Inside out

One of the best ways to save money is to do work you’re proud of.

As a designer, good work is the kind you feel proud of—both while creating it and when delivering it. Praise or positive outcomes are just by-products, not the goal. Work that uses your abilities fully and reflects your best knowledge fills you from the inside.

When the inside isn’t full, we often try to fill it from the outside through spending. These expenses are dangerous. Some look small but add up quickly. Others are large and quietly raise your spending baseline. If you’re not careful, external spending becomes a kind of addiction—you need more and more to feel the same.

I’m not saying everyone should work harder just to save money. We should give our best during work hours and rest afterwards. I don’t believe long hours equal good work. Exhaustion has its own costs—like late-night online shopping you regret the next morning. And of course, at some point, we should spend to create joy.

But trying to fill an inner emptiness with external purchases never works. Fulfilment must be created from the inside—through making, not buying. You can’t buy the feeling of being filled from within by spending on things outside. Putting your energy into work you’re proud of is a far more sustainable way to save money.

Saving money is an inside-out activity.