By Vicki Robin and Jacqueline Blix

Answering the question, “What is money?” is a key to determining how to live our lives. Too often, when we define money, we think only of its everyday workings – checking and savings accounts, stocks and bonds, interest rates and taxes.

Or, we might look to our individual feelings and attitudes about money or possibly what we learn from advertising, television programming, and financial news. But as useful as this kind of introspection can be, it still doesn’t tell us what money really is.

We need a fundamental and enduring definition of money – one that makes sense on a practical level, yet also helps us integrate money into our emotional, intellectual and spiritual selves. Once we understand how money fits into the bigger picture of meaning and fulfillment, financial details can fall quite nicely into place as our money assists us in living healthier lives.

We propose a simple, yet comprehensive definition: Money is something we exchange our time for. Just think – how you spend your money is really how you spend your life.

Too often, what gets overlooked in our no-limits society is the fact that our lifetimes are actually limited. (See “Life Expectancy Chart.”) At age 40, for example, you might be expected to live another 37.6 years. There’s no such concept as “if you die”; there is only “when.” Life, in this respect is very quantifiable.

Think about the process of trading the hours of your day for a paycheck and then using this money to purchase goods and services. Because of this two-step exchange, everything you see around you that you’ve spent money on represents part of your life span.

Here are some ideas that can help youj demystify money, zero in on its real meaning in your life, and see some of the effects of your spending on quality of life – yours and the Earth’s.

1. Analyze cultural messages about money.
In what subtle ways might you be basing your sense of self and social standing on your possessions, profession or portfolio?

2. Understand your own money psychology.
Where do your assumptions and attitudes about money come from? What do you tell your children about money?

3. Learn money-handling – that is, life-handling – basics.
Use Real Money and Co-op America’s Financial Planning Handbook as resources.

4. Think about how much of your life you’ve traded for a recent purchase .
How many hours did it take to pay for it? Did you get your life’s worth? Getting your life’s worth is more important in the long run than getting your money’s worth.

Remember: In the end, understanding what money really is can help you prioritize both the precious life energy you trade to get it and what you do with money once you have it.

Originally Published in Real Money Newsletter
Reprinted Here with Permission of Co-op America