Sound Familiar?
Organizing Consultant, Marie Kondo says, “only keep what brings you joy” in order to have a happy and peaceful home.
I’m here to say, only spend on what brings you joy for a similar outcome.
Many times we focus on one extreme. Either you spend on everything or you spend on nothing. Neither of those is joy-inducing.
These days, spending money has become as impossible to resist as eating sugar. Opportunities are everywhere, especially in the comfort of our homes. You merely have to have a phone and/or computer to spend a lot of money in less than 5 minutes.
Take time every few months to reassess your life and identify what things associated with money bring you joy? Is it spending money on good quality food? Education? Staying in hotels? Your children’s development in a specific area like a sport? Good quality clothing? Things that make your life easier like a house cleaner, chef, gardener?
Next, take a look at your spending habits and ask yourself if you are living authentically.
By that, I mean, are you budgeting for these joyful experiences/things?
When working on your budget, be intentional with how you delegate your money. Make sure that you have categories for the items that bring you joy. Maybe you love to travel. That won’t necessarily be part of your monthly spending, but you can create a sinking fund for that item. You can put money aside each month in a separate account for traveling.
When you highlight things that bring you joy in your budget, you will find that you reduce your spending in other areas that do not matter so much to you.
For example, let’s say that someone’s budget is $3,000 per month.
They love to splurge on clothes, shoes and socializing.
Their budget would look something like this:
Mortgage/Rent: $900
Transportation: $400
Utilities: $300
Insurance: $200
Food: $450
Saving/Debt/Investing: $300
Shopping: $250
Entertainment: $250
Education: $50
Self-care: $50
Toiletries:$50
Eating out: $100
Giving: $100
You can’t have it all to a certain extent. We all must make choices when it comes to budgeting our money. In this case, this person is prioritizing what brings them joy by having them up towards the top of their budget. In addition, notice they included 10% of their income to saving/investing or debt. If there is a lot of debt, this number may completely throw off the budget. That is fine. Adjust your numbers accordingly.
Try it.
Make a list of what you love to buy and do.
Create a budget with these categories included.
Make sure to pay yourself first by allocating at least 10% of your monthly budget towards your debt, savings and/or investing.
There is always room for what matters to you. If not, then increase your income, cut back more in other areas. Remember the three areas that can make or break your budget are: Transportation, Housing and Food.
Happy Spending.
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