How to Spend Money on Yourself Without Feeling Guilty

How to Spend Money on Yourself Without Feeling Ridiculously Guilty

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Raise your hand if you’re a Mom and the majority of your splurges go towards the kids. I get it! Kids have needs, but it’s okay to spend money on yourself from time to time!

Many times I’ve gone to my favorite store to get something that I needed and ended up with a few things for all of my kids and nothing for myself. How does that happen? 

Maybe the pants you tried on just didn’t fit perfectly, so you wandered off to the kids’ section and found several items for them. After all, you’re just a stay at home mom. You don’t need new clothes as much as they do.

I’m here to tell you “Yes, you probably do need something for you”. It’s okay to splurge once in a while, but you need to know how to spend money on yourself in a healthy, responsible way.

5 Ways to Spend Money on Yourself Without Blowing the Budget or Feeling Guilty

How to Spend Money on Yourself Without Feeling Ridiculously Guilty

1. Follow the Budget

If you’ve been a reader of Perfection Hangover for a while, you know that I’m all about the budget. There’s something about putting a bunch of numbers down on a piece of paper that gets me excited for creating and crushing goals!

If you haven’t mastered the art of budgeting, it’s really not that hard. I use this cheap family finance organizer to create my own budget. 

I’ve been using this method for about 6 years now, and while there are plenty of apps to help you keep track of your money, nothing is better or simpler than pen and paper. 

You don’t have to live stingy in order to splurge on yourself. You just need a plan.

Once you’ve created a budget, you can determine how much money is left over and allocate a little bit of “fun money”. More on this later.

2. A-P-C = Always Pay Cash

Always Be Closing Alec Baldwin

This is self-explanatory, please don’t use credit cards when you spend money on yourself, your kids, or really anything else (unless you can pay them off every single month in full). 

Credit cards are a dangerous swiping habit for some people, and when you pay cash for splurges, it really makes you think twice before spending frivolously. 

When I was donating blood plasma for extra money, it really made me question whether the purchases I was making were in alignment with my goals. 

I spent about 3 hours per week sticking needles in my arms and pumping plasma out and returning the blood cells back into my body, literally draining myself, for extra money. 

Instead of buying junk food, I put that extra money towards healthy food and I actually lost 25 lbs in 6 months as a result!

Blood plasma donation isn’t for everyone, so be sure to see if you’re a good candidate for the procedure. 

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3. Save up Fun Money

Once you’ve created a budget and know where your money is going, it’s time to determine how much “fun money” you (and your spouse) are allowed. 

Let’s say you’ve got $50 per paycheck (every two weeks) to spend however you want. This amounts to $25 per week or just $3.57 per day.

4. Don’t Blow It – Intentionally Splurge

Now you could easily spend $3.57 on a cup of coffee every single day. Or you could go get a shellac manicure twice a month. 

But I’m actually starting 2020 with an intentional spending exercise. By asking myself two questions before I spend money on myself, I believe I will make smarter purchases.

The two questions are:

  1. Is this purchase going to make me more money? In 2019, I earned 1000% more income than in 2018 on Perfection Hangover. The main difference between 2018-2019 was not traffic, believe it or not! The game-changer was that I invested in courses
  2. Will this purchase bring me joy or make me happy? I really hate where we live. The midwest is literally a beach girl’s worst nightmare. But until my husband’s employer opens up a position in the Southeast, we’re stuck.So I am choosing to save a lot of my money for trips to the beach! We always drive to save money, and we always stay at an Airbnb on the beach. This allows us to cook most of our meals, and we can sip our coffee while watching the waves gently brush across the shore! So much better than blowing my fun money on Starbucks!

5. Pray About It

This year, in addition to being more grateful, I prayed more than ever before. God helped me through some extremely difficult times, and I learned to lean on Him for everything.

Phillippians 4:6 NLT

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

Don’t make hasty purchases without looking at the whole picture. Lord knows I’ve made some stupid car buying mistakes over the years. 

Before spending money on yourself, think about your family goals and financial plans and be intentional. Remember to ask yourself if this purchase or investment will make you more money or bring you joy. And always pay cash! 

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