Saving money really comes down to how much you value your time. Do you want to be the person always working to pay off debt or the person who has the freedom to chase the things that are important in life? Do you want to be the person sitting behind the desk or the person on the beach? Do you want to be the person living paycheck-to-paycheck or the person with financial flexibility?

There’s a simple verse from the Book of Proverbs 22:7 that sums up our message: “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”

When we owe people money, they essentially own our time. With debt, we’re no longer free to pursue our true ambitions because of the obligations we must repay. We are often told there’s good debt and bad debt, but honestly, all debt is bad – it steals our freedom and steals our time. You’ve probably heard the expression, “Do you own your car, or does the car own you?” Even something as small as that last $5,000 you owe on your car steals your time.

People with debt often experience more frequent bouts of depression, hopelessness, anger and fear because they have lost their freedom. No longer do they have the financial flexibility to make their own choices or have suitable options to restore their credit. They’ve become a servant to the lender.

Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs so eloquently stated, “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”

What is truly important to you? Why aren’t you chasing those dreams? Once you understand that TIME is your most valuable commodity, you will have mastered the first lesson of how to save money the CouponVerve way.