MONEY IS LIFE: A Random Collection of Quotations and Other Expressions about Money
By Sheena Ricarte, Freelance Finance Journalist
Thursday, March 7, 2019
I agree with O’Leary Funds co-founder and “Shark Tank” TV personality, Kevin O’Leary, when he cited that “The best motivator in the world is money. And if that doesn’t work, try more money.”
As a millennial and learning more about life’s end-all and be-alls, I have become a “money aficionado.” It is funny since most people are naturally “money aficionados,” in my view. I reckon that money is life and it is not a bad thing at all when we look at it using a utilitarian pair of eyes.
Besides my hobbyist occupation of being a freelance finance journalist, I have developed my love for collecting quotations about money sourced from personal finance and economics books, Internet articles, movies, and songs.
They relate to the importance of the legal tender, frugality, being money-savvy, and being fiscally conservative.
In addition, I also have the penchant for creating my own quotations and gathering different hashtags and keywords about money.
I can actually spend all my free time reading finance and economics dictionaries, articles about sovereign wealth funds, global institutional investment, as well as reading about idioms and other expressions relating to money such as the following:
1. bankroll; 2. the bank of Mum and Dad; 3. compounding; 4. cash pile; 5. financial target; 6. fiscal year; 7. Mammon; 8. private capital accumulation; 9. cost-cutter; 10. Money mathematics; 11. fiscal management; 12. savings project; 13. money-driven society; 14. money-driven world; 15. monetary policy; 16. self-made rich; 17. inherited rich; 18. extreme frugalist; 19. financial protection; 20. financial peace of mind; 21. Financial freedom; 22. the wealth plan; 23. create wealth; 24. the fairly affluent; 25. the landed gentry; 26. gentleman’s farm; 27. Random Walk Theory; 28. money-savvy; 29. financially savvy; 30. insanely rich; 31. embarrassment of riches; 32. financial peace of mind; 33. Keep climbing the wealth ladder; 34. the ultimate white glove treatment; 35. Plutomania; 36. Plutocracy; 37. Superrich; 38. Affluenza; 39. Plutocrat; and 40. Multi-billionaire.
All of these expressions can also be found in my Instagram gallery which contains a plethora of images about money, international finance, US corporate finance, international economics, as well as wealth, asset, and investment management.
With my Instagram image postings, I viewed everything in financial, monetary, or pecuniary terms.
I am apparently the consummate econo-geek-nerd. Anything money and wealth-related, I definitely like.
There is actually a whole world of articles, books, music, songs, and other reference materials with respect to finance, personal finance, economics, international economics, international finance, corporate finance, US finance, investment management, and so forth. Quite a delight!
Here is a random smorgasbord of words of wisdom, phrases, and other expressions about money, finance, frugality, and greed I have gathered for the past two years since 2017:
1. Money makes things happen; it gives us choices. — Alexander Green, “An Embarrassment of Riches” (2013)
2. Money allows us to achieve our dreams, whether you define that as education, opportunity, independence, luxury, security, or peace of mind. It is freedom, power, and opportunity rolled into one. — Alexander Green, “An Embarrassment of Riches” (2013)
3. If you have money, you don’t have to worry about it. If you manage it conservatively, your worries should be few. Fretting about your investment returns is a lot less stressful than wondering how you’re going to make this month’s rent. — Alexander Green, “An Embarrassment of Riches” (2013)
4. Money gives you freedom to pursue your passions. You can spend your days engaged in activities that you find absorbing and satisfying, that you feel you’re good at. A measure of financial freedom gives you the ability to swap into a new job that may be less lucrative but more fulfilling. — Alexander Green, “An Embarrassment of Riches” (2013)
5. A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went. — David Ramsey
6. Money speaks only one language: “If you save me today, I will save you tomorrow.” — Anonymous
7. Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. — Benjamin Franklin
8. Prosperity
9. “Save now/Save more/Save whatever you can! Delete as appropriate or do all three.” — Vanguard Group
My reply on Twitter: Do all three. It’s important to always be money-smart.
