Money is strange.
We spend most of our lives chasing it, worrying about it, optimizing it — yet very few of us are ever truly taught how it works.
School teaches mathematics, but not capital allocation.
We learn history, but not how inflation quietly erodes purchasing power.
We learn to prepare for exams, not for financial independence.
The moneygame is something you are thrown into without a rulebook.
And most people simply follow the default script.
1. The default script: Learn → Work → Consume → Repeat
The world is very good at teaching us how to earn money.
It is surprisingly bad at teaching us how to use money.
The traditional path is clear:
- Study
- Get a 9–5 job
- Increase salary over time
- Upgrade lifestyle accordingly
More income → nicer apartment → better car → more subscriptions → better holidays.
This is the invisible ladder.
Climb it long enough and you wake up with a higher income — and the same level of financial stress.
Lifestyle creep is the silent enemy of freedom.
You earn more.
You spend more.
You need more.
You work more.
The game continues.
2. How do you make more money?
There are roughly two fundamental models:
Model A: Linear income (9–5)
You trade time for money.
It is predictable.
It is socially accepted.
It feels safe.
But it scales poorly. There are only so many hours in a day.
Model B: Multiple money streams
You build layers.
- Investments
- Rental income
- Dividends
- Side hustles
- Small arbitrage plays
- Business equity
The key difference is leverage.
With investments, capital works.
With real estate, debt can work (if controlled).
With business, systems work.
This is why I personally gravitated toward real estate — not because it is glamorous, but because it allows capital, time, and structure to compound.
A salary pays the bills.
Assets create options.
3. How the ladder usually goes
Most people climb income ladders.
Very few climb networth ladders.
And those are two completely different games.
Income growth feels exciting.
Net worth growth feels invisible — until suddenly it isn’t.
The moneygame changes when:
- You measure assets, not salary.
- You measure cash flow, not consumption.
- You measure freedom, not status.
Once passive income starts covering fixed expenses, the psychology shifts.
You no longer work because you must.
You work because you choose.
That is a powerful place to be.
4. How to be better with money
Not by obsessing over coffee budgets.
But by understanding five core principles:
1. Track your numbers.
Net worth. Cash flow. Debt levels. Expense ratio.
2. Separate ego from spending.
Many purchases are social signaling disguised as “needs.”
3. Build buffers.
Liquidity reduces stress more than almost anything.
4. Invest consistently.
Even when it feels boring.
5. Avoid irreversible mistakes.
High-interest debt, bad partnerships, over-leverage without margins.
Money is not about brilliance.
It is about controlled behavior over time.
5. Make money work for you
There are only two ways to live:
- You work for money.
- Money works for you.
To shift the balance:
- Own assets.
- Reinvest profits.
- Keep expenses flexible.
- Maintain optionality.
When rental income covers your housing.
When dividends cover groceries.
When cash flow covers core living.
The stress curve drops dramatically.
You stop playing defense.
You start playing position.
6. Stress less about money
Stress comes from uncertainty.
You reduce uncertainty by:
- Having a buffer.
- Having diversified income.
- Having low fixed costs.
- Knowing your downside.
Ironically, the more stable your financial base becomes, the less emotionally attached you become to money.
You begin to enjoy the milestones:
- First investment property.
- First 1000€ in passive income.
- First 100 000€.
- First year without financial panic.
- First time saying “no” because you can.
Celebrate those.
Too many people delay satisfaction forever.
7. Earn more — or chill?
This is the final stage of the moneygame.
At some point you ask:
Is more really necessary?
If your lifestyle is covered,
If your downside is manageable,
If your time feels free —
Then maybe the next level is not more growth.
Maybe it is optimization of life.
There is no universal answer.
Some want to build an empire.
Some want to build freedom.
The danger is climbing forever without asking why.
Money is a tool.
Not a scoreboard.
Final thought
The world teaches us how to participate in the moneygame.
It rarely teaches us how to win it.
Winning is not about having the most.
It is about reaching enough — and recognizing it.
And that definition is deeply personal.
—
If you think about it from a landlord’s perspective:
Owning assets changes your relationship with money.
You stop being purely a consumer in the economy.
You become a capital allocator.
And that shift — more than any salary raise — is what changes the game.
So game on!
The Vuokranantaja has entered the game.
