This is a guest post from my dear brother. Many of you expressed a great interest in his return after his earlier post – debt is like kissing your sister – so hopefully you’ll find this one just as witty!

In fact, do any of you remember one of my earliest posts about how he borrowed money from me and actually paid me back months ahead of time? It’s truly wonderful how his financial management skills have improved over the years – I’m so proud! *tear* So here it is, my bro’s 2nd post: And just so you know, I didn’t pay him to say such loving things about me ;)

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I am immensely proud of my brother. You know how Frank Stallone feels about Sylvester? How Casey Affleck feels about big bro Ben? Multiply that by a million, and that’s how I feel about J. Money. If J was a sports star, I’d collect all of his cards, wear his jersey, attend his games with an obnoxious foam finger and have a kick-ass Fat Boy of him on my bedroom wall. Oh, yeah.

This abundance of pride stems from a couple of things. Aside from the fact that he’s the only male left in the family with a full head of hair, J’s found a real niche with this budget blog. He’s building a community and planting a flag in the soil of cyberspace. What’s more, he’s tending to this project the same way an illegal alien tends to a rose garden – with precision, affection and ignorance of random pricks. J has found what fuels his passion, and he’s pouring his heart into it. And you know what? It’s paying dividends in the form of jolly readers, innovative ideas and a forum of financially savvy folk … which brings me to my point.

When you invest your time, energy and resources into something you truly love, it no longer becomes work. It becomes a love affair with possibility fueled by endless opportunities. Don’t we all want to find something we love doing and have it push us toward greatness? Sure, we work to make money, and money is important (after all, what else is going to fuel that Slurpee addiction of yours?). All I’m saying is it’s important to not lose sight of what should really drive us, and that’s happiness. And if you can get by doing something you love, you’re all the better for it.

A long time ago, I read a quote about money that really stuck with me. It said something along these lines: Don’t worry about money because you’ll get it when you least expect it, and you’ll lose it when you least expect it. I couldn’t agree more with that statement. Worrying about money is like a rocking chair; it’ll keep you busy, but it won’t take you anywhere. The entire purpose of life is to be happy, right? To fill your daily grind with gumdrops and puppy dogs? So do it. Today. Because when you do something you love, you’ll find it provides you with the means to live a full, fun and profitable life.

I’ll leave you with this really cool approach to life I learned awhile back: We all have 24 hours in a day. Typically, we spend eight hours sleeping, eight hours working and eight hours _____. What do YOU do with those final eight hours? Think about it. I hope your answer puts a smile on that baby face of yours!