10. To be penny-wise and pound-foolish
11. The financial magic of living like a minimalist.
My Twitter response to this MarketWatch article: Definitely, living with less can help a person save a lot more money. He can save money and clear his head. It no longer matters what the Joneses do or have since the goal is not to amass things.
12. CHEAPSKATE Synonyms: tightwad, skinflint, miser, scrooge, penny-pincher, piker, niggard, stiff, churl
13. “Waste not, want not.” — 1772 Proverb
Definitions: A) (Cliché) If you do not waste anything, you will always have enough. [From 2002 McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs]
Example Sentences:
a. Always save the fabric scraps left over from your sewing projects; you can use them to make something else.
b. Sam never let his leftovers spoil in the refrigerator but made sure to eat them. “Waste not, want not,” he said.
B) The wise use of one’s resources will keep one from poverty. For example, I just hate to throw out good food-waste not, want not. This proverbial saying was first recorded in 1772 but had an earlier, even more alliterative version, willful waste makes woeful want (1576).
14. “Don’t tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I’ll tell you what they are.” — James W. Frick
15. “Don’t let money be a dirty word.” — From ‘Equity’ movie (2016)
16. “What’s one thing that really makes you want to get up in the morning? Well, for me, I guess, the simplest answer is: I like MONEY. I do. I like numbers. I like knowing that I have it. For how it makes us feel: SECURE? Yeah. POWERFUL? Absolutely. I am so glad that it’s finally acceptable for women to talk about AMBITION openly. But don’t let money be a dirty word. We can like that, too.” — From ‘Equity’ movie (2016)
17. Irrational spending — An economist known for studying the irrational decisions people make with their money has won this year’s 2017 Nobel prize in economics. Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago won the $1.1 million prize for his work in a field he helped found called “behavioral economics.” Far from being the rational decision-makers described in classical theory, Thaler found people often make decisions that don’t serve their best interests.
18. Financial keywords: financial security, financially secure, financially protected, financial peace of mind, financial freedom
19. “There is no shortage of money on planet Earth.” — Grant Cardone
20. Save for today. Plan for tomorrow.
21. Mantras and affirmations about prosperity, wealth, abundance, opulence, and money
22. a secure financial future
23. A scrooge is someone who would rather do anything than part with a buck.
24. value for money
25. “The lack of money is the root of all evil.” — Mark Twain
26. Money, intelligently.
27. Financial intelligence, money-savvy, financially savvy, fiscally conservative, financially astute, money-smart
28. “Ozark,” a Netflix original’s synopsis: A financial planner who transfers his family from their Chicago home to a summer resort village in the Ozarks when a money laundering ploy goes awry. It is a gripping drama filled with twists and turns that will make the audience want to know who the true villains are.
29. Marty Byrde in “Ozark”: Money — That which separates the haves from the have-nots. Patience. Frugality. Sacrifice. Deciding to invest in your family’s future. And taking responsibility for the consequences of those actions. Money, is at its essence, that measure of a man’s choices.
30. “Frugality is not poverty. It is the wise use of resources.” — From the environmental documentary, “The 11th Hour” (2007)
31. side-income, side hustle
32. @CNBC — Queen Elizabeth II has made $9 million from her side hustle
“Still, the Queen has been known to save by cutting costs when she can. She is conscious of energy costs, too. According to the Financial Times, in 2011 she posted warning signs around her 775-room palace that read: “The attention is drawn of all members of staff to the need to switch off unwanted lights. By Order of The Master of The Household.” According to one of her employees, she often took the task upon herself and roamed the halls flicking switches.”
33. “Rule №1: Never lose money. Rule №2: Don’t forget rule no. 1.” — Warren Buffett
34. Clarity Money
35. “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” — From William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”
36. 30 Days of No Spending
37. My personal view apropos to a “No Spend Day”: Having a “No-Spend Day” seems helpful in saving money as well as in practicing minimalism. People’s salaries should be devoted to paying their household utility bills, food shopping, and frugality.
