So I've been perusing the ShopBop new arrivals today, since they're having their big spring sale (PSA: use code SPRINGEVENT to save!) and finding things I like but don't love enough to justify spending the money. I then started thinking about how I can't ever really justify a big splurge on really anything, even if I absolutely love it, because I can think of a million more useful ways to spend the money or that it would be much more useful to save the money for later.
I saved every bit of money I got for my college graduation from friends and family. It's sitting in my savings account, just waiting. I know there isn't anything wrong with spending some of that money on something fun, but the knowledge that I would have to pay rent in April to my parents if I'm still living at home has made me overly cautious with money. The part of my brain that's fun says to go ahead and splurge on something as a treat to myself for graduating college, but the bigger, more rational, cautious part of my brain says save, save, s-a-v-e.
I know saving money is good and necessary and it's not a bad thing to save a lot. But I think there is a difference between saving healthily and continuously denying yourself things you love in order to save money...and lately I've been falling into that second camp. Will I feel financially secure enough to treat myself to something when I finally get a job? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe I'll feel secure enough but my overly cautious nature won't actually let me spend, even though there'd be a steady flow of income...I really don't know.
What do you do: do you save obsessively like me or are you more of a spender? Or are you more middle-of-the-road: saving a good bit but also treating yourself once in a while? I'm really curious!
i wish i was better at saving. it's definitely hard for me, but so rewarding!
ReplyDeleteI love saving. I don't splurge very often but I do occasionally and when I do it's really fun and I can normally do it without guilt. But as a girl with a degree in finance and a father who was a banker, I've been taught to save save save, and live within my means and delay my gratification.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely a spender. The worst part of it is that I have tons of fun, useless things I WANT to save for, and tons of important things I NEED to save for, and I still spend money on whims sometimes, usually because something is right in front of me. Now that I am officially living on my own, I'm getting better at remembering the big things I want when faced with this question. I've started keeping a list on my iPhone of things I want but don't need (big or small) and when I want to buy something I look at the list and figure out where it would fall in terms of priority. My brain seems to be smart enough to preserve money for the things I need to buy without me needing to think about it too much, but I really want to get into more of a habit of saving, especially as my income is so sporadic/unstable.
ReplyDeleteI do think there is something to be said for splurging to reward yourself, especially if you really love it, but only if the guilt you felt wouldn't overshadow the happiness the splurge would give you. :)