Stop Feeling Guilty About Spending Money

Summary

The article discusses overcoming guilt associated with spending money on non-essential items and emphasizes the importance of balance between saving and enjoying life's experiences.

Abstract

The author shares a personal journey of grappling with guilt when spending money on personal treats despite being able to afford them. Influenced by contrasting parental attitudes towards money, the author's perspective shifts after a profound realization shared by their thrifty mother: life is short, and money should be used to enhance one's happiness. The article argues that while saving is prudent for future uncertainties, it's equally important to spend money on things that bring joy and fulfillment, as money is a tool for living, not merely for accumulation.

Opinions

The author's father believes in enjoying life and spending money on oneself and loved ones without being reckless.
The author's mother, though not stingy, is very cautious with money, which inadvertently led the author to feel guilty about spending.
The author used to rarely make a purchase without feeling some guilt, even with their own earnings.
A piece of advice from the author's mother about the impermanence of life and the purpose of money changed the author's perspective on spending.
The article suggests that the primary goal of working and making money is to live a happy and fulfilling life, not just to accumulate wealth.
It is important to save money for emergencies but also to spend it wisely on experiences and items that add value to one's life.
The author concludes that while money alone can't buy happiness, it can be a significant contributing factor when spent on meaningful things.

I’ve been there too. Here is how I overcame it.

You can’t help but feel guilty when you are spending money on non-vital things. Whether it’s a trip, a book, a night out, or a new computer, you could afford it, but still, find it difficult feeling nothing but joy about your last purchase.

I’ve been there. I have been raised by parents having both very different relationships with money. My father follows a “we only have one life” mindset: without being too much of a spendthrift, he has no problems spending money to treat himself and his loved ones. My mother is very thrifty. She isn’t stingy, but she is very wise when it comes to spending money, which unwittingly made me feel like spending money was bad.

Until a few months ago, it was very rare that I didn’t feel a bit of guilt when it came to buying myself something, even though I was earning my own money.

One day, my mother — yeah, it’s kind of paradoxical — saw me overthinking a purchase, and told me something that blew my mind:

“You will not take your money to your grave. Use it while you can.”

She was true.

You don’t know how much time you have left to live. What if you saved every penny, to the point where you ended up not even enjoying the fruit of your labor anymore, to finally be hit by a bus at 40?

Let me remind you of something: we work to make money. Why do we want to make money? We want to make money in order to live. To be happy. To buy comfort, and to afford fulfilling and mind-blowing experiences. To travel to faraway places and discover what life is.

Not to accumulate fictional numbers and decorate our bank account.

With this in mind, don’t get me wrong. Putting a part of your earnings each month in a saving account is a very good idea. All I’m talking about is balance. You don’t know what could happen tomorrow, and you might need money for unforeseen events. Anticipate this, and save some money.

But don’t save too much. Use a part of it, wisely. A big part of it. And use it to be happy.

Money doesn’t buy happiness. But it can sometimes greatly contribute to it.

If you want something, ask yourself if it adds whatever value to your life. If it does, and if you can afford it, then go for it.