When you say "It's not about the money," is it only about the money?

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   rotlposted 13 years ago

   I hear people say that and always wonder, when someone says that, is it actually all about the money?

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   psycheskinnerposted 13 years ago

   Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn't.  I think very few people do anything only and entirely for money.

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      rotlposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Makes sense... I just think when the time has come for someone to use these words, the evidence indicates that it is about the money to them, hence the need to use this phrase to protest that notion.

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   Mark Ewbieposted 13 years ago

   I go to work purely for the money.  I am doing this in the hope I can do less going to work.  But it really isn't all about the money.  I enjoy it.

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   lrohnerposted 13 years ago

   Count me as one of the very few. For me, this is all about the money.

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   psycheskinnerposted 13 years ago

   There are lots of ways to make money, even when doing this for the money I would suggest that there are non-money reasons why you do this and not something else.

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      lrohnerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Nuh uh. Trust me -- it's all about the money. See, this is my job. I make a living writing and marketing online. When something becomes a job, a lot of the fun is sucked right out of it.

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   psycheskinnerposted 13 years ago

   In general I try to assume people mean what they say.

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   livewithrichardposted 13 years ago

   Here on HP it started out as all about the money but along the way I've met some pretty interesting people and made a lot of friends.

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   psycheskinnerposted 13 years ago

   I am not saying it isn't a job, entirely a job and only a job.  But there are always other elements in play that make you choose this job rather than any number of other options in which you could make comparable income.  Even if it is just that you find this job less unpleasant.  Human behavior rarely (I would argue never) is 100% under the control of one factor.

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      lrohnerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Unfortunately, that statement does not hold water in this economy -- at least not in the part of the US I live in. Options are few and far between.
      
      I'm not saying I hate my job or anything -- don't get me wrong. But since there really are no other options right now thanks to the economy (outside of pumping gas or ringing the register at WalMart), I couldn't tell you whether I would actually choose this or not given other choices. Maybe yes, maybe not. Who knows?

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   Pcunixposted 13 years ago

   Nope.
   
   For me, often money does not matter.  That is, there is no amount of money which will change my position or actions.
   
   On the other hand, I have always had more than I needed.  Not that I have been wealthy, but I have done well on the income side and have trod lightly on the spending side.  My needs really are very simple and my wife is the same way.  We are very happy with very little - well, that's not really fair, because by many standards we live rather well, but compared to how we could have lived, compared to how some around us do live, we live simply.
   
   If we are specifically talking about writing at HP, the money really is secondary.  Primarily I write because I enjoy it.  As I have averaged at least one page per day for more than 13 years now, I think that is a defensible statement

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    rotlposted 13 years ago

    Two examples of when I hear that phrase and say "Yeah, right!": athletes and politicians. A lot of them say "It's not about the money," and then the next day they sell out to the highest bidder.

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    Anesidoraposted 13 years ago

    It's totally all about the money.
    
    Money matters, more than almost anything else in this world.
    
    Go ahead and misinterpret that if you must, and yes I've already read here in these forums how that means I'm not a 'real writer', lol.
    
    Who cares? I got old age to plan for.

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       Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Actually, I'd say that those who are writing for money only are the real writers.
       
       It's like people who are pro athletes vs. those who might go to the Olympics in a sense.
       
       We'e both writers, but you are a "pro".
       
       Me, I'm the guy who plays for money but doesn't play when he doesn't feel like it, won't do things he doesn't want to do and so on.  That's not even quite a "semi-pro".

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