Money isn’t everything, despite its immense power in our culture. But that power is only what we define on an individual level. Being conscious of every spending decision, considering its meaning not just to us but to the person to whom we’re giving that money, is a way to honor money’s power and simultaneously control it.
Money’s power is indeed user-defined. If you control money, money cannot control you. The old adage goes “time is money” but I tend to think it should be flipped. Internalizing the idea that “money is time,” adding up in your head just how much time you need to spend to use a certain amount of money, will you give a different, perhaps a new, appreciation for how money is spent in your life.