38. “The Cheapskate’s Handbook” by Mifflin Lowe
39. Finance-related gift ideas: Credit Suisse’s DigiPigi, Money Savvy Pig/Cow/Football/Soccer ball, Tiffany and Co.’s tin can, earthenware or sterling silver piggy banks, bunny, elephant
40. “Millionaires, billionaires — they all look like anyone of us. What tells them, the middle class, and the poor apart are their attitude towards money.” — SHEENA RICARTE
41. “Money is numbers and numbers never end.” — Bob Marley
42. “Money changes everything.”- Song by Cyndi Lauper and the title of a book by William Goetzmann
43. “Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship.” — Benjamin Franklin
44. The book “Thrift and thriving in America: Capitalism and Moral Order from the Puritans to the Present” details the American history of frugality from the Puritan Age to the Contemporary era.
It includes the exact words of the theoretician of frugality, Benjamin Franklin in “Poor Richard’s Almanack” in 1757.
Franklin stated, “A Penny sav’d is Twopence clear, a Pin a day is a Groat a Year. Save and have. Every little makes a mickle” which was transformed into the shorthand “A penny saved is a penny earned.”
45. prudence when it comes to saving and investing
46. Books about Money and frugality: “History of Money,” “Encyclopedia of Money,” “Encyclopedia of Finance,” “Payne Hollow: Life on the Fringe of Society” by Harlan Hubbard; “Shantyboat on the Bayous,” “Payne Hollow Journal”
47. MISERLY CHARACTERS: Scrooge McDuck; Jemmy Wood, owner of the Gloucester Old Bank, “The Gloucester Miser”, the richest commoner in His Majesty’s dominions.
48. More terms pertaining to frugality: Lifestyle deflation, low-cost lifestyle, cheap, intentional poor, penny pincher, scrooge, miserly, miser, economist, economize, tightfisted, saver, financial discipline, austerity, thrifty, austere, frugalist, miserly, fiscally conservative
49. “The Ascent of Money” by Niall Ferguson
50. It’s only money. I’ll make more. It’s just money.
51. Smart Long-term Life Goals (keywords): Financial Security, Financial Protection, Financially Secure, Financially Astute, Financial Peace of Mind, Financial Freedom, Financial Independence, Financially Protected, Money-Savvy, Financially Savvy, Financially Secure, Financial Future
52. Related terms relating to rich people: superrich, multibillionaire, Ultra-High Net Worth Individual (UHNWI), Rich is cool, wealth preservation, capital preservation, Money is power, Cash is king, Greed is good; Life is all about the money; asset management, wealth management, investment management, chrematistic
53. global institutional wealth management
54. The stingy rich
55. sovereign wealth funds
56. “That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.” — Henry David Thoreau
My article actually looks like a mere random scribbling of my thoughts relating to money — finance, frugality, and avarice quotations.
It actually is just my rambling musings. This article has been on my desktop for several months already as a draft waiting to be completed into an essay.
Well, today is the day that I finally found the time to complete it. I am open to more ideas and suggestions pertaining to this interest that I have got collecting money quotations.
As we live in a money-driven society and a money-driven world, I back the truth that money is power. It should not be considered as an abominable terminology.
I advocate the fact that people should aspire for a secure financial future. This is possible through sound financial education and obtaining financial intelligence on how to manage their finances astutely.
About the Author: Sheena Ricarte is a freelance finance journalist. Her research interests include US corporate finance, international economics, and international finance.
Miss Ricarte is also very interested in wealth management, investment management, and asset management.
She admires Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim’s advocacy of corporate philanthropy. Miss Ricarte supports Mr. Slim’s perspective of wealth being a responsibility to leverage in helping the society rather than a privilege which only a few will enjoy.
