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Whenever I plan to spend money on something that is for myself or is a splurge of any kind, I spend a long time thinking about it. More times than not, if I do buy something, I also have a tendency to feel guilty about spending money on myself.
Our Trip to Home Depot (and My Spending Guilt)
For Valentine’s Day, I bought my wife a Fiddleleaf Fig tree (who knew Amazon sold trees). Before you ask, we talked about it ahead of time and it’s what we agreed to buy together. We received it a couple of weeks ago.
This morning we planned to take a trip to Home Depot to pick out an indoor pot for it. While there we got sucked in by the outdoor furniture (we recently bought a house last August and don’t currently have any). There was a great outdoor dining set on sale that had been marked down several hundred dollars. Long story short, we ended up buying it.
Normally, I would try to talk my wife into waiting a month or two before making the purchase to make sure that it is something we actually want, but I could tell she really wanted it. Also, even though she’s pretty frugal herself, I’m pretty sure she was going to buy it regardless of what I said.
From the moment we checked out, I’ve had this guilt over spending money on something that isn’t a necessity. We have the money in the bank and this purchase won’t set us back, but I know it isn’t in the budget and we should be spending it on paying off debt and saving more for retirement. I have a goal of financial freedom by forty and each unscheduled purchase sets us back (or causes us to have to make it up somewhere else).
When My Spending Guilt Started
I developed this mindset when we first started off and were living on a very modest income. Any purchase we made that was spur of the moment or wasn’t planned well in advance (which usually meant it wasn’t budgeted) would cause me to feel guilty about the purchase.
This can be a bad thing as it can affect your mood adversely and cause you to act miserly in your approach to spending.
But, it can be good too. It can be a catalyst for change. When you are looking to make a purchase, remember this feeling and use it as motivation to do your due diligence on everything you buy. If used correctly, this feeling can help you develop a habit of mindfulness in all of your spending.
Do you have spending guilt? Do you use it to your benefit? If not, do you plan on using it to change?