I’m really into sweating the small stuff. Big stuff is worth sweating too, but you know, a bunch of small things put together make a big thing. This explains why I bother with online coupon codes, why I book and rebook my airline reservations, why I bought an Entertainment Book, and why I do a whole bunch of other things I do. This explains why airlines don’t serve peanuts anymore, why banks nickel and dime you for every non-essential service, why most cell phone companies have raised the fee for text messages from $.10 to $.15. Little things add up. A bunch of pennies put together make a dollar.

And you know what else? Sometimes, a penny is worth more or less than a penny. How is this so? I submit that the worth of one cent is very much relative, and that every person has at least some power to determine its value for him or herself.

First, if you toss your money away on something worthless, you’ve decided that your penny is worth nothing. The question of what has worth and what doesn’t is obviously subjective, so the exchange of value is something that occurs in your own mind as much as in the world of measurable and touchable things.

Still with me? Okay, then. I believe that your penny can be worth more than a penny if you invest or spend it wisely. Whenever you buy something, you’ve concluded that that thing is worth more than what you paid for it. Otherwise, you would have simply held onto the money - right? Of course, whoever you bought that item from thought your money was worth more than the item, or else that person would’ve held onto the item. The point I’m trying to get across is that the worth of things is really dependent upon your perspective. If you’re hungry and don’t have anything to eat, a hamburger is worth a lot. If you have 10,000 hamburgers, a hamburger isn’t worth very much. Since the worth of things and of money depends on your perspective, you can change the value of your money by changing your perspective.

I’m not saying that you’ll become rich by envisioning yourself becoming rich, that you’ll attract money like a magnet by somehow letting these “I’m rich” vibes permeate the universe. If you take pains to put off “I’m rich” vibes, you’ll probably simply turn other people away from you. What I’m saying is simply that by reducing your own needs, by simplifying your lifestyle, by pinching pennies, by stretching dollars, you can increase the worth of your money.

If you choose to shop at a discount store rather than that bright, sparkling clean, well-lit supermarket, you’ve increased the worth of your money (that is, unless brightness, cleanness, and well-litness and worth enough to you to make up the difference). When you’re a cheapskate, you make your money worth more by living a more efficient lifestyle.

I recently wrote about how a McDonald’s income can support you in retirement. This is exactly what I was talking about: even a small amount of money can do a lot for you if you use it right. Now, maybe I’m being unfair, but most people who work at McDonald’s probably don’t know how to manage their money. In general, these people haven’t reached the highest levels of education and have not been taught about investing or about the power of compound interest. But you know what? Those who work six-figure corporate jobs and blow their entire incomes on ephemeral crud don’t seem to know much about compound interest either. If you worked a six-figure corporate job and lived like a McDonald’s employee, you could retire in just a few years!

The concept I’m trying to get across here is not, in fact, metaphysical or unscientific or even really that complicated, although I’ve purposely stated my message in an unusual way. What I’m saying is just this: you are in control of your personal finances. This is the case whether you’re a high-powered CEO or a high school janitor. You can waste your money on junk just because you happen to have the money and the junk happens to be in front of you, or you can make your money work for you, changing where you shop, always keeping an eye out for bargains, negotiating, keeping your expenses low, knowing a “need” from a “want,” and making intelligent investment choices.

So how much is a penny worth? In the end, it’s mostly up to you.

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