How to Responsibly Buy Yourself Something Silly
Some people can live a frugal life, save all their money and derive great happiness and satisfaction from simple things in life. Ruby-orange sunsets, drops of dew on a rose petal or knowing that when you’re 85 you’ll have lots of money might be all you need in life but that’s not me. I’ll bet it’s not you either.
Since the $1,200 Handbag article I’ve gotten a wide spectrum of response; many of them defending the purchase of a pricey leather pouch stamped Gucci. I actually agree with buying the handbag in certain cases and I don’t mean just cases where you’re filthy rich. All work and no play or all saving and no spending is not what life is about for most of us. Living in self-imposed poverty until you’re 70 and retired might just leave you comfortable in your last few years but feeling like you’ve missed out. So how can you live a life sprinkled with frivolity and still retire in comfort?
The answer and challenge is to plan how you spend your money so that you can have the irrational things you might enjoy and save at the same time. It’s OK to spend your money on something that does nothing but make you happy like a pricey handbag, expensive shoes, a new car instead of a used car, especially if it’s a reward for saving and budgeting responsibly. You can’t buy everything you want because that’s irresponsible but if you don’t enjoy life along the way you could burn out and fail in the long run.
It’s like dieting. I’ve been successfully dieting using a really clean and healthy diet for several months and now I’m at and maintaining my target weight but continuing to diet anyway. People ask why I’m continuing to eat this way and say it’s no way to live. I tell them its super healthy and I eat pizza, ice cream and whatever else I want one day each week without an ounce of guilt. In fact my pig-out day is far more indulgent than I ever would have dared before. I can do this because I cut out the cheap fast food and burgers during the week which added the pounds and didn’t really taste that great anyway. Indulging is psychologically refreshing and enables healthy eating all the other days.
It’s the same exact thing with finances and saving. It’s easier to stay on a healthy savings and financial plan with a little planned fun to look forward to. You need it psychologically and it will make your life happier. As you save for college, a house and retirement also plan on rewarding your hard work with fun stuff along the way. Make sure you have some spending money set aside in your budget even if it’s just a little, then don’t feel bad about spending it.
If you keep track of the little dumb things you buy all the time and cut them out you might be surprised at what you could soon afford. Here’s an exercise I recommend you try:
- Make a wish list of everything non-essential you want to buy in order of importance to you along with the prices (everything from coffee, to new jeans to a new TV)
- Start another list of the non-essential things you actually buy with the prices and track it for a month
- At the end of the month compare your lists and see how many things on your actual list were on the wish list, let alone on top
- Add up the cost of all the things on the actual list and see what you could have bought on your wish list!
I’ll wager that for most of you the actual list will look much different than the wish list and hopefully this exercise will help you see how you can have some of the things you want. The main point here is that it’s important to budget and know where your money is going. It’s also important to leave yourself some money to use for fun and if you do you will meet your financial goals and have some guilt free pleasures along the way. I mean aren’t ruby-orange sunsets more enjoyable viewed through a new pair of designer sunglasses while wearing your best designer jeans and holding a Gucci bag?
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