Written by: Frank Callahan
8/22/2008 2:05 PM

Remember that stuff does not define self-worth. It's cliché but true. Money can't buy you love or happiness.
I suspect that YAWNs, like anyone else, find fulfillment in personal relationships and social causes because those are things that last. Why waste time, energy and money trying to impress other people with designer clothes, fancy cars and palatial mansions? Those are merely distractions. It's the things that money cannot buy that best define your life.
Ray Sidney, 38, a former software engineer at Google, made bank when the company went public in 2004. Instead of living it up, he quietly retired to Stateline, Nev. He says he probably doesn't qualify as frugal -- he owns two planes to shuttle between home and the Bay Area -- "but I could certainly live a more fancy-pants life than I do."
With his means, there's a lot of temptation to buy, buy, buy. But the habits he learned years ago as a strapped student are well-ingrained. "I only buy things I know I'll use," he says. "Why buy something to just sit there and take up space?"
Give back. Many young adults aspire to leave the world a better place than they found it. And those with considerable wealth are having an awakening.
"You start to realize: What's the point of spending money when you can think of so many better ways to use it?" says Sidney, who has helped fund a high school football field and helped pay for a local arts center, among other donations. With his latest pet project, he's aiming to do something for Mother Earth: He's building an affordable, eco-friendly housing development in Nevada.
Feeling generous but strapped for cash? You may not have the bankroll of millionaires, but you have just as much time in a day as they do. Give of yourself if not of your wallet. (See "A dozen creative donations" for more no- or low-cash ways you can give to charity.)
Whatever your financial situation, being charitable and socially conscious can be rewarding -- not to mention that it's good karma.
I like how Knight Kiplinger, the editor-in-chief of Kipinger.com, puts it: "Your own financial security depends far more than you may think on the financial, physical and spiritual health of others in your community, our nation, our world. When you share your good fortune by donating your money, time and talent to charity, you help create a stronger economy and a healthier, safer world."
This article was reported and written by Erin Burt for Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine.

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