I have great admiration for all artist and one wish that I have is that I possessed more artistic talent. I’m amazed by the artwork that an artist is able to produce and wonder how each manages to get to the final stage from the humble beginning. While I’m impressed by all art, I’m especially impressed by trash art — those objects created out of things that most of us would usually throw away or walk past assuming that they were worthless.

Not only does trash art bring to life something that most of us think as useless, it also can teach us some valuable lessons about personal finance. Here are a few lessons that came to mind as I came across these art objects:

(Image courtesy of loungerie)

Work with what you have: It’s easy to complain in life that we don’t have enough. The Joneses have an unfair advantage that makes their earning power easier. The fact is that life is unfair. It’s also important to remember that while you probably have less than some people, there are a lot of people that are beginning with far less than you. There is no point in worrying about it because it isn’t going to change the facts and no matter how little you have, with creativity, determination and a lot of hard work, you can make something from it. If old plastic bottles that are normally thrown away each year can be made into a sculpture of a lobster, you have tools at your disposal to create an income to meet your needs.

(Image courtesy of allfr3d)

Less can be an advantage: Having less can actually be an advantage when you begin to create something. When you don’t have a lot of money, you need to be creative in order to accomplish your financial goals. While lack of resources may at first seem to be a disadvantage, if you can incorporate learning to use what you do have into your financial life, you will be in much better shape to live frugally when things get tight in the future. If you have always been used to having money to do whatever you want and suddenly it isn’t there, it’s a lot more difficult to adapt. Having less will let you see that there is no reason to spend a lot of money on wood to build an elephant when you can build that same elephant with driftwood that costs absolutely nothing.

(Image courtesy of mdumlao98)

Luck has little to do with financial success: While it is certainly true that there are people who have gained financial success through luck (think lottery winners), they are a tiny minority. For the vast majority who are successful, that “luck” was created through long hours of hard work that often goes unseen so that it only appears that the success was instant and easy. Phone books don’t magically turn into a sculpture of Socrates – it takes a lot of imagination, patience, planning and work to make it happen as it does with reaching most financial goals.

(Image courtesy of 185Queens)

Be willing to take risks: When you decide to do something, in all likelihood you’re going to hear a lot of negatives from others that won’t agree with your plans. That doesn’t mean that you should ignore them (in fact, you should listen to their comments because they will often give you good advice in areas where you will need to work especially hard to succeed), but also be willing to take the risk to move forward with your goals. Not many people are going to support you when you are gathering old plastic bags, but they will eventually see that their discouragement was wrong when you turn them into a polar bear.

(Image courtesy of Lorna is)

Use what you have creatively: Just because you’re finished using something in one way doesn’t mean that it can’t be used in other ways in the future. When you have limited resources, consider how you may be able to use items in alternative ways beyond what they were originally meant to be used for. For example, it was these photos that created this post and not the other way around. I came across them over the last few months and when I found ones I thought were interesting, I saved them even though I didn’t have a particular use for them and they were not created to teach a financial lesson. As I was going through them, however, I realized that they helped to explain a topic that I had be wanting to write about. Just as old computer parts can be recreated into a sculpture, many items that you have can be used for other things with a bit of creativity.

The biggest lesson is that the everyday things around you can often inspire you in ways that you never thought if you simply spend a little time thinking about it. Learning to use the resources that you do have to the fullest will take you a lot further than you ever thought possible than complaining about the resources you don’t have.