to a person. There was a war supposedly fought over the whole principle of selling human beings in exchange for money. So, while you may feel you have more value than the wage you are paid the sad truth is you are not.

You are getting paid for your time. But that alone is not all that valuable. Anyone can sell their time if that's all the employer needs and usually that's why there are so many minimum wage jobs. If all you do is sit for several hours doing something that anyone anywhere can easily do then all you are getting paid for is your time. So apparently one hour of anyone's time is worth at least minimum wage. If you get paid more than minimum wage then the amount of pay you receive is the value of your talent, education, and skills to that employer. The fewer people who can do what you do the more money you will be offered to do it.

Let's say I get paid $12.50/hour to do what I do. I deliver stuff. I pick up heavy cases, stack them, roll them around, put them in a van, drive from place to place, and drop them off where they are supposed to go. The minimum wage is currently $7.25/hour. So, the actual value of everything I do is $5.25. For being healthy enough and strong enough to lift 33lb boxes a couple hundred times a day, smart enough to not crash a van into the side of a building, and smart enough to read an invoice and correctly deliver product I get paid $5.25 (remember, the other $7.25 is just what federal law says some one has to pay you in exchange for one hour of your time).

While you may feel you should get paid more for your job, it really depends on how difficult it would be to find some one else who is willing to do it for equal pay or less. If there are thousands of people just as capable of doing what you do without any special training then it's really hard to convince and employer to pay you more. If there's only 50 people in the whole world who can do what you do in that job then you will get paid a whole, whole lot of money.

If you want to get paid more money then learn how to do something very few people can do that employer's need done.

Take the stripper, for an illustration of this concept. Yes, a stripper. Male or female, though I'm going to insist we go with female since I'm the one writing. A "good" stripper gets paid a lot of money. Why is this? Well, for one, it's really hard to look the part. People are generally fat in the United States. Hey, I'm just paraphrasing statistics. So, a stripper automatically is some one rare by being fit and attractive. Now, being fit and attractive isn't all that rare. But, being fit, attractive, and willing to get naked and dance in front of strangers is pretty rare. It's the rarity of all those qualities that earns the high amounts of money in the exotic dancer's profession.

Now that you know money is a token of your time and talents, then you can start making better decisions on how to spend it. You spend a certain amount of time working a job that you may not even care about so you can cash that time in and go do something you really want to do. Make $10/hour, buy a $30 dinner then you exchanged 3 hours of your life in return for some food. Don't forget however much time you also spent eating that food.

If you want to save money then evaluate things you enjoy doing that require no money. Go swimming, walk in the woods, sit in the middle of the mall and stare at people as they walk past... whatever you like. That way you're only spending the time the activity takes instead of that time plus whatever time your money represents.

You want to be happy in your job and career? Find something that you would love to do for free but some one is willing to pay you for doing it. That way the time you are spending at work is bringing you value and fulfillment and on top of that you are getting money to spend elsewhere.