How to spend money without feeling guilty
For a LONG time (and sometimes still now) I feel super guilty around spending my money.
I felt like I hadn’t earned the right to actually spend my money… it was a really bad mindset to have towards money.
If you have the same problem then here are some ways you can change your thoughts around money – read this blog.
So how did I help get rid of my money-guilt?
As simple as it sounds, I removed the guilt around spending by actually spending my money.
Hear me out here people…
Within my monthly budget, I started allocating a budget for ‘guilt-free spending‘. I set an amount of money from my paycheck for that month and then choose to spend that money in ANY WAY I like, (under the one condition that I feel no guilt when spending it).
I want to make sure I enjoy the purchase. I enjoy what I am spending my money on.
The amount of money I allocate would depend on my expenses for that month and how close to my saving goal I was (usually between £20 to £100 as a budget).
I can spend that money at any point within the month. And I did not allow myself to carry it over into the next month. If I had worked it into the budget then it HAD to be spent.
No way around it, I had to do it.
One time I spent that money on pens.
I found a pen that I loved (free gift from a goody bag). It was so heavenly to write with. I loved it SO much that I tracked it down on Amazon and that month I spent £20 on 10 pens.
And I spent that money completely guilt-free baby.
That was a year ago, I still have 6 of the pens and I still love them as much as the day I bought them.
You might be thinking “pssshhh what is £20? That is nothing”.
For me, it was not about the cost of the item. It was not about how much I was spending. It was more about the necessity of the purchase.
Most of the time, because I was obsessed with saving, I was talking myself out of multiple unnecessary purchase (which is great) but slowly overtime that attitude infiltrated every purchase I made and I was constantly riddled with feelings of money-guilt.
Before, I would have NEVER spent £20 on some pens. It seemed so ridiculous and decadent. But on this occasion it was a purchase with my guilt-free money and I saw how much it benefited my life and how happy it made me.
So simple but so effective because now I do not need the guilt-free budget.
Over time, I got used to enjoying that bit of guilt-free money that I was able to change my attitude towards money and assess sensibly what i should and shouldn’t be spending my money on. Times that it was okay to spend my money and NOT feel guilty.
Happy guilt-free saving!
Laura